I absolutely love lighthouses! Rose Island Lighthouse has been on my bucket list for some yrs, so…read morethis past summer we finally road tripped to New Port, RI. You must take a ferry to reach the Island, see the website for details. This was not our first to RI, its a very clean, well kept area. It was abandoned some yrs ago approx 1970s and refurbished in 1993. Its now a B&B for visitors to stay in the property. You can also just daytrip across and visit this historic lighthouse inside, and the grounds. Lots history and the views are out of this world gorgeous. We did a tour with the keeper, and got to see the inside of the B&B. You cab also climb to the steep top to see the beacon, they best views. They do have a museum, gift shop and You can also donate to the foundation to help with the upkeep of the house. If you wanna stay I highly recommend being a volunteer or book on the website. It was a sunny fantastic kinda day to be on the water! ~Happy Trails

Dating back to the 1860s. Although decommissioned now do to the newport bridge this is about as…read morehistoric of a lighthouse as you can get. A must aee if you're in Newport area.

The wharves reek of dead lobster or something similarly unholy, but if you can get over the stench,…read morethe annual Tall Ships Festival is really something to behold. Imagine the Black Pearl except bigger and right there in front of you. The best-named ship was the Gorch Fock II (from Germany), but the Brazilian Cisne Branco had the cutest crew. Exploring the ships requires some ladder and gangway climbing - nothing strenuous, but leave the heels at home. Don't miss the international tents, with free samples and swag: This year we got Gouda from Holland, gummi bears from Germany, a variety of sweets from India, a DVD(!) from Indonesia... There were free performances (we watched women in aprons dancing with rolling pins. huh?). Costumed pirates and wenches also roamed the wharves with pistols and swords. Kitschy but super-fun.

I love Woods Hole as you can see from my other reviews. I have lived near there in the past and…read morelove to visit when I can and always learn something new there. This time it was about their new parking system which is inflicted on them by the Town of Falmouth who has the right to do it as Woods Hole is technically a village within Falmouth. Historically, Woods Hole's metered parking has been quite independent. So I blame this conversion on Falmouth, not Woods Hole. Their new parking system (digital electronic) requires inputting your license plate when you park in a legal space along Water Street as well as any of the residential and nonresidential side streets. In the past, and I mean for many decades, it was a "find a space and pay" with manual meters. You could visit and stay as long as you wished should you have plans for an early day meal and shopping and then return later in the day for another meal. No more! You can only have a paid visit with a maximum total of 3 hours in the entire day, even if the second trip is located on a different block of the town. We learned that when we tried to pay during our one day here to be in 2 segments such as I described. However, it would not allow us to pay a second time. Luckily for us it was close to 6pm which is when the pay day ends. Luckily we did not get a ticket as we had reservations at one of our special restaurants. Later, I spoke to Falmouth Parking office staff about the policy and I asked why they changed. They thought it was a better system to move people along. Even with spending hundreds of dollars in local shops that day, they did not think it should be altered for convenience of the visitor. They "suggested" that the alternative was to park over in Falmouth Heights, miles away, and find a place eat there for the second meal. I did not fly from Colorado to eat in that area, I came for Water Street eateries and shops in Woods Hole. Watch your meter and plan around this policy. Go back for a second stint if needed after 6pm. The good parts of the visit that day, in addition to shopping and eating brunch at Pie In The Sky, a longtime favorite, was investigating all of the educational displays in town for the anniversary of the first lab, WHOI. Much of it is world famous, the Alvin deep diving submarine capsule and all the shipboard research they do. The sunset over Eel Pond is classic. We did that after dinner at our favorite fresh seafood restaurant, Shuckers. We had made reservations earlier that day when we walked by on the way to the car and we saw the "2 full lobster meal" special. We also watched the ferries and research vessels arrive and depart from the docks. We noticed that another restaurant is still not open all week, just the 5 busiest days, so we missed it on this trip. And sadly one of our long time favorite eatery spaces has still not found a reliable occupant since before the pandemic. But "in the old days" it was a charming seafood place right on the water. It was a pizza place when it reopened but closed again a couple of years ago. It's still a wonderful town to visit for so many reasons. And for the first time ever, we did not see the drawbridge on Water St operate a single time.

I was unfortunately only a short time in Woods Hole. It's an interesting city, mix of both new and…read moreold. Small town feel but cutting edge. It's home to a lot of different scientific institutes including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Woods Hole Research Center, NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (which started the Woods Hole scientific community in 1871), the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, a USGS coastal and marine geology center, and the home campus of the Sea Education Association. The views like in most towns I visited on my vacation is spectacular, another wonderful little stop in my trip thru Cape Cod.

