The Bee and Thistle

I recently flew to the states as the guest of The University of New Haven's Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. They put me up in the charming Bee and Thistle B&B. But before we get there, I should share the story (because it's funny now)...
     I travel surprisingly often, so have gotten fairly good at it. But sometimes, the travel gods work against you and you can't do a darned thing about it. The first mistake was on me, though—I checked my bag. Hoo boy.
     My very first flight was delayed an hour, which dominoed from there. My connecting flight was in Dublin. And despite having allotted two hours between flights, it wasn't enough. I ran to try to make my next flight, but to no avail. I arrived at the gate as my flight flew away without me. The only way to get me to where I was going was to fly me to Boston and then drive me to Hartford. Which is what the airline did.
     Can you guess the next hiccup? Yeah. My luggage didn't make it there with me.
     So, I asked the taxi driver to stop at someplace open (a gas station) where I could buy some toothpaste, deodorant, and...a Boston, Mass t-shirt and hoodie. I made it to the B&B at midnight - 5:00am my time. And all I had to wear for my talk the next day was the t-shirt and hoodie. Yup. Sometimes you just have to run with what the universe throws at you, though, y'know?
     At any rate, it was dark when I got there. So I was genuinely shocked when I awoke to this view of the Lieutenant River the next morning. The light was so stunning, it took my breath away. I was dressed when I took these pictures. But when I first awoke, that field looked solid gold.The river is pristine, without industry along it. The Canadian Geese loved it.The B&B was flanked by a sweet garden.
That led to the grounds. Odd shell sculptures were scattered around, like this enormous conch.And these mussels strangely mounted in the trees.
It was lovely to sit on the swing and soak it up. What a beautiful place.