Once again, Tula and I spent the whole morning walking on the trails in the state park, and finished our 8 miles a little after noon. Cape Henlopen is a wonderful state park – there’s a huge sandy beach that people can access by a couple of pedestrian walkways over an extensive dune system. The “great dune” is about 80 feet tall and is the biggest dune between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. Away from the beach area, the park has lots and lots of big loblolly pines (my new favorite pine tree!) and it smells so good to be walking among them. Cape Henlopen was also the site of a fort and ammunition supply bunkers during World War II and many of the structures remain. The ammunition bunkers were big concrete structures that were built into the dunes, and covered in the front and sides with sand, grasses, and even trees. They remain in place today. From the ocean, one wouldn’t be able to tell there were any structures there. There are also several WWII observation towers in the park, and others along the coast. The fort area was built to help protect the mouth of the Delaware Bay – a strategic bay leading to Wilmington and Philadelphia, and consisted of 6-7 long low buildings to house the soldiers, the mess hall and administration areas. There are also a lot of huge mounted guns – one of them required 27 men to operate – and all of that stuff is still here. When spotters in the observation towers spotted an enemy ship, they could use triangulation methods to tell the gunners what to load and in what direction to fire – although in the end, the fort never fired in defense. So there were lots of things to see out on the various trails.
I was hoping to make my donation today to the Jusst Sooup Mobile Soup Kitchen and Ministry, but no one answered the phone so I left a message. I had hurried through the last part of my walking this morning, because I had noticed that the state park was right by the ferry docks from Lewes, DE to Cape May NJ – across the whole Delaware Bay. One of the things I want to do on my annual state trips is something in or on the water, and the idea of a ferry ride out on the ocean was a welcome one after all the walking. Plus they allowed pets on board! It was an auto ferry, but so many foot passengers also go that they have their own parking lot. I was able to get my ticket in time and Tula walked right on like she gets on ships all the time! We went to the top deck to enjoy another perfect sunny day, and Tula was a bit startled when the horn blew and gazed up at the smokestack. The ocean was calm, and once we were through the first small swells on the open water, she settled down for a nap, and I thoroughly enjoyed being out on the water – seeing a couple lighthouses and a big breakwater. There was a freighter in the distance and smaller private boats out fishing. The soup kitchen lady called back while I was on board, and we made plans to meet at Wal-Mart when I got back – she currently provides meals on Mondays and Thursdays. Once we were docked in New Jersey, I had enough time to get Tula off the ship to take care of business, and then we walked back on again to enjoy the ride back. It was a very peaceful few hours!
Once we were back on land in Delaware, I met up with the lady from Jusst Sooup (I forgot to ask her about the significance of the spelling!). She’s not easy to miss – her shirt identifies her, as well as a colorful van. She had already loaded up a cart with some of the stuff she needed for tomorrow’s meals and I paid for $56 of it – stuff like gallons of water, cups, a case of yogurt, ginger ale, juice, crackers, cleaning supplies, syrup etc. She’s been using a building across the street for 13 years (I think the van is more for some of the ministry work) and it’s an older building, but serves the purpose well. I went over there to see it and helped her unload the groceries. She told me she had been on the TV show Extreme Makeovers where they fixed up a beautiful facility for her to help feed homeless people, but there were complaints from the neighbors about the kind of people who came to her place, so she had to return to her current location for feeding the homeless, and I think the other place is used for church purposes. She seemed very dedicated and efficient (starts with breakfast at 4:30am so the people who have been out all night have a place to come inside), and she even called me back the next day to say thank you again, and that 105 people had shown up.
From there, I decided to loop around southern Delaware – I was sort of eyeing Delaware Seashore State Park for my next camping place, but I didn’t like the campgound at all. It was on a narrow strip of land and was flat and wide open with no trees and the sites looked close together. Plus some bridge construction was going on practically right at the entrance, and I drove away again right away. It sort of looked like a big sandy parking lot. (But very easy access to water for people who boat and fish!). There was another state park campground to the west – Trap Pond State Park – so after splurging for soup and salad at Panera, I drove out there. Since it’s no longer a busy camping season, I usually have to self-register because the office closes at 4 or 5 and they leave out the envelopes needed to do that. So I registered, and noticed they didn’t have many tent sites (which is what I use because I don’t have any hookups). As I got back to that part of the campground, I discovered that their tent sites were not accessible by car – parking was provided outside of the camping area. And that wouldn’t work for me because I couldn’t strap the van onto my back and walk in! So I just found a fairly empty row of campsites in the big rig area, and had several empty spaces on both sides of me, and that seemed to be fine – no one questioned it. They must be having special Halloween festivities this weekend because I was quite astonished at some of the Halloween decorations! Scarecrows and huge inflatables and flashing orange and black lights – RVs and fences and canopies were decorated, and there was still quite a bit of activity going on even as late as 10:00 – most campgrounds I’ve been at have been dead quiet by 8:00 or so. Three nights of camping in a row!
