Rhode Island Sightseeing - North Kingstown and Wickford

Chuck and I spent a few days wandering around Rhode Island this week, just seeing what we could see.  We mixed in a little genealogy research/cemetery walks and a little mead tasting (and, of course, food tasting) along the way.

On Friday, we traveled to North Kingstown to do some cemetery research.  First, of course, we had to eat, so I found a nice little cafe in Wickford (a village in North Kingstown) to eat at.  Sadly, the cafe was closed - apparently permanently - so we walked across the street to eat at the Tavern by the Sea.  It was a bit pricier than the cafe's online menu, but it had nice outdoor seating and (for those near the edge of the deck), a nice view of the bay.  Chuck ate their lobster bisque and Reuben sandwich, while I had their gyros.  The food was moderately okay, but nothing to write home about.  Chuck did get some entertainment from watching the birds at the bird feeder next door.

View from my seat

After lunch, we headed to Elm Grove Cemetery, a 60 acre cemetery in North Kingstown that was founded in 1851, but has many older headstones, as many family plots and private cemeteries had their graves moved here as land was sold and developed.  We found the graves I was looking for -- along with a few more people I can add to the family tree.  Found a few more Nichols intermingled with the other families in the tree.  Eventually, I will figure out which Nichols family my ancestors came from.

After the cemetery walk, we went by the North Kingstown Town Beach.  Did you know that Google Maps remembers what you type and will prompt you when you start typing? I only had to type the letter "b" to get prompted with "beach near me."  We didn't have the $10 permit to park there, but I don't think they were enforcing it this late in the season.  The grassy park area was very nice, but the beach was pretty sad.  It's on the bay and the narrow strip of sand had seaweed strewn all over it.  The park was getting used, though, as a number of people were taking a siesta in the park.

We went back to Wickford Village and decided to drive around a bit.  From a sign at the marina, we found that there was a historic walking tour.  Chuck wasn't up to walking, so we drove around instead.  We found that Wickford Village is one of the first villages in Rhode Island, and has a large number of historical buildings.  Most are still in use as private residences. 

The houses were all in pretty good condition.  

I even found the perfect little cottage, where I would love to live, if I ever stop being a vagabond.

It wasn't all beautiful and pristine, though.  We ran across this lovely boat in someone's front yard.

After Wickford, we traveled north to Smith's Castle.  We had missed the last tour for the day, but got some pictures of the outside.  Smith's Castle was built in 1678 by Richard Smith, Jr., the son of an original settler who had run the trading post here.  It is now used as a museum and an event center.

It's October!

And we are still in Rhode Island.  New England is still amazing and enchanting, but we're starting to feel the chill....nights have been in the 40's and the abundant shade at our campground has gone from a great thing to not so great, since the sun never quite gets here to warm us up.

The leaves here are quickly changing over from green to yellow and red.  And dark is coming way to early in the evening.  We're starting to see why they close mid-October and don't open back up until April.

Four weeks in to our Rhode Island adventure, we're starting to venture out a little.  We went to southern Massachusetts last week, just to wander around and see what we could find.  Tomorrow we're going to Boston and then to southern Maine on Thursday.   It's not enough, but it's what the budget and the time we have will allow.  I still hope to get to Cape Cod before we leave.

I've absolutely LOVED the beaches.  Because we arrived after Labor Day, all of the bad things were already gone.  No crowds.  No parking fee.  Dogs..meh...okay.  No lifeguards, but I never get in deeper than my knees, so no biggie.  So we've had beaches with few other people around...a few big waves thanks to the hurricane that thankfully missed us by "that much"....and fabulous views of blue, blue, blue ocean.

Newport Harbor

Oh, and I have to give two thumbs up to all of Rhode Island to date.  Beach bathrooms are closed, but they all have porta potties in their parking lots.  That are CLEAN!  And have hand sanitizer!  AND TOILET PAPER!!!!!!!!!!   If I had more than two thumbs, I'd give them more than that.  I love that this state realized people need to pee and allows for it!  That goes for the cities, as well.  We spent yesterday in Newport and there were public restrooms galore, as well as benches to sit on.  It's like they planned for tourists!

Our favorite surprise spot is the Narragansett Cafe in Jamestown.  We stopped in after our visit to Beavertail State Park for dinner, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the atmosphere.  We stopped again yesterday evening after our Newport trip (because the pub in Newport had football on so loud it nearly broke my eardrums).  The Narragansett had a blues band playing to a packed house at 5:30 in the afternoon.  The dance floor was full of 60 to 70-something's dancing like they were still 16.   If we didn't have a dog at home and a 30 minute drive, we probably would have stayed longer.  We may try to go back next Sunday to see it all again!

Paella and crab cakes

The food has been amazing.  Expensive, but amazing.  Our grocery and dining out expenses were seriously over budget, despite our attempts to do better.  We limited our eating out and actually cut back to 2 meals a day on most days.  But the grocery stores have things that we can't normally find...like goat gouda!  And GOOD gluten-free cookies and bread.    I hate to say it, but I miss Sam's Club and Wal Mart for the prices.

My only other gripe about Rhode Island, other than the price of everything, is the speed at which these people drive.  It seems like the speed limits are artificially low, but everyone drives 15-20 mph over the speed limit.  We try not to do that, as a speeding ticket is definitely NOT in the budget.  But we get tailgated constantly.   It makes driving around less enjoyable than it should be.

Oh, speaking of driving around....our driving experiences have shown us that although it LOOKS wooded and rural, much of our area of Rhode Island is populated with houses set back really far from the road...with trees between the house and the road.  So it feels like you're driving through the woods, but there are really people back there....who zoom out and drive 20 mph over the speed limit!

I'm going to be sad to leave, but am looking forward to going south and seeing more beaches!

We may be back next year, we'll see.