The Wheels on the Bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. : Newport, Rhode Island

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Newport, Rhode Island

Narragansett

Fishermen's Memorial State Park
The 91 acre park occupies a portion of the former Fort Greene, After the fort was decommissioned, the state of Rhode Island began purchasing the land for use as a state park. In 1970, the former fort opened as a campground. A former military observation silo serves as park headquarters.

Point Judith Lighthouse

built 1856

Had a great dinner with Karen and Dan. I used to work with Karen at Delta 24 years ago. We spend the evening reminiscing about the good ole days.

Cliff Walk

A 3.5 mile national historic trail hugs Newport's wild Atlantic shoreline, offering good views of many of its Mansions. The trail runs from Bailey Beach west to First Beach. Parts of the walk are a rough trail over the natural and rugged rocky shoreline.

We parked at the Bailey Beach end and headed out. Not wanting to miss anything along the trail we walked the entire 3.5 miles to First Beach. Luckily towards the end we struck up a conversation with two women that live in New Hampshire who were parked at First Beach. They offered to give us a ride to our car so we would have more time to see more sites. We gladly took them up on the offer.

Bristol

Herreshoff Marine Museum and America's Cup Hall of Fame.

While the firm's early work centered on steam-powered vessels, by the 1890s the Herreshoffs began focusing on the yacht designs that would win their firm world renown and earn Nat Herreshoff another nickname "the Wizard of Bristol." Herreshoff Manufacturing built its reputation chiefly on the superbly crafted sailboats it produced for America's elite. Herreshoff also revolutionized yacht design, and produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893-1920.