New England #2 – Rhode Island

July 8 - 11, 2016:  

On to our second New England state, Rhode Island!  We headed out Friday for our 80 mile trip up to the Aquidneck Island part of Rhode Island.  That is the central part of the state where Portsmouth and Newport are located.  We are only here for a short 2 full days of touring time so we picked Newport to center on.

Crossing into Rhode Island

Crossing the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge to Aquidneck Island RI

We both had been to Newport before with the last time being on a cruise we took back around 2000 or 16 years ago.  We didn’t remember much about it except that it was cold and it was just after the 4th of July, almost the same time we are visiting now!  All I remember is looking at the harbor from the ship and nothing else.  We plan to change that limited perception on this visit.

We signed up for a walking tour of the city of Newport that was given by the historic society of Newport.  We can’t say it enough that taking these tours are one of the best ways to see and to understand the area you are in.  Walking tours are also very cheap!  This tour was over 2 hours and cost $17 a piece, just can’t beat that!

Newport court house overlooking the "Long Pier"

Where we started our Tour.  This building was the first built using an American born Architect.

Original Quaker meeting place from the late 1600s.
Still in use today and still doesn't have electric.

View toward the bay from the court house.
This "long Pier" has had merchants along both side since the early 1700s.

Original Newport military building from the revolutionary period.

Touring Trinity Church.  Was the Church of England in the 1700s

Believe it or not, us in a church.  This the pew of George Washington and
much later, the queen of England, Queen Elizabeth.

Trinity Church

The oldest operating tavern in the USA, the White Horse Tavern.
Has been operating since 1673.

We had lunch in the White Horse Tavern and took a look around inside.

I also did my own tour by taking one of my walk/runs near our camp site.  We stayed at a municipal campground called Melville Ponds in Portsmouth.  Our site was very near the Narragansett Bay side of the island.  I did my hike and run trip from our site to the eastern shore of the Narragansett Bay.  

Our site while in Newport Rhode Island

We don't usually have a fire but we decided to cook dinner out on a fire.
We had pork chops and baked potatoes.

The hike itself was not that impressive but the view after arriving was fantastic!  The furthest point of the hike took me to the old Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad overlooking the bay.  It was still early in the morning so there was a little fog on the water with a couple of lit up tugs working barges up the bay.  That was pretty cool!  The total hike round trip was just 4 miles so I finished up with an extra mile around the campground to get my usual 5 miles. 

Trail pictures from my hike to the bay.

Narragansett Bay with Prudence Island in the background.

Now we are off to our next state, #3 Massachusetts.

Stay tuned!