New England Road Trip; Chapter 8 - Rhode Island

(written by Bill)

This is a series of blogs covering a 21 day road-trip my wife and I made through eight New England States during the month of September – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts (Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Boston).

I’ve covered Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania  and Connecticut to date.

Chapter 8 - As we drove from Connecticut toward Rhode Island we stopped just short of the border at a little town called Stonington to visit Stonington Harbor Lighthouse which has some interesting history. It was originally built in 1823 but by the late 1830′s was in danger of collapsing due to severe beach erosion.  Another lighthouse was built in 1840 using some of the materials from the original structure. Then in 1889 yet another lighthouse was constructed further out on the breakwater and the Stonington Harbor Lighthouse was officially deactivated. In 1925 the Stonington Historical Society bought the old lighthouse and converted it to a museum which is now the only lighthouse on the Connecticut mainland that is regularly open to the public. One last note, in 1926 the breakwater light was taken down and replaced with a skeleton tower.

After entering Rhode Island we came into the beautiful Newport Harbor where we stopped and had a light dinner while enjoying the ocean waves with the setting sun.  Afterwards we searched for a place to spend the night and located a wonderful B&B called Cliffside Inn.  It is a beautifully quaint rustic Inn located within walking distance of Newports cliff walk which is a gorgeous 3.5 mile trail along the coastline. It is one of Newports biggest attractions and a must do.

Although Rhode Island is small in size, it is packed with some beautiful sights and a lot of history.

Stonington Lighthouse in Connecticut

We came upon the Newport Harbor after crossing over into Rhode Island

Beautiful ocean view with the sun setting behind us

Cliffside Inn, where we stayed in Newport, RI

Cliff walk trail along the ocean

Some of the scenery along our seaside walk.

There were a number of mansions overlooking the Ocean, and trail

You can see one of the large homes with the cliff walk trail passing between it and the ocean

There were some tunnels that we traversed along our walk.

Click here to see more photos of Rhode Island (along with a couple of Stonington Harbor Lighthouse).

Next blog we will move on to Massachusetts covering Cape Code first, followed by Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and last, but not least, Boston.

Hope you enjoy…

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