So we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out for Newport. We took the southern route from Warwick, Rhode Island to Wareham, Massachusetts, which took us over a couple of bridge with Jamestown and Beavertail State Park on an island in the middle.
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| Our first bridge, leading to Jamestown and Beavertail State Park |
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| The lighthouse and Visitor's Center at Beavertail State Park |
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| The park is open from dawn to dusk for fishing or whatever else you want to do |
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| The current light house |
The original lighthouse at Beavertail State Park was build in 1749, and was the 3rd lighthouse to be built in the American Colonies. It was built right on the coast, and was demolished in a fire in 1753. A stone tower was then erected on the same foundation, but was destroyed by the British in 1779. The current lighthouse was built on a new foundation, further back from the coast in 1856. This lighthouse was used to provide save passage into Narragansett Bay, but as you can see from the next picture, that wasn't always the case.
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| Coming back out from Beavertail State Park, we saw this old windmill. |
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| The toll bridge to Newport |
Our next stop was to see the mansions along the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. As we drove through the town of Newport, we noticed that it is a really charming town, one that would be fun to spend some time in, but we definitely wouldn't have time to do that today, so we just took in the sights as we drive through. We made it to the Cliff Walk, and found parking right away.....our lucky day! We were able to take in about a mile and a half of the Cliff Walk before having to turn around and head back. The mansions alone the Cliff Walk we're incredible, as were the oceans views that accompanied them.
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| Some of the beautiful rock work along the Cliff Walk |
We were also able to see 40-Steps before we left. It is a spot in the Cliff Walk where you can take stairs down to the rocky shoreline.
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| I wish that was a whale behind me, but it was just a rock |
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| View to the left from 40-Steps. |
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| View to the right from 40-Steps. |
When we were at the bottom of 40-Steps, another tourist had crawled out on some of the rocks that were covered in sea moss, fallen on his butt, and almost went over the edge into the ocean with camera and other electronics in his hand! It was scary to see, and was a good reminder of how slippery those rocks can be. We really enjoyed the Cliff Walk, and would have loved to have seen more of the town before having to leave.
We were supposed to be at our friends, Steve and Liz's home at about 2:00, but by the time we finally got there, it was much closer to 3:00. We felt bad, but again, just can't seem to get around this area as quickly as the GPS says we should be able to.
When we got to their lake house, it was incredibly gorgeous! Much more majestic and nice than the pictures we had previously seen. They have been working on this house for the last year, and have just recently finished the project. They bought an older fixer-upper but as they started tearing into it, decided to take it down to the foundation, and start again. They were required to keep the footprint of the new home exactly the same as the old one which we now understand made for some challenges in building the new home. They have done a great job, and now have a beautiful new home right on the water.
There are a lot of conservation laws in the state, and everything you do, even on your own land has to be approved by the conservation people. It guess it is a very tough process. In fact, they have a lot of Poison Ivy growing on their land, and aren't able to get rid of it because of the conservation laws. It would be an incredibly frustrating situation especially for someone who lives in the wild, wild west where we just do things!!!
Steve and Liz were ready for us when we arrived, and we all sat out on their deck overlooking the lake having a few drinks and snacks.
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| Their beautiful lake house |
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| Looking from the deck to the front yard |
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| Looking from the deck to the beach patio |
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| Looking from the deck to the boat dock. The men are getting the boat ready to go out |
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| The boys heading out to go tubing |
We watched Steve and Liz's son and his friends (who were still home from college for the summer) do some tubing, and then we went for a boat ride as well.
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| We watched the boys tube from the deck |
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| Steve's view of the boys tubing from the boat. |
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| Our view from the boat, a heron fishing from the shore |
At about 9:00 p.m., their other friends Tom and Sally arrived after dropping their daughter off at college, and we all had a really nice steak dinner. It was such a nice evening catching up with everyone.
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| Gorgeous Evening on the lake |
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| Time for a camp fire |
A fabulous way to end a fabulous evening with wonderful friends!