Delaware – Tuesday, October 23
One of the nice things about camping is being able to go on a long walk first thing in the morning without having to drive anywhere! My campsite last night was right near one of the access points for a 7.5 mile trail around Lum’s Pond. This pond is Delaware’s largest natural pond, but I don’t know they call it a pond and not a lake – it looks more like a big lake to me! When I set off, I didn’t know if I was going to do the whole walk, or walk partway and turn around. But the trail was nice, and it was pretty out, and Tula and I ended up walking the whole way around! It took all morning, but what a fun way to start the day – especially when I was able to catch up with one of my instructor buddies from the studio on the phone! The range of cell phones is amazing – whether that’s good or bad. For me on this journey, it’s a good thing.
While I was out walking, I was thinking more about the Northern Delaware Greenway that I was walking on yesterday. So I read more about the project when I got back and learned that Delaware Greenways is the “parent” organization for several greenways in Delaware. The various greenways are community efforts to preserve open spaces and increase opportunities for walking and bicycling. The trails are maintained by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. Obviously I am a big fan of good trails to walk on, so today’s donation goes to Delaware Greenways.
With most of my walking done, and my donation for the day taken care of , I was very happy to sit in the car for a bit. It was time to head south, and since Highway 1 is a toll road at this point, I got on a smaller road to the east. I detoured to the town of Delaware City, hoping to go to Fort Delaware State Fort, which is on an island and has boat service. But the state park was closed for the year. Delaware City was another nice old colonial town, and normally I would have gotten out to walk a bit, but Tula and I were both a little low on energy after the long walk this morning. We continued rambling south through the east side of the state, through some more small towns, until I got down to Dover, which is the state capital, and one of the places I wanted to see. I wasn’t positive at first that I had found the Capitol Building, because it didn’t have a dome – not that they all do, but it does does distinguish them from other buildings! This one had something that looked more like a tall cupola. I went in, and it wasn’t a very big building. Two floors – with the state senate room on one side, and the state representative room on the other side. I didn’t even see a governors office! Aside from the security guard, I only saw 2 staff people, and 4 other tourists. Very, very quiet, and it was only about 4:00 in the afternoon! It didn’t take long to walk around. Then I walked back to the car and got Tula out to walk around the town some more. We covered a mile and a half, which finished up my walking for today, and made up my mile from yesterday. There still weren’t a whole lot of people out and about, which seemed strange at the end of the day. We walked all around the central part of town, and all the old brick buildings were interesting (former taverns and inns – now law firms and bail bond offices), and there was a town green, but it just seems to be missing some basic people activity…some life! It was time to move on. (And I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many law firms in a few square blocks – and come to think of it, I know I’ve never seen so many bail bond offices in one area! Kinda makes one wonder what goes on!!)
Since it was still nice out, I wanted to camp again. Cape Henlopen was another state park with a campground, right on the ocean, and that’s where I headed. I picked up a salad for dinner, and had a wide choice of campsites, and got set up. I’ll have more trails to walk on in the morning!
Delaware – Monday, October 22
4:00am came all too soon, but Taryn was packed up, and the train station was only about 10 minutes away, so she started her very long travel day without a hitch. I went back to sleep! It seemed to take me a while to get going – catching up with a few things after a busy weekend.
Since I was in the northern part of the state, I decided to head for the high point of Delaware (one of the things I wanted to do since it’s the “official” state for next year.) It was located right near the Pennsylvania border in New Castle County – not too far north of Wilmington. Delaware’s highest point is the second lowest “high point” in the country – only 448 feet. Only Florida’s high point is lower, and I was there back in 2004 back when I started my annual state trips.
