Rhode Island — The road liss traveled

Time to get in a full day of driving. Rhode Island is tiny, but it packs a punch! First stop was a very New England thing, visiting a lighthouse, the Point Judith Lighthouse specifically, built in 1816. Big changes happened in the mid 1800’s when the horn was switched to a whistle. Driving north from here you get to Narragansett, founded in the mid 1600’s and named for the tribe that eventually displaced by the colonists. It gained popularity as a beach resort in the 1800’s, which has remained until today. Although it wasn’t exactly beach weather in October, but there were still a few intrepid surfers out there in wetsuits.

looks like a better spot to read than to surf

Next up, Jamestown, which is on an island (Conanicut), not to be confused with the Jamestown VA. This one isn’t all that exciting, it seems to have a lot of grazing land for cows, but also the killer 1-2 punch of a lighthouse AND a windmill. AND a cute old-timey looking fire station. Not a bad place to drive through.

Seriously, everywhere you stop in the fall is just kind of low key gorgeous

First windmill of the trip, very exciting!

Probably like $500/night to stay in that hotel, prices around here are whack.

Awww just look at those old timey fire trucks

From there you cross the bridge into the main tourist attraction of Rhode Island, Newport. Now we’re talking classic New England old money! This place has it in droves. In the 1700’s Newport was known as a place with freedom of worship, which drew in a more international, enterprising type crowd, including a large population of Portuguese Jews. Shipping and trade flourished. One of the Portuguese Jews, Jacob Rodrigues Rivera developed the manufacture of sperm oil, which kept the young men in town very busy, out in the ocean hunting sperm whales. Newport basically had a monopoly on candles and oil in the colonies. And because there wasn’t enough money to go around, Newport was also a major port in the slave trade!

You know you’re getting into Newport when…

The Revolutionary War sucked for Newport, but in the 1800’s the Old China Trade with the Qing dynasty was going well, and lots of wealthy families decided Newport would be their summer residence. By the turn of the century it was the place to be for the rich, with many of the wealthiest families like the Vanderbilts, Astors, Wideners building huge ass mansions and spending their summers there. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy had their summer residences in Newport as well. So it’s a hoighty toighty type of place, full of rich people stuff like country club golf and tennis and it’s called the sailing capital of the world.

I just had enough time time to catch the sunset downtown, where there’s a bunch of big piers with shops and restaurants and stuff. I decided the splurge a little bit and went to the most popular lobster roll place, $30 for a little lobster roll, ha! And that’s from a casual, counter service place. It was damn good though. But still, friggen Newport.

Apparently this place is a zoo in the summer. Not so much on a weekday in Oct, fortunately

After that I made the hour drive up to Providence, dumped my stuff at the hotel and hit the casino. It’s a bit smaller in scale than than the Indian casinos in Connecticut, not much to look at. It also has that dimly lit backroom gambling hall vibe that I don’t really like. The poker room is tucked away upstairs, and honestly not all that much action, being midweek and all, not surprising. I’d have 3 nights here. Which would leave me one day to take a trip out to Cape Cod and one more day to see a bit more of Rhode Island. The overwhelming feeling from those road trips, it’s nice to be rich!