Hitting the Rhode

Day 8 of our New England trip was the final full day of our vacation, and perhaps the rainiest of all. The drizzle was steady and unending from sunrise to sunset.

We began with a few last Connecticut stops before crossing the state line, first at the Mystic Seaport Museum. It's a maritime museum that includes what felt like a dash of "Renaissance Festival" to it -- a collection of old buildings is clustered right on the shoreline to display different types of services you'd have found in an historic port. They're kept right alongside several old ships, including a whaling vessel.

Yet even though this was a Saturday (or maybe because it was a Saturday?), most parts of the museum were closed. Maybe it was the rain, maybe we were "out of season," but for whatever reason, you couldn't go aboard most of the ships, and only a couple of the buildings were staffed with people to fill you in on more of the history. We tried to give the place a chance, but quickly lost our patience for ambling around in the rain, not seeing much. Unfortunately, the Mystic Seaport Museum turned out to be one of the few big "busts" of the trip.

So, we went on to Clyde's Cider Mill, a buzzing spot open only in the fall, pressing regular and hard apple cider with an old-time steam-powered press you can see in action. It was oddly fascinating to watch, as we snacked on a few more cider donuts.

Next, we proceeded into Rhode Island, specifically to the coast near Newport. Our plan in going there had been to head to the Cliff Walk, with not only a lovely view of the ocean, but of a number of mansions built nearby. Unfortunately, the rain soaked all the fun out of that. We did see people on the Cliff Walk, but they didn't look especially happy, and we were in no mood to join them. We stopped at one mansion in particular, the Breakers, but opted not to go inside when we saw the high price for admission. (I think we were shy about it after our lackluster experience at Mystic Seaport Museum.)

Still, Newport wasn't a loss. For one thing, we collected our "gold brewery pin" for Rhode Island, at the Coddington Brewing Company. Not only was the beer pretty good, but I enjoyed a cup of lobster bisque to warm me up. Then we drove along the well-known Ocean Drive, a 10-mile stretch of road that takes you right along the water -- a rather striking sight even on a gloomy day.

We also had an indulgent dinner at White Horse Tavern, touted as the oldest operating restaurant in the United States; it's been serving guests since 1673. Knowing that my time for great seafood was running out, I went back to lobster again, this time with a lobster ravioli served in a delicious, creamy sauce.

Finally, it was on to Providence for our final night. We had options for a couple more activities in the area that we might have done. But the rain was still on. Also, in the way of many good vacations, as we were here nearing the end, we were actually looking forward to home and ultimately were not up for leaving the hotel room until morning.

When that morning came, we just had the drive back to Boston to make our noon flight home. We did squeeze in one more minor tourist attraction, though, by grabbing our breakfast at the original Dunkin Donuts location in Quincy, Massachusetts. The classic look of the exterior has been preserved, while the interior has large photos blown up on the walls, showing what the place looked like back when it was new. Not worth going out of your way for, by any stretch, but it was basically right on the drive back.

The flight home was uneventful. (It landed early, even!) Our cats were happy to see us. We were happy to reach our own bed (and pillows!). We'd had a wonderful time. I doubt we'll return to New England to do another "full circuit" like this. But there were certainly particular areas that we enjoyed a lot, and I could see going back one day to really explore those, without moving onto somewhere else each day.

Maybe we'll even manage to time it better with the fall leaf colors.