I wanted to make a donation up there in northern Delaware, so I looked into some food pantry possibilities. There were several in the area, so I made a few phone calls and the first 2 just went to voicemail. The third phone call was to the New Knollwood Community Center which has a food closet, and this time I talked to a person who said they would be happy to get any non-perishable goods. So I found a grocery store, and got some stuff like cereal and oatmeal, tuna and peanut butter, and soup and canned veggies, and mac and cheese. Then I drove to Claymont, right at the northeast corner of the state, where the community center was located. The guy who met me there told me a little about the town – it’s a steel mill town and the community is basically housing for the steel mill workers. It sounds like the Knollwood Community Center is able to provide some services that are needed by the town’s residents. It’s always nice to hear a bit about the area that I’m in.
I hadn’t done much walking yet today, and both Tula and I were ready to cover some miles! I headed for Brandywine Creek State Park, which was still in northern Delaware, and we walked 4 miles on trails in the main part of the park. The soil there was very rocky (which probably accounted for all the old stone fences I saw!) and the trail was full of rocks and roots, so it was a bit of a slow go – I had to watch my step a bit. But it was a beautiful afternoon and good to be out in it. The guy at the entry booth told me there was another trail in a different part of the park down the road a few miles, and I drove past that, and we stopped and walked another 3 miles. This was part of a roughly 10 mile trail called the Northern Delaware Greenway, and it ran along a creek. It must be close to a high school because a lot of school kids were out jogging – I’m assuming they were on a track or cross-country team. And there were quite a few other walkers, joggers and bikers. This trail wasn’t nearly as rocky, and I enjoyed it more than the first one. Because of my slow start in the morning, I’m a mile short with my walking today, but don’t think I’ll have trouble making it up!
By this time, it was starting to get dark, and since the weather was nice, I was finally able to camp again! I drove a ways to Lum’s Pond State Park, and got set up, and was happy it was so nice out.
Delaware – Sunday, October 21
In my last post, I totally forgot to mention my donation-of-the-day. I did something kind of easy, since I didn’t want to take a lot of time out of the day with limited hours before Taryn headed back home. So I had decided ahead of time that the donation today would be to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. I knew I would be making a donation to them at some point this month, and today was a good day to do so!
Taryn’s good friend Sarah took the train up from Washington DC to join us for the day. But since she didn’t get in til early afternoon, Taryn and I headed down to New Castle to take Tula on a long walk and to look around town. New Castle is a wonderful old colonial town; with lots of really old houses, narrow streets (most of the streets in the neighborhood had to be one way) and old brick gutters. There was even a really old stone road, and I regretted turning down that one – so bumpy! There was also a long walking/biking trail by the bay, and quite a few people were out enjoying the nice morning. We walked about 2 1/2 miles, then headed back to Wilmington to the train station. One benefit of picking Sarah up there is that I’ll know exactly where it is when I drop Taryn off there at 4:30 tomorrow morning!
Once Sarah had met up with us, we decided first to head for Dover because it sounded like another pretty town to walk around in and maybe have a bite to eat. It was a pretty town – lots of old brick buildings, but there was no one out and about, and no shops or restaurants – kind of like a ghost town! It was a Sunday, so we didn’t expect the government offices to be open, but it’s the state capital, and one would have thought there’d be some shops and cafes and all in the area. The only people I saw when we split up a bit to see what we could find was a group of young kids who wanted to pet Tula and feed her cereal! (She enjoyed the Lucky Charms – I didnt have the heart to say no!) We wondered where everyone eats lunch during the week. There was literally no one around, and hardly any traffic. So we had to move on. We headed for Rehoboth Beach, where I had read there was a mile-long boardwalk lined with shops and restaurants, and after calling one of them to make sure it was open, we headed another 40 miles south. And it proved to be a good decision!
Rehoboth Beach reminded us a lot of Mackinac City – only bigger. The boardwalk was wide, and indeed a whole mile long. The beach was big and sandy, although not too many people were down there. There were all kinds of shops and places to eat, and people out and about. We walked around the whole area, and out on the boardwalk for a ways. Taryn and Sarah stopped for refreshments and some more time to get caught up, and Tula and I walked the whole length of the boardwalk and back. It was exactly what I picture a summer seaside town to be – complete with the creepy Zoltar fortune-teller machine!
