Day 36 & 37, Nov 5th & 6th

Day 36,
Today we drove from Newport Rhode Island to Westerly Rhode Island. Today was pretty much a travel day but we did manage to see one last lighthouse in Rhode Island. The Point Judith Lighthouse was originally built in 1810 but due to severe storms and weather it has been rebuilt several times. I guess you would have to say that this last part of our trip has been looking for Lighthouse that have a history about them or are pre 1900's.

Day 37,
Today we drove to Mystic Connecticut and drove through an area called Watch Hill. There were mansions along this drive that have to be seen to be believed. We managed to get a photo of one that we later found out to have sold for 11 million. The new owners had the house remodeled on the inside (unknown how much that cost) and had the yards re-landscaped at the paltry sum of 2 million.

We then drove to the Watch Hill Lighthouse. This lighthouse is manned by the US Coast Guard and is fenced off. I had to shimmy along the fence footing to get around to the ocean side of it for a better photo. I was just waiting for someone to come out and yell at me and tell me to get off the wall (I got lucky, no one did).

Driving through the Mystic Harbor area, we saw many homes that were built in the 1700's & 1800's. Most were owned by ship captains and harbor pilots. One house was built and owned by Capt. John Appelman (Capt. of the ships Neptune & Hero) in 1837 and then later owned by Capt. Edward Beech. Beech was the commander of the USS Triton in 1958.

Our next stop was Mystic Harbor. This harbor has a lot of history. This port has been used as a major ship building harbor since the 1600's.

We went to the Maritime Museum and got to climb aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last surviving American wooden whaling ship. This ship was built in 1841 and retired in 1921. The voyages for whaling lasted from 8 months to 5 years. That is a long time to be away from home. The ship is currently being restored at a cost of 6 million dollars. And to think it only cost $27,000 to build it in 1841.

We will post more in a few days.

Thank you for the comments,
Vern & Sue

This is a huge anchor off of a British War Ship that was lost in the war of 1812.

This is a beautiful Steam Ship that was just restored in California and sailed to Mystic Harbor. The upper cabin and wheel house is made of Mahogany.

This is a old three masted training ship that they give tours on daily

I'm not sure of the name of this old schooner but it was awesome to see this old ship still floating and in use today.

Here is one of the old captain's houses in Mystic. This is the one that was built in 1837.

I guess they want to drive the point home on this sign. If you proceed you will end up in the ocean.

This is the Watch Hill Lighthouse in Watch Hill CT.

One of the many mansions in the Watch Hill area, must be nice.

This is the Point Judith Lighthouse.