4 Best Sights in Groton, New Haven, Mystic, and the Coast

The world's first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571)—and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole (in 1958)—was launched and commissioned in Groton in 1954. The Nautilus spent 25 active years as a showpiece of U.S. technological know-how and is now permanently docked at the Submarine Force Museum, a couple of miles upriver from where the sub was built. Visitors are welcome to climb aboard and explore. The museum, just outside the entrance to Naval Submarine Base New London, is a repository of thousands of artifacts, documents, and photographs detailing the history of the U.S. Submarine Force component of the U.S. Navy, along with educational and interactive exhibits.

It was here (legend has it), on the Groton side of the Thames River, that the infamous traitor Benedict Arnold stood watching the important port of New London (a supply center for the Continental Army and friendly port for Connecticut privateers) burn in 1781 during the Revolutionary War. Whether Arnold actually stood there is open to question; but the American defenders of Ft. Griswold were massacred by Arnold's British troops during the Battle of Groton Heights—and New London did burn according to his orders. The 134-foot-high Groton Monument, which you can climb for a sweeping view of the river and New London, is a memorial to the fallen. The adjacent Monument House Museum has historic displays; the Ebenezer Avery House, on the grounds and recently restored, is where the wounded were sheltered in 1781.

At this site are the remnants of a Revolutionary War fort whose American defenders were massacred in 1781 by British troops under the command of the American traitor Benedict Arnold. The 134-foot-tall Groton Monument is a memorial to the fallen; you can climb it for a sweeping view of the shoreline. The adjacent Monument House Museum has historic displays.

The world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus was launched and commissioned in Groton in 1954 and spent her 25-year active career as a showpiece of U.S. technological know-how. She is permanently berthed at the Submarine Force Museum, where you're welcome to climb aboard and explore. The museum, outside the entrance to the submarine base, is a repository of artifacts, documents, and photographs detailing the history of the U.S. Submarine Force component of the U.S. Navy, and has educational and interactive exhibits.