The dunes and dune grasses were pretty and the setting sun made for some pretty colors on the ocean. The girls had spotted a Mexican restaurant they wanted to try, so that’s where we headed for dinner. It wasn’t very busy (most of the shops closed at 6), and I think we disappointed our waitress by all ordering the same thing! Sangria and fish tacos hit the spot for all of us, and was a good way to cap off a day full of fresh air! Then we had a bit of a drive back to Wilmington, and got Sarah to the train station for her 10:00 train, knowing we would be back in just a little over 6 hours to drop off Taryn!
Taryn and I enjoyed crepes for breakfast at IHOP, then headed to a pet store to do our shopping for the Robert Potter League for Animals – one of the first LEED-certified animal shelters (and I’m pretty sure that means they’re a “green” animal shelter!). Their website had a very specific wish list for the different critters, so we took Tula in with us, and browsed around and found some of the items on their list. Tula met a lot of new dog friends, and cleaned up the treats on the floor. Then we delivered the goodies to the animal shelter, which seemed to be very neat and clean and organized – the lady who took our donation thought the 4# turkey treat roll looked good enough to make chili with! It was a misty gray day out, and we had reservations on the Rum Runner II for a tour around the bay, and when I called to see if it was still going out, I found out we were the only 2 on the list, and they needed at least 6 people. But we headed into Newport anyway, took Tula for a walk, and then with some great luck, the veil of fog and mist lifted and it turned into a gorgeous sunny day. The bay tour got quite a few more people, so we headed out for a 1 1/2 hour tour and learned all sorts of stuff. Not only was our boat called Rum Runner II, she really was a “rum runner” back in the Prohibition days. The captain told us that Prohibition prohibited the production and sale of alcohol, but neglected to mention anything about the consumption of it. The Prohibition covered all of the land, and 3 miles out to sea. Beyond 3 miles, people could get creative. An enterprising man named Bill McCoy became a bootlegger and took his ships to Canada and the Carribean islands and legally bought alcohol that was legally produced. He then brought his shipments of alcohol back to the US coasts (Newport’s biggest export before Prohibition was rum) and sold it to others on smaller ships out beyond the 3 mile jurisdiction. So anyone with a boat could head out there and buy alcohol, and host parties and festivities, and the Coast Guard was powerless to do anything. It became known as Rum Row. Also, people on land tried to make their own alcoholic beverages, whether with a still, or “bathtub gin” or whatever, but sometimes the ingredients used in the homemade brew could cause sickness, blindness or even death. So people began to say things like “Why mess with the homemade stuff, when you can get the real McCoy?” – meaning that he had the legitimate goods off-shore, and that’s where the phrase “the real McCoy” comes from to mean something is genuine. Eventually the government extended the off-shore boundaries to 12 miles, and that curtailed a lot of the smaller ship traffic – it was just too far away. So a fast fleet of “rum runners” took over transporting the alcohol from the big ships to waiting contacts on land. These smaller boats had powerful engines, were usually painted a flat black to blend into the sea at night, and bullet-proof windshields. It was a risky venture, but financially rewarding if one could handle being out at sea at night without lights and being chased and sometimes shot at by the Coast Guard. So that was the former life of our tour boat – now a pretty white and varnished wood boat, and with engines that are still powerful, but not as big as they were then – those engines are not produced anymore.
In addition to learning about bootlegging during Prohibition, we saw the waterfront house that Jackie Kennedy grew up in, the church where she and Jack Kennedy were married, a couple lighthouses, several famous America’s Cup racing boats, lots of other sailboats out and about, the boat used in the Pirates of the Carribean movies, and a group of about a dozen little kids out on a sailing lesson. Newport Rhode Island is known for sailing and the America’s Cup, and there are many yacht clubs, and they start sailing lessons for kids as young as age 5. They have very small little sailboats with blunt ends that the little tykes can manage. Their first few lessons consist of being towed by another boat without the sail so they can get used to steering the boat with the tiller, and learn a little about control. Then they move up to adding a sail and staying within the calm confines of the marina. The only problem with that is there can be up to 2000 vessels in the various marinas during the summer months, and the little kids don’t always have good control and would occasionally bump their little boats into the multi-million dollar yachts. The little training boats are now all equipped with rubber bumpers! We passed a group of these kids out in the bay, but not too terribly far from shore, and it was kind of cute – they were all in a pretty small group, tacking back and forth, and jumping from side to side in their little boats, and seemed to be happy out there. Then I guess they just move on to bigger and longer boats! I included a photo that’s a little blurry unfortunately, but gives a good idea how young these kids are and how little the boats are! The captain made a comment that some of those kids were probably dressed in $500 outfits – a world I can’t quite comprehend! So it was a wonderful tour on a beautiful day – the captain said at this time of year, one never knows when a tour is going to be the last one of the season.
