A Visit to Plymouth: America's Hometown [Part 12]

We continue our USA Road Trip series with the next part. Our day started in Narraganset. After waking we packed up and headed out to Newport for breakfast, and a hike on the famous Cliff Walk where we observed the mansions of Newport. The day eventually was about Plymouth where we headed to next and spent the rest of the day. I hope you will enjoy this last bit from our road trip journey, since the next city we visited was Boston, where we would spend the rest of the days of the trip.

This is only a part of our big travel series to the USA 2016

For the other parts click here

Starting of the Day

As I have shown in the previous part, after a stormy night the day turned out the be quite nice. After waking up we packed our things and headed out to Newport immediately. We had breakfast in a small (but stylish) diner here. I like the design of the interior. It was very old school and the typical sight you see on TV and movies. I had a great omelette (served again with home fries, something I usually don't eat in the morning). We didn't stay in Newport that long since our goal was to venture out a little bit more south towards the sea.

Walking the Walk: On the Cliffs of Newport

The Newport Cliff Walk is considered one of the top attractions in Newport, Rhode Island, It was one of those things that the guide book just glossed over, but in reality turned out to be a real treat. The Cliff Walk runs from the east end of Bailey's Beach to the western end of First Beach. There are public access points at Bellevue Avenue, Ledge Road, Marine Avenue, Ruggles Avenue, Sheppard Avenue, Webster Street, and Narragansett Avenue.

If you are only there for a hour or two (like we were) I recommend starting at the "Forty Steps" entrance. Go further south along the coast line and you will see most of the mansions. You can walk for 20 minutes in one direction and head back. At the "Forty Steps" entrance you can find parking, which you'll have to pay for. When we were there the parking meter was broken so we didn't pay (but I was on alert, since I didn't want that ticket :)

The Newport Cliff Walk runs behind many of Newport's famous gilded mansions, such as Astor's Beechwood, Rosecliff, Marble House, The Breakers, Ochre Court, and Rough Point, where a bridge is located over an open chasm. Most of the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) cliff walk is paved and it offers beautiful vistas, tunnels, and long winding pathways. The latter half of the cliff walk has unpaved sections and paths along rugged New England rocky shoreline. This section is more of a challenge but it also has impressive views.

Plymouth: America's Hometown

It was only a 90 minute drive from Newport to Plymouth. Before heading into town we stopped by the Colony Place Shopping Mall. Here you can find a lot of stores for shopping, but we only stopped at the Walmart there to get some water and supplies. Plymouth is a typical (probably quintessential) New England town. But behind the surface of cute houses and charming streets, it is also the core of the USA as we know them today. That's exactly what makes this place so fascinating.

Where it all began...

Plymouth holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown." Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the famous ship the Mayflower. Plymouth is where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. A great sight nearby is the Plimoth Plantation, which we didn't get to visit because of the weather. But it did come highly recommended in all guide books. It is a living history museum located south of Plymouth Center. It consists of a re-creation of the Plymouth settlement in 1627.

Mayflower II

The Mayflower II is a full-size replica of the Mayflower, the ship which brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620. It is located at the State Pier in Plymouth Center. The ship is open as a museum about the Pilgrims' historic voyage from Plymouth, England, and is considered a faithful replica of the original Mayflower.

Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock is one of Plymouth's most famous attractions. Traditionally, the rock is said to be the disembarkation site of the Pilgrims. However, there is no historical evidence to support this belief. The first identification of Plymouth Rock as the actual landing site was made in 1741 by 94-year-old Thomas Faunce, whose father had arrived in Plymouth in 1623, three years after the arrival of the Mayflower. The rock is located nearby where the initial settlement was thought to be built.

In the image above you can see a statue of Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin (c. 1581 – 1661). He was the sachem, or leader, of the Wampanoag, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem. He and his tribe saved the pilgrims when they arrived on shore since they were cold, hungry and sick. They nursed them back to health and gave them a home. Unfortunately history would show that the pilgrims didn't return the favor later on...

Main Street Plymouth

As with all main streets in small New England towns they are the center of activity. This one is no different. Here are all stores, restaurants and other attractions. We had dinner in Sam Diego's a wonderful Mexican restaurant. It's very cozy and the food is delicious.

Night in the town

After dinner we made one final stroll through Plymouth. It was very cold and windy so we didn't stay too long outside. Next up are some shots I made before we headed back to our motel.

I hope you enjoyed the sights from Newport's Cliff Walk as well as America's Hometown - Plymouth. The next part will see us entering the next big city of our trip: Boston. Here we would spend the last three days of our stay. But more on Boston in the next part.

End of Part Twelve

To be continued...

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