Our second day in Mystic, we woke up excited so didn't sleep late. We went to downtown Mystic and went shopping. They have really neat stores. A tea and spice store, clothing stores with different designers, both local and national, a surprisingly large book store, toy store, a really interesting men's store, a pet supply store, a couple coffee shops, bakeries, bars, and restaurants. We spent a couple hours shopping then went to a chain clothing store so my sister could get some thermal leggings to go under her clothes. Did I say it was cold? The temperature was 17 degrees and windy. We went to a place called the Mystic Knotworks. People make door mats, key chains, jewelry and other useful and decorative items out of rope. Then we went to a bakery for lunch and coffee. It was ok. We felt like we were interrupting the baker who has stuff ready to sell, but was making more. At the appointed time, we drove to the navy base and parked back at the Nautilus museum. We waited with other excited family members for a van that had room for us. While waiting, the submarine went under the bridge to enter the harbor. Oh goodness, Josh was almost there. We rode the shuttle onto base and to the dock the submarine would be arriving at. We waited with a couple hundred other very excited, noisy, cold family members for about an hour while the sub made it's way through the harbor, was maneuvered by tug boats to the dock, was tied off, and had border control and customs paperwork done. Then they had to take quarantined trash to the dumpster and haul it away. Then it was time! Nope, not yet. Brrrr. The families that live on base or in town get to earn privilege. The first sailor to get off and get the first kiss because his wife won the privilege by volunteering, then they had the first hug for another family who won that privilege. Then there was a gender reveal. The sailor didn't know the gender of his upcoming child, but his family did. I don't know how they kept it a secret until he got home. The timing was hopefully good. The sailors are at sea for 6 months then on shore for several months. Hopefully he gets to see his baby before he goes out again. Now it is time!! They opened the gates to the dock and we all rushed in, eagerly hunting for our sailor. So many people hugging and talking. Where is he? We saw him crossing the gangplank!! My sister, his mom, got a big hug and smiles. Everyone was standing around in 30 degree weather smiling, talking, hugging, kissing, and having happy reunions. We wound up out on the dock for about 30 minutes Josh, and all the other sailors were in dress uniforms. No jackets. We gave him our handwarmers. Josh was able to grab his stuff and leave when we did. We had to take the shuttle back to the car, then drive onto base with my military identification (Thank you husband David). We met Josh at the bowling ally where he was on his laptop reactivating his phone service. Mom and son hugged again and we drove him to his car which was parked in long term parking on base. One of the sailor's dad's was there with his truck jumping all the cars people were trying to start. I am not sure he intended to jump everyone's cars, but he happily did it. I stayed in our heated rental to stay out of the way. Mom stayed near her son. He stopped and got air in his tires then we went shopping with him at the navy exchange for a few groceries and other supplies. Our next stop was Lowe's to buy a Christmas tree. Josh has a nice BMW and he had the tree cut so it would fit in the trunk and into the back seat. It made the car smell really nice. He then picked up a pizza at his favorite pizza place and we made it to his apartment. Josh's mom and I got to hang out at his house while he caught up with his life, got his internet on, woke up Alexa, fixed his heat, ate pizza and set up his Christmas tree. His house is really neat. He lives on the 2nd floor of a 3 story house that was built in the late 1800's. It is right across the street from the river. He can lay in bed, see the water, and watch the sailing ships go in and out. He has built a comfortable and cozy home. It was more cozy the following day after his landlord fixed the thermostat. The first night it would only get up to 60 degrees. Eventually we went back to the hotel and finally warmed up.
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