From there, Taryn treated me to a pedicure – that is her gift to me this year for birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day etc – a wonderful gesture to help me care for feet that are working hard with all the walking!
And then – we were off to Delaware! – interrupting the Rhode Island week a bit. But, Delaware is going to be the official “state-of-the-year” for 2013, since it’s the second smallest state, and Taryn also hoped to see a little of Delaware, since I’m combining it with my current journey (Rhode Island and Delaware are the only 2 states I’m doing this combination with). So we headed off through the southern end of Rhode Island, southern Connecticut, northern NYC and New Jersey, and got to Wilmington, Delaware pretty late. I will stay in Delaware for a week, then head back to Rhode Island for the remaining 2 days, and then get back on schedule. And this worked out well for everyone!
(And I’ve been camping lately which explains the delayed postings!)
Rhode Island – Friday, Oct.19
I was up and out really early to meet Taryn’s train in Providence at 7am but underestimated school bus traffic and other heavy traffic, so I was a little late. We decided to try to find a coffee shop nearby, and I knew there were some around, but didn’t know exactly where. We ended up walking about 1 1/2 miles through the historic part of Providence and through Brown University so she had a chance to see some of the old colonial houses and businesses. Then we came to the perfect coffee shop and had a good breakfast, which revived her after traveling on a plane and train all night. On the way down to Newport, we stopped and shopped for the soup kitchen that was going to be out donation-for-the-day. It’s the Bristol Good Neighbors Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry, and I picked this one because they offer both breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday, and have a big sign outside their building welcoming anyone who would like a meal. They did not have any specific requests food-wise, and I let Taryn decide what all to get for our donation. We took the food over to the soup kitchen between breakfast and lunch times, and it looked like a really nice, organized, welcoming facility in a building next to a church. There were people enjoying the opportunity to sit and relax inside between meals. After dropping off the food, we got in another mile and a quarter of walking in Bristol before it started to sprinkle a bit.
After another couple of stops, we got back to our motel just outside of Newport, and while Taryn took a much-needed nap, I left Tula with her and headed over to the mansion area of Newport and got in 3 miles of walking down a long, broad avenue. It was very overcast, but the heavy rains that had been forecast hadn’t started yet. Then I went back and picked Taryn up and we ended up walking over 5 miles all around Newport. We started off in the riverfront area, looking at the shops in town and along the piers – several restaurants and boat excursions had been canceled due to the expected bad weather, and things were on the quiet side. We had a little clam chowder snack and then set off for the Cliff Walk again. It was gray and misting out, but we walked a good part of the 3.75 mile trail and back again, and made it to the opposite end from where I’d been yesterday. We didn’t go along the part of the trail on the rocks since things were a little wet. Altogether the Cliff Walk passes by 64 mansions (many of them are referred to as “summer cottages”) and it’s quite a sight to have the beautiful mansions on one side, and to ocean with a rocky shore on the other side. It’s a beautiful walk, even in the mist! Then we headed to the Wharf Pub and Restaurant and enjoyed a dinner which was a treat from my mom. (Thanks, Mom! had a good lobster roll!) It was time to call it a night- I did a little over 11 miles of walking today; the most I’ve done on a single day yet! And Taryn did 8 of them with me. I won’t have as much time for walking tomorrow so it all works out!
I checked out of the centrally-located motel I’d been staying at in Providence and started to make my way down the other side of the bay to Newport. But first we stopped for a 5 mile walk along the bay on part of a 14 mile trail that goes from Providence to Bristol. It was a beautiful day and there were lots if walkers, joggers and bikers out. In many places the trail was right along the water, and the bay was quite industrious on the other side – heavy machinery moving up and down mountains of coal, smoke coming out of smokestacks, docks and piers (didn’t see much boat traffic), etc – lots of activity doing I don’t know what! My side if the bay was quiet (this was another trail on old train tracks) and although it may not have been the most scenic of walks, it does give me appreciation for all the work that goes on to provide services (light and heat maybe?) that I take for granted.
