NEW LONDON , opposite Groton on the west side of the Thames, is the closest thing the region has to a city, although it spreads over only six square miles. Originally settled in 1646, it was a wealthy whaling port in the nineteenth century and today is home to the US Coast Guard Academy , 15 Mohegan Ave off I-95, where visitors can wander around a museum of coast guard history (MonFri 9am4.30pm, Sat 10am5pm, Sun noon5pm; free) and visit the training tall ship USS Eagle (FriSun 15pm; call 860/444-8595 to find out when the ship is in port). Overlooking the academy is the Lyman Allyn Art Museum (TuesSat 10am5pm, Sun 15pm; $4; tel 860/443-2545), part of Connecticut College at 625 Williams St and specializing in American Impressionist works and local decorative arts. A self-guided walking tour of downtown passes along prosperous Huntington Street, where four adjacent Greek Revival mansions are known as Whale Oil Row . For swimming and sunbathing, the Ocean Beach Park , on Ocean Avenue, has a sand beach and huge saltwater pool, as well as a wooden boardwalk (summer daily 9ammidnight; $2).
New London was the birthplace of boozy playwright Eugene O'Neill . His childhood home, the Monte Cristo Cottage , 325 Pequot Ave, is open for tours, complete with juicy details of his trauma-ridden early life though they may already be familiar to you from his Long Day's Journey into Night (JuneAug TuesSat 10am5pm, Sun 15pm; tours TuesSat 10am, noon, 2pm & 4pm, Sun 1:30pm and 3:30pm; $5). The writer's influence is further felt at the O'Neill Memorial Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Rd (I-95 exit 82) in nearby Waterford , an acclaimed testing ground for playwrights and actors, where audiences can take pot luck and watch new, often experimental, shows in rehearsal (performances held sporadically MayAug; tel 860/443-5378).