Rhode Island Adventure

This was our first time to stay in Rhode Island and we had no idea what to expect in the smallest state in the country.  One woman suggested a restaurant in nearby Westerly that serves clam chowder and clam cakes.  "You can't get more Rhode Island than that," she said.  So we checked it out.  The clam cakes were more like clam balls.  With ketchup they were pretty good and the chowder was OK--not as good as at Fisherman's Warf in San Francisco.

Westerly is in the southwest corner of the state just a few miles from the southern shore.  Newport, RI, is in the southeast corner of the state so we didn't get to see that iconic location.  But we enjoyed our nearby coastal areas, including Watch Hill and East Beach.

This Merry Go Round is right next to the beach in Watch Hill.  Kids were having a good time there.  The city beach there cost $9 for seniors so we skipped going there.  Instead, we walked toward a beautiful inn we saw on our way into town.

On the way we walked by some beautiful homes.  The high rent district increased in value as we got closer to the shore.  Look at the view through this carport.

I love this neat old house.  How many people visit this "cottage" in the summer?

This unique fence surrounds the gardens of a house named Seaswept which apparently was built about 1865.  In the distance you can make out the Watch Hill Lighthouse.

This is another spectacular house with a beautiful view.  I wonder what witch the weather vane  honors.

There was an almost hidden path--pedestrians and bicycles only--leading to the Watch Hill lighthouse.

 

Then we found a cutoff to the East Beach and finally got close to the waves coming in. As always, the lighthouse and beach have brisk winds but we were glad we finally got to the Atlantic Ocean.
  According to the evening news, Saturday was the day the Rhode Island beaches opened.  I didn't know you could close beaches.  But since it is the first day there are life guards available at some of the beaches, perhaps that is what they are talking about.  The weather hasn't been conducive to swimming and enjoying the beach.  Tonight we saw average temps for Memorial Day over the past 3 years--all in the 80s.  Today the high was 56--brrr.  The waves were good for surfers, however.

Eventually we came to Ocean House, the large inn we saw driving into town.  They have a private beach with individual changing tents and lots of beach chairs, as well as a large croquet field.  I would love to stay there for a couple of days--when the weather is a little warmer.

Hurricane Sandy came through this area in 2012 but we couldn't see any damage were we traveled.

This neat old touring car was parked outside the hotel.

It was a fun day to top off our visit to the last state on our bucket list.  Since beginning our RV travels in 1988, we have now spent the night in all of the lower 48 and Alaska.  Yipee!  Now, we need a new goal to put in our bucket.

Cincinnati

I can't say that a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio, was anywhere near the top of my bucket list. In fact, we ended up here this summer because we were unable to find a good RV park any closer to Jefferson County, Indiana, where we wanted to do some genealogy research. After planning the visit, we discovered that John's great-great-great grandfather is buried in Cincinnati.

After the last four days here, I would suggest Cincinnati for anyone's bucket list. It is a beautiful, clean, interesting old city and we have encountered numerous very helpful people in the cemetery and libraries we have visited.

Yesterday, we checked out the Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest continuing operating public market and the location of a weekend farmers' market during the summer.





Both inside and outside, the aisles were crowded with shoppers.





We immediately came on a long line at the Blue Oven bread stall. We decided the bread must be good, so we got in line and bought a loaf of spelt bread. We will eat it with our meal this evening, so I don't know if it is really good or not.



Markets like this always bring out some interesting people.





There was lots of good looking, local produce, as well as seafood and beef--including ox tails. I wonder what you do with them?







Along the street across from the market, the empty buildings were at least made pretty on the outside.



A couple of blocks away, it wasn't as nice.





We did see a community garden in the neighborhood.



The neighborhood around the market was the only place in Cincinnati that wasn't really, really nice. Our GPS takes us on the fastest route, supposedly, and it took us through a number of residential neighborhoods during the past few days. The old houses, mainly built of brick, are well-maintained and beautiful. There are numerous parks and woods. Cincinnati is very hilly and large areas of forest are maintained for public use. On all our drives, we only saw one small piece of tagging.  Many cities, Denver and Phoenix included, can't say that.  Downtown, near the main library, we saw some really nice old buildings and murals.





This is at the entry to the library.



This is the Cincinnati City Hall.



The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains is an impressive building.



So is the Plum Street Jewish Temple.