I had already done my homework for my donations for the next couple of days, because I didn’t want to waste time researching things when Taryn is here for the weekend. Today I was going to make a donation to Lucy’s Hearth, a shelter for women and their children if they’ve fallen on hard times or need to get away from an abusive relationship. When I talked with them, they mentioned they were in need if size 5 diapers for a family that had just moved in, and could also use some baby feeding supplies like little bowls and spoons. And they could always use things like Kleenex and that sort of stuff. So that’s the sort of thing I shopped for, and then I found the house tucked away on some extensive church grounds, and dropped off the supplies.
Then I headed to the outskirts of Newport, where I’d be for the next couple of nights and got checked in. I drove into Newport itself to get familiar with the town, and aside from all the enormous mansions one reads about, it’s a cute little town with a riverfront district and all kinds if sailboats and other boats and piers with shops and restaurants and all. It will be fun to explore. The part of town I wanted to walk in today, since the weather was still nice, was the Cliff Walk, which is a 3 1/2 mile path – sometimes very rough walking on the tops of boulders – between the shore (steep and rocky) and 64 of the mansions that the town is known for. There are several locations to access the path, and ours happened to be alongside The Breakers, one of the best known “summer cottages” built by the Vanderbilts around the turn of the century. I simply cannot imagine designing, building, living in, or maintaining a place like that! The Cliff Walk was wonderful – I could get occasional glimpses of the mansions and their extensive landscaped grounds, and occasionally the path would be across the tops of boulders, but it was still negotiable for both Tula and I. We passed a Chinese Tea House that I thought was a restaurant, and later learned a wealthy lady had had it built on her property to enjoy tea, and it’s available to rent out. We had to go through a couple of tunnels, and the sea was getting more rough against the rocks, and when I could no longer see a clear path along the tops of the boulders and the going got a little more questionable, we turned around even though we had not arrived at the end of that side of the trail. We got back to where we had started and then walked a bit in the other direction where the mansions seemed bigger, and the path was paved the whole way. When it started to get dark, we turned around again, but we got in 4 miles, which gives me another extra mile to save for a rainy/busy day.
It was then laundromat time, and I also went to a couple shoe stores – gonna have to replace one of my pair of shoes soon even though I really like them. Tomorrow will be an early morning to meet Taryn’s train!
Rhode Island – Wednesday, October 17
The first thing I wanted to do today was visit the Roger Williams National Memorial – Rhode Island’s only national park site. I had seen the signs for it (or so I thought), and was happy it wasn’t right downtown because I was hoping to avoid downtown Providence, which looked like a big confusing tangle of highways, traffic, buildings and people. When I got there I saw a huge park with lakes and lots of walking paths, and then realized it was the Roger Williams State Park, not the National Memorial. But no matter – it was pretty and green and we quickly finished off 2.7 miles of walking to start the day. Then I had to find the national memorial, which was right downtown (unusual for a National Park site, but there are a few), and Providence ended up being a very good place to go. (I wanted to be sure to visit the national park site because for the last 9 years, we have randomly picked a state to explore for our summer trip, and I have a whole list of things to do in each state and a couple of them are visiting all the national parks, the state capitol, and the high point and low point of each state. Since Rhode Island is so small, I am combining it as my official “state-of-the-year” for 2012 with my current journey. And that is also why my daughter Taryn will be joining me for a few days in Rhode Island – she hasn’t missed a state trip yet.)
I found the Roger Williams National Memorial (I didn’t actually remember who he was from the history classes of my youth!) and the memorial consisted of a small visitor center with some displays and a video and a pretty park in the heart of town across from where he once lived. In a nutshell, Roger Williams fled England in the 1600s like so many people because of religious persecution. But he found Massachusetts to be a place where religion was still tied to state matters, and he believed strongly that religion and state should be separate. He was banned from Massachusetts and wandered south a bit and became acquainted with the local Native American tribes and learned to speak their languages, and peacefully negotiated the purchase of land to form his own colony, which he called Providence, and declared it would be a place that anyone could be free to practice whatever religious beliefs they wanted to without the threat of persecution. For people who shared his beliefs, he re-baptized them (forming the first Baptist church), and the oldest Baptist church in the nation is in Providence; still standing, and still thriving. For the same reasons, Providence also became the home of the first Quaker meetinghouse, and the first Jewish synagogue. All were “safe” in Providence. And there’s a lesson in tolerance and common sense in all of that, which hasn’t yet been learned by all of our current world leaders. I thought about all of this as Tula and I walked more about than 5 miles through all of historic Providence, and Brown University, and the river walk by the canal that runs though town. I thought about it again when I walked by a museum that had both entrance drives blocked off, guarded by police officers, and when I asked one of them why the museum was blocked off, he said the Dalai Lama was there – and I thought what an appropriate city for him to visit since he’s a symbol of religious persecution today. Anyway, after I finished my long walk, I returned to the Visitor Center and gave them my donation-for-the-day. It was educational for me, and given in the hopes that more and more people can think the way Roger Williams did…to be tolerant and fair.
