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From Newport , Glide and I headed west over several tall bridges that span the significant waterways connecting Narraganset Bay with the Atlantic Ocean , as well as the eastern and western parts of Rhode Island . Good views , good roads , and all too soon we were in Connecticut , where we stopped at the Mystic Seaport . This is a magnificent working museum dedicated to the boats and ships of the 19th century ... very much worth a visit . In this day of jet planes and the Internet , we might forget that 200 years ago commerce and prosperity relied upon sailing vessels ... and the Mystic River was a major port . It is easy to spend a few hours there , and many of the ships can be inspected close up .
About 25 miles west of the Mystic is the mouth of the Connecticut River , and 12 tree-shaded road miles upriver is the Gillette Castle , with a twisty drive going up the hill on which the castle sits . A wealthy actor , William Gillette , famous for playing Sherlock Holmes , built this lovely monstrosity in 1914 . It is now a state park , and when one wanders through the building it does become apparent that Gillette liked spying on his guests .
From the castle , one looks down on the river where a small ferry can be seen crossing from shore to shore . For a motorcycle and rider the cost is a mere two bucks , which we took advantage of . A little farther along the river is William Goodspeed ’ s opera house , which began amusing audiences back in 1876 . Back then , steampowered boats provided good access , and the river was the 19th century equivalent of today ’ s Interstate highways . The theater was refurbished some years back and puts on excellent productions , many of which end up on Broadway .
Next morning Tropical Storm Andrea had caught up with me , and rain pelted down on us all the way to my hometown of Northampton , Massachusetts . The Batwing fairing and leg guards gave reasonable protection , and the bags on the Glide had good seals , fortunately , so my clothes stayed dry . By morning , Andrea had gone , and the sky was blue with puffy white cumulus clouds . Lots of friends to see in N ’ ton , and great pizza at Joe ’ s Café ; I recommend the # 10 well done .