Rhode Island - Day 21 - Peace Dale road

Fishermen’s Memorial State Campground

Sunday, 21 October 2018

today's route

Today I’m moving back down to Narragansett and don’t have any specific sight to see, but I do want to take a specific route.  When Momma and I were last here, not long before Aunt Alice died, we drove every day down Nooseneck Hill Road to Wyoming, then down Rt. 138 to Kingston to Peace Dale, where Aunt Alice’s nursing home was.

She wasn’t well enough to have us stay very long, so we’d visit for a bit in the morning, then go visit places in South County that Momma remembered, and then come back for another short visit in the afternoons.  I remember one day Momma and I took the ferry out to Block Island, where Momma had never been, and drove around the very few short roads on the island and came back again to tell Aunt Alice.  She’d spent 98 years in Rhode Island (reminder: not a huge state) and had never been out to Block Island either, so was glad to get our report.

Anyway, I thought I could find the hidden driveway to Aunt Alice’s nursing home and, if so, thought I might stop to thank the nurses once again for all the care they’d taken of her.  Surprisingly, as it had almost entirely Medicare-funded patients, the level of care was high enough that I wouldn’t have minded ending up here.

I found I remembered some things – the University of Rhode Island campus, for instance – that were still there, and others that weren’t. I passed by the Pump House, which was a restaurant where we’d gone with Aunt Alice long ago – very old and a local landmark.  I checked online to see if it was still open and can’t tell: it was closed for a while, then reopened as a music venue, but I couldn’t tell if it was still open and anyway, I would have gone for the food, not for the music.

I practically screeched to a halt when I passed the Historic Washington County Courthouse (now an art center) because it was stunning.  I turned around at the first chance I could manufacture and went back for a photo.  This is one building I’m glad didn’t get knocked down by some developer with a better idea.

Built in 1892 - stunning, right?

And I did find the driveway to the nursing home but that’s not what it is anymore.  Honestly, I couldn’t tell from the signs what it is now – the name was pretty vague – I’d have had to turn around and go back to negotiate the narrow driveway . . . not important enough since it’s not the same place.  But I’m glad to find my memory still functioning.

It was a pleasant drive – lots of changing leaves and rural areas and small towns/villages – very Rhode Island-y.

And back to my accustomed spot at the state campground.  Starting to feel like home.