The state capitol building was only about a 10 minute walk away, so I put Tula in the car and walked over a bridge to the State Capitol, and wandered around inside – there were no guided tours and I just picked up a pamphlet for a self-guided tour. There was hardly anyone around in the whole building. It was a very pretty building with murals and a huge dome, and big beautiful grounds. That added another mile on to a full day, and I was happy to get back to the car and sit for a while on the short drive across the state to see Jerimoth Hill – the high point of the state at 812 feet. I had done my homework and knew where to park the car and take a short walk into the woods to see the rocks at the actual high point – and sign the visitor book! On the way back I detoured into Woonsocket again, and walked another .8 mile – the city wasn’t quite as pretty and walkable as I thought it would be, and I had walked nearly 10 1/2 miles altogether today (stockpiling a few miles since the forecast for Friday is very rainy). I stopped at Panera on the way back to the motel which was a wonderful treat after a very full day!
Rhode Island – Tuesday, October 16
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the country, and it really is dinky! It’s only 48 miles long by 37 miles wide…but, despite that, it has 400 miles of coastline. And today I set out to see some of that coastline! The first stop of the day was East Greenwich, and Tula and I walked through town, a neighborhood and then down to the first of many marinas I’m sure to see. And there were a lot of boats – mostly sailboats there. I didn’t see anyone out sailing though. We got in almost 3 miles. Then I was just going to continue heading south, and ended up in a left-turn lane I didn’t mean to be in. But it didn’t really matter, so the unexpected turn led me to Wickford, and that was a wonderful old historic town – pretty old brick buildings in town and more homes right up by the sidewalk from the mid-1700s to early 1800s. I like all the shutters – some front doorways even have shutters too – and not one of those homes has a storm door – they would probably look really out of place. We enjoyed a very nice walk around town. My progress down to the south side of the state was not going fast, so I decided I needed to revise my donation plans for the day. After finishing my walk in Wickford, I called the North Kingstown United Methodist Church to see if there were any special needs for their food pantry. The lady I spoke with said anything would be fine, and then I saw a little reminder on their website reminding people not to forget things like toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, laundry soap etc. So I went shopping for non-food stuff and loaded up the cart, then found the church. One of the food pantry ladies was there, and when she saw my pile of shopping bags, she wondered if I was bringing things in on behalf of some organizations. I told her it was just from me, and pointed out the card I had attached to one of the bags, and that led to a conversation about what I was doing. They were very appreciative of the things I brought, and she showed me the food pantry. It looked fairly well stocked, and then she told me they help out upwards of 150 families a week! At this church, families bring in food donations on Sundays when they come to church, and they leave a shopping cart out for that purpose. And then anyone who needs a little assistance is welcome to visit the food pantry. It’s a nice way to try to keep a steady stream of things coming in – this church doesn’t rely on any other larger organizations to help stock items.
From there I headed south to Narragansett. There was a long beachfront walkway and Tula and I walked the whole length of that. It’s such a nice day – lots of people were out walking, biking, jogging and skateboarding. I still needed a couple miles of walking and just a little further on was Scarborough State Beach. There was hardly anyone out and about, and once again, we enjoyed a long walk on the sand while the tide was out, and finished the walking for the day. As I was figuring out which way to start heading back to Providence, I saw a sign pointing to Point Judith and a lighthouse. So I took another detour. The lighthouse is a working one that’s part of a Coast Guard station, and they were just locking up the gates for the day. But the lighthouse was pretty anyway, and I also caught the tail end of the sunset…
expedition56 