Excellent day to visit the Gay head lighthouse and enjoy the ocean views and breeze. Parking was…read morefree and available at 500pm. People were milling around enjoying the shops, eating ice cream, taking photos and relaxing. I would highly recommend a visit. They just finished adding a wheelchair accessible ramp to access the shops and views.

Definitely a must see for tourist especially. I would visit this spot even if I was a local. You…read morecan also see the lighthouse from this location. Plenty of locations to take pictures from. This also includes a restroom and a few stores to shop from and cute souvenirs. This was the best part of our tour. I Highly recommend.

PROS: Very clean, upscale looking people, nice shops, has Chappy ferry, best restaurants on the…read moreisland is at this town CONS: The people who shop and work in this town are stuck up and the prices on everything are higher than all other towns OVERALL: I would come to this town, but not to shop or socialize; only to relax, eat, sleep over, and walk around

Mix of Old World Charm and Modern Amenities [Martha's Vineyard MA]…read more Once our ferry arrived at the terminal in Vineyard Haven we purchased a day pass at the ticket office. Edgartown was the first town we visited at Martha's Vineyard. It is on the eastern side of the Island which was about 20-mins to the Visitor Center. Edgartown is a quiet, lovely village with a deep history of its New England whaling past... we enjoyed some shopping in the various souvenir shops in town. We had lunch at the Seafood Shanty and stopped by the Ice Cream and Candy Bazaar for some ice cream (and chocolates). I started to imagine Brody walking through the center of town with his supplies for his "Beach Closed" mission. This was where they filmed some of the scenes from Jaws! We were not aware that there was an "Amity" walking tour, otherwise, we would've loved to see some of the filming locations but we did see the brick building that was temporarily used as the Amity National Bank (located on the corner of South Water Street and Main Street). The actual prop is located inside someone's office. That was pretty cool to see. The bank clerks allowed us to take a photo of it. I have to rewatch the movie again. The shops not only sell Martha's Vineyard merchandise, but many sell t-shirts and sweatshirts with "Amity" and other Jaws references... Across the harbor from the Chappy Ferry is Chappaquiddick. The island is accessible year-round by a small car ferry. Stop by the Visitor Center and grab a map. There is a public restroom in the premises. This also serves as a souvenir store. Review #3024

New Bedford is the "whaling capital of the world" but this is a different sea creature - it's a sea…read moreurchin and it's standing just behind the court house and Social Security Administration building. The Sea Flower was created by artist James Surls and installed in 1978. It is a striking sculpture and people either love it or hate it. It's abstract and it's odd and it's been in danger of removal multiple times, as recently as when Mayor John Bullard tried to remove it in 1986. The elderly and the blind kept whacking their heads on the sculpture, necessitating the addition of a beam. A newspaper survey revealed that 86 percent of respondents hated it. I thought it was interesting but then, most abstract art goes over my head. [Review 18634 overall - 1214 in Massachusetts - 2156 of 2022.]

Bridges straits and…read morelights The strait between Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay is only about 600 yards wide with a couple of small islands, sand bars and rocks thrown in for interest. A dangerous place to sail through at the best of times and very interesting in foggy or bad weather. So it was recognized a long time ago that some help for mariners would be nice and a small lighthouse was built here in 1855. Only about 30 feet tall and had a small 6th order Fresnel lens that was later upgraded to a 5th order lens. The light not only helped the boats get through the strait but also assisted the Bristol Ferry than ran across the treacherous area. A very useful little lighthouse that did it's job well and prevented many accidents. Then in 1927 the hulking Mount Hope Bridge was built between Bristol and Aqidneck Island so both the ferry and the lighthouse were no longer needed. The huge bridge served as a great navigational aide, as long as the boats didn't run into it or course. The lighthouse remained but since it isn't easy to see from land it was forgotten and slowly fell into a rather sorry condition. Paint was chipping off and it definitely needed so TLC. Fortunately some great new owners spent time restoring the lighthouse to it's former cute little self and now sits proudly under the huge bridge. It's private and never open to the public but good views can be seen from the water or by the landing under the bridge. This is a residential house so don't get too close and respect their privacy. The combination of the looming bridge, cool straits and lovely little lighthouse makes for a very special place indeed.

I have been driving past here my entire life and seeing as this whole COVID thing has us doing more…read moreoutdoorsy things close to home, we decided to stop in and check it out. The windmill was really cute, the property was very well groomed and the flower gardens were lovely. There were little foot bridges as well as a nice big duck pond! Glad we stopped and checked it out!

Hello from Gatlinburg TN Smoky Mountains Park.. I'm originally from Portsmouth RI and I lived a few…read moreblocks away from the farm and I visit every time I come back home to see my friends..I highly recommend visiting..It has the Oldest School house in USA too