We started our day at the Middletown/Newport Days Inn. After a quick continental breakfast and coffee, we found the Cliff Walk. We parked at the end of Narragansett Ave. Tammy, and I walked down the 40 Steps. Back at the top of the steps, we had to follow the sidewalk around the block, because the Cliff Walk at that point collapsed into the ocean last year. We walked back down Webster Street and viewed a few “Summer Cottages” from the ocean side.
After our short walk, we drove over to Rosecliff and took a wander through the inside of one of the mansions. We chose Rosecliff because it was the location where the movie Great Gatsby was filmed in 1974.
We closed out our morning with Viking Trolley Tours of Newport. Viking’s website claimed that they would cover 150 points of interest in 90 minutes. I could not imagine how this was possible until I met our trolley driver and tour guide. She was awesome and shared facts and trivia quicker than I could forget the things she was sharing.
After the trolley tour we hit the road again, making it 20 miles before we stopped at The Galley Grille at White’s of Westport for lunch. The Galley Grille was a friendly place with a bar and a small-town feel. I tried a Golden Flounder beer from Buzzards Bay Brewing with my scrod dinner which was the daily special.
With our bellies full we started down the road again. Somewhere along the way, we realized we were near Plymouth and thought we should not continue without a stop. We saw what is left of Plymouth Rock. We learned that is used to be kept with a hammer and chisel for souvenir hunters and that it has been moved so many times that no one is sure where it came from originally. It was even broken into two pieces at one time and displayed in multiple locations. The current portico housing the rock was built in 1921.
We also saw the Mayflower II which was a recreation of the original Mayflower. The Mayflower II sailed from England in 1957 and was greeted in Plymouth by a crowd of 25,000. She returned to Plymouth in 2020 after a 3+ year restoration. Near the Mayflower II was a museum and a gift shop. Those buildings were designed to look like the homes the Pilgrims lived in.
Plymouth is home to the Pilgrim Mother Statue which was a gift from the Daughters of the American Revolution for the 1921 Tercentenary Celebration. The hill down the street from the Pilgrim Mother Statue is Cole’s Hill. Cole’s Hill was an Indian and Pilgrim burial ground. In 1697 John Cole built a house on the hill.
After we left Plymouth, we made it as far as Waltham, west of Boston. We found rooms at Extended Stay America Boston – Waltham and had dinner at Copper House Tavern in the Best Western hotel.