Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

 8 July     Grantville, PA - Watertown, CT      277 miles     7 hours

We finally made it to the start of the New England states and we're excited to explore. 

We're staying at Black Rock State Park for 3 nights. It's dry camping and cost $30 per night.

We took a drive to Falls Village and wanted to check out a dam and waterfall. As we approached this little town, the roads were blocked. Turns out there was a huge car show that day. So we parked and walked to town. We had a lot of fun looking at all the cars. There were a lot....classics, hot rods, trucks, motorcycles, all kinds. Was good until it started raining. In a couple of minutes it just started dumping! When we finally made it back to the truck we were drenched.

Then we went to look for a covered bridge in the rain. It was pouring and could hardly see the road but we managed to find West Cornwell Covered Bridge, pretty cool. Was raining so much, I couldn't get a decent picture. There were more bridges I wanted to see but the weather was not cooperating. 

The next day we went for an awesome bike ride on The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. We went about 5 1/2 miles then turned around. Such a beautiful scenic ride, we really enjoyed it. 

Then off to Arethusa Dairy for some ice cream. The tip came from a friend that used to live in this area. So glad we listened to her. Very good ice cream....so good we bought ice cream to take home along with some chocolate milk and cheese. 

11 July     Watertown, CT - Hope Valley, RI      110 miles     2 hours 10 min

Whispering Pines Campground is located in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. We'll be staying here 4 nights to explore this area. Pretty expensive, $76 per night for full hookups. I don't like this park. A lot of full timers, camp sites just squeezed in between trees at all kinds of angles. We are in the meadow area which I think is the nicest area but still a lot of trees and pretty ghetto looking. We couldn't get our starlink to work, so no internet for a few days. They have a swimming pool but its constantly filled with families with a lot of kids and most of the adults are smoking in the area. It's amazing that it's so expensive to stay here. 

But the location was pretty good. We went to Mystic, Connecticut a couple of days. We're in Rhode Island but Mystic is just over the state line, about 20 miles away. 

Mystic, Connecticut is an old seaport town.  We visited Mystic Seaport Museum, a seafaring village. Admission was $29 per person. They have historic ships that we could walk on. We could walk through town and see what life was like for people in the 19th century. We learned about historic crafts and trades such as carving, printing, and blacksmithing. They also have a preservation shipyard. This is where traditional techniques are passed on to the next generation. We spent a few hours here, we enjoyed ourselves but it was pretty hot.

We went to Mystic another day just to watch the draw bridge in Historic Mystic. The Mystic River Bascule Bridge spans the Mystic River. It carries vehicles and foot traffic directly into the tourist district of town. The bridge is raised every hour to allow boats to pass. Pretty cool to watch. 

Mystic Bridge

 I had my first lobster roll at Abotts in Noank. It was a hot lobster roll with butter on a hamburger bun for $23. Not as good as I thought it would be. Joe had a tuna sandwich which was only $5. 

We drove into Newport, Rhode Island and walked the Cliff Walk. Newports Cliff Walk is a 3 1/2 mile scenic path along the coast with beautiful views of ocean, beaches, rocky shores, and century old Rhode Island mansions. Pretty hot and some rocky spots on the trail but we enjoyed it. Afterwards we did the Ocean Drive. Ten miles of coastline with heart stopping views, very beautiful. 

15 July     Hope Valley, RI - Plymouth, MA     75 miles      2 hours

We're at Pinewood Lodge Campground in Plymouth for one week. Water and electric site, weekly rate $350. The site is okay but its surrounded by trees so our starlink doesn't work...again. That's okay because there's a lot of exploring in this area. 

Plymouth Rock is located right on the waterfront and protected under a large enclosure. It's not as big as you would think. The rock was moved several times and cracked before returning to its original location. It may only be a rock but it represents so much more. 

Mayflower II

 

Mayflower II is a reproduction of the 17th century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. 

Brewster Gardens was a beautiful area to walk through. There's a brook that flows through, the water induced the Pilgrims to settle here, and powered Plymouth industries in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Burial Hill was the site of the Pilgrims first fort and meetinghouse, with gravestones from the 17th -19th centuries. Magnificent views of Plymouth harbor, beaches, and surrounding countryside. 

Town Square is the heart of the old town of Plymouth. Located at the head of Leyden Street, Plymouth's first street, it was the focal point for the community's civic, religious, and commercial affairs from 1620 until after World War II.

Site of the original settlement is on Leyden Street. The first houses erected by the Pilgrims stood on this Street. 

We had a great meal at Woods Seafood. Located right on the water with awesome views. We had the fish and chips and lobster bisque. Excellent meal. Best fish and chips I've had so far. 

We walked all over Plymouth. So impressed on how the city maintains the area. 

We spent a couple of days exploring Cape Cod. We drove all the way to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod but it was so congested we weren't able to stop. We drove and explored the area and found that all the beaches cost money. We're from Hawaii, we don't pay to go to the beach! 

We had fun checking out Highland Lighthouse. In 1798, Highland was the first Cape Cod lighthouse. The current tower was built in 1857.  

The charming New England village of Woods Hole lies at the far southwestern tip of Cape Cod. It's a port town with a broad deep water harbor that holds the ferry terminal to Martha's Vineyard and many docks for research vessels for the science community clustered here. 

We parked in Falmouth and rode our bikes on the Shining Sea bikeway to Woods Hole. Such a beautiful ride along the coast. We parked the bikes and walked around town and had lunch. 

On the way back we went off the trail and went to Nobska Lighthouse. The lighthouse is beautiful, set up on a hill surrounded by a white picket fence. Across the street is a small viewing area. On a clear day you can see all the way to Martha's Vineyard. It was very hazy on the day we went but we could see the outline. 

Martha's Vineyard on the horizon

After our bike ride we drove to Trunk River Beach. We passed this beach on our bike ride and saw that it was free to park and swim here. So that's where we got our first dip in the Atlantic ocean. The water was kind of green but temperature was cool. Very rocky to walk on, very little sand. This was a perfect way to cool off after our bike ride. 

We decided to take a drive out to Salem. Not a good decision, supposed to be a 1 1/2 hour drive but ended up 2 1/2 hours to get there. Traffic around Boston was crazy! I wanted to go on the Hop On Hop Off bus tour but a nice old lady at the visitors center talked us out of it. She suggested a couple of sights to see that was better. On her advise, we went to the Salem Witch Museum. Total flop, we paid $16 each and it was just not what we were looking for. What a waste of money and 2 hours of our time. 

We had a very nice lunch and walked around the area. We actually enjoyed the rest of our visit. We followed the Salem Heritage Trail and found the sculpture of Sam of Bewitched, walked through an old graveyard, and visited America's oldest candy store.

 

It took us 3 hours to get home. Boston traffic sucks!