Saturday, June 25, 2022
Hopewell Junction, NY, to Narragansett, RI
Cumulative Miles: 607
Sunny, humid, high mid-80s
We hit the road about 11:15 after a relaxing morning at our campsite. Bill is the oldest of six siblings. We were on our way to join them for a week in a rental house near the very tip of Point Judith in Narragansett, RI. The roads were busy with several slow downs. We arrived at the rental house about 4:15, about the same time as Bill’s siblings.
For the record, Bill’s siblings in order of age included Bill & Sandy, brother Glen, sister Ellen and husband Wayne, sister Betsy, brother Charley and wife Sharon. Sadly, Margaret, the youngest, was stranded at home in Seattle with COVID.
The rental was actually a two story, three-bedroom house with an additional two-bedroom apartment over a detached garage. The house had balconies on the second/main level as well as a third story balcony.
On arrival we dragged our gear inside, headed out to purchase food and supplies to get us through the first day. When we got back we grilled burgers and dogs to accompany home made broccoli salad and caprice salad.
We enjoyed an evening on the three-story balconies that afforded us views of the ocean on three sides. Beautiful!
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Cumulative Miles: 617
Sunny, drier, mid 80s
We had a laid-back day. Most of us walked the half mile to Point Judith Lighthouse only to find that it was not accessible because the Coast Guard station property, on which it sat, was fenced for security. (Thanks, 911!)
Several of us walked out to the Camp Cronin Fishing Area, also just half a mile from the house. There people walked the beach or sunned themselves. Later we made another grocery run, swapped family tales and commiserated about recent SCOTUS decisions.
Dinner was grilled teriyaki chicken tenders, roasted asparagus and Bob Evans mashed potatoes.
Monday, June 27, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Heavy overcast, a rainy day
Bill made pan-fried home fries and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Afterwards he headed to the local Ace Hardware to purchase a replacement fire extinguisher with a strong mounting bracket. (The old one as well as a bottle of wine broke loose during yesterday’s drive and caused some minor damage including breaking a cabinet door.)
Indoor games occupied many of us including a couple of hand-and-foot card games as well as farkle, an old dice game accredited to French sailors.
Sharon treated us to a dinner of lasagna, high-style salad and garlic bread.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Bright sunshine with light breezes and temperatures in the high 70s
This was another laid back day. Several people took walks to the lighthouse and beach. Sandy and I biked a section of the South City Trail out of Narragansett. It was a very nicely paved trail. The only downside were the frequent road crossings.
Dinner was beef tenderloin, mushrooms, gingered carrots and broccoli. That evening saw another Hand & Foot card session.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Overcast early followed by bright sunshine with light breezes and temperatures in the mid 70s
Morning walks, of course. Sandy & I then drove to meet Joe & Michele Boulay, a couple we met cruising our sailboat in the Bahamas in 2003/2004. They live in nearby Cranston, RI, and keep their Island Packet sailboat, Simple Life, on Narragansett Bay. They sailed the boat south to the village of Wickford where we met them for lunch at the Wickford on the River restaurant. Afterwards we took their dinghy out to their boat and spent time talking and feeling a bit wistful for our sailing days.
That evening we ordered individual takeout meals from Champlin’s Seafood in nearby Galilee. (My fried calamari was great!) The evening’s entertainment was, you guessed it, more farkle and hand-and-foot!
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Bright sunshine with pleasant breezes followed morning overcast
Bill, Wayne & Ellen wandered the commercial fishing boat docks and beach in Galilee. Although I was familiar with draggers, the boats who pull seine nets through the water, I was surprised to hear them say their main catch was squid. Their squid catch is shopped all over the world.
I was at a loss to identify another kind of fishing boat tied up along the docks so I asked one of the owners about them. Turns out they were offshore lobster boats that operate beyond the three mile state fishing boundary. The boats are equipped with a line-pulling winch at the front of the cockpit and have wide, flat, open cockpit areas with open sterns. They operate using long strings of 25 or so lobster pots attached to a single, main line. (Near-shore boats use single pots, each with tier own float and line.) The string of pots are pulled aboard, emptied of lobsters, re-baited and arranged in the order they were pulled. When all the post are serviced the entire string of pots are slid in sequence off the open stern.
Groceries always seemed to be on the agenda and we got to know the local Stop and Shop pretty well.
That afternoon several of us visited South County Museum. The museum documents the history of the Narragansett area and its settlers. One main building and several outbuildings house an impressive array of displays.
I was especially interested in the print shop whose docent was on site. What a print shop. It housed everything from an early flat bed press, little changed from Gutenberg’s press, to an operating linotype machine. All the machines were in working order and it was an active print shop. I was especially intrigued by the docent’s detailed descriptions of the whys and hows of pressure casting lines of type worked and by the mechanical intricacies of linotype operation that automated most of the typesetting operation and all of the pressure casting operation.
That evening Betsy whipped up a dinner of pasta with cherry tomatoes and other goodies. You can guess what happened the rest of the evening.
Friday, July 1, 2022
Narragansett, RI
Yet another gorgeous day with temperatures in the 70s and wind that built during the day.
Sandy & I, Betsy, Glen and Sharon decided to take the Newport Harbor Lighthouse Cruise. We drove to Newport and I began by navigating the process of securing a $1.25/hour public parking spot near Bowen’s Landing rather than of one of the commercial lots at $9.00/hour or a $60 flat-rate lot.
We boarded the Coastal Queen, mimosa included, for a narrated tour of Newport’s busy harbor, its mansions, beautiful sailboats and its many lighthouses. With the beautiful weather it was a very enjoyable cruise.
Back at the house we gathered on the main deck enjoying the views and conversation while a load of laundry churned away inside and I closed up the camper and hitched it to the car to preparing for a rainy day departure on Saturday. For dinner I prepared what we call “Mexican Cod”, a casserole layered with cod, salsa, grated cheese and crushed corn chips. Pasta leftovers and green beans rounded out the meal.
The usual entertainment.