Rhode Island

Dripping in wealth and opulence, the "mansions loop" south of Newport on Rhode Island is something to behold.

The residences here are extravagant in the extreme.

The word "chateau" doesn't do them justice; "castle" would be better.

"Marble House" as an example uses 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Excessive much?

We had a bit of a laugh driving our lovely little house on wheels past some of these monstrously obnoxious temples while gazing out at the spectacular views (where visible) that the owners have the pleasure of enjoying.

For the most part those views are theirs alone, with the rocky outcrops and ocean glimpses guarded by privacy hedges and fences.

Wherever you are able to glimpse the ocean, you immediately understand why so many well-heeled types built their homes here.

Earlier in the day, we had driven up the eastern side of the Sakonnet River from Sakonnet Point and thought how lovely rural Rhode Island was.

Almost as soon as we crossed from Massachusetts, we encountered waist-high rock walls as a feature separating home sites.

The drive up the 77 was incredibly picturesque and quaint and didn't hint at the grandiose to come over on Rhode Island itself.

That night we found a campsite on the Charlestown Breachway, on the southwestern edge of the state.

The boys had a fantastic play on a lovely white sand beach, reminiscent of home.

Cape Cod

After checking out the Plymouth Rock memorial where the pilgrims had come ashore to settle, we nighted at the Scusset Beach State Reserve.

Positioned at the corner of a beach fronting Cape Cod Bay and the northern end of the Cape Cod Canal, the site provided plenty of entertainment.

After a massive play on the beach, we checked out the ships cruising through the canal and the fishermen trying their luck using the biggest lures we've ever seen.

One guy caught a MASSIVE fish and had troubles even pulling its weight up on to the rocks but nobody else seemed to be having much luck.

The canal was built in the early 20th century as a way for marine traffic to pass through the area without facing the perils that lay offshore the Cape.

Later during our exploration of the Cape we visited the Race Point Lighthouse which sits at the Cape's very tip.

There sits a lighthouse and lifesaver's hut where men used to train each day and then wait for the inevitable call out to rescue shipwreck survivors out of treacherous seas.

Despite the perils, this ocean-facing side of the Cape offers up the most beauty, with its shifting sand dunes and barrier islands.

The Cape itself won't be around forever.

It's simply the leftovers of a rocky glacial moraine and the ocean is, bit by bit, taking it all back.

Not being built on anything but gravel and sand, the Cape is gradually being washed away.

The site where Marconi sent the first telegraphic message has, in the century of winters since, been clawed back by the ocean, along with most of the cliffs along this stretch.

The Salt Pond Visitor Centre's exhibits and films explain what is happening in the area.

The landscape near the Chatham Lighthouse at the south eastern end of the Cape is also very beautiful.

But most of the Cape feels like a clown car -- too many people trying to squeeze into too small a space!

Boston and its famed Red Sox

Boston is a very cool city. 

Think of "Good Will Hunting" and "The Departed" and you've got a sense of its grittiness. Think of JFK and you've got the typical Bostonian accent. And think of Harvard and MIT and you've got a sense of the student vibe.

But as well, there are waterways and green spaces aplenty and it was the location of some of the most important moments in American history.

Leaving Bessie in Salem, we caught the commuter train in and walked over to the Science Museum to hop on one of the famous Boston Ducks.

While poking our noses in at the Science Museum, we came across the Live Animal Care Center in the basement and said hello to a couple of tortoises, a grey squirrel, some snakes, a duck and other cool creatures.

On board our 'Duck' we cruised around the streets of Boston, checking out the sights downtown while learning a bit of the history from our driver Guido Gondolier.

As we thought it would be, the boys' favourite part of the tour was when we descended down an embankment and splashed into the water to cruise along the Charles River.

What we didn't realise was that Guido would offer up the chance for the kids to drive the Duck.

When Guido asked Indy what he wanted to be when he grew up, Indy answered that he had wanted to be a race car driver but had changed his mind because he was worried the police would catch him because he didn't have a licence. Oh, the worries of youth!

Poor Guido couldn't get either of the boys to stop talking - the chatterboxes strike again!

After our fun time on the Duck, we found a playground before catching the "T" subway to the Old State House for a quick stroll to Quincy Markets.

After some lunch, we checked out the busy harbour front and the kids had a ride on the most gorgeous carousel - the Greenway Carousel - which features exquisitely crafted creatures from throughout the region.

We strolled along the Freedom Trail to take in the historical sights, including the site of the Boston Massacre, the Old South Meeting House and the Granary Burying Ground.

When we reached Boston Common, the boys launched themselves into the playground beside the Frog Pond, making friends with some local boys.

Little did we know when we entered the subway for our next destination that it was going to be one of the squishiest journeys ever. 

We've been on a lot of subways in our time but this trip was a doozy, second only to the time in Paris peak hour when a pervert had grabbed me and I couldn't even move my arms to smack his hand away.

It's little wonder it was so busy - we were travelling to Fenway Park on a game night!

And so the four of us came to be sitting at baseball's hallowed ground, watching the famed Boston Red Sox take on the Detroit Tigers.

Great atmosphere!

I loved hearing the theme songs each player had whenever they came out to bat or they hit a home run or made some great fielding play.

With the kids close to nodding off, we had to call it quits before the end and made the return home on the "T" and the commuter train without issues.

Incidentally, the Red Sox beat the Tigers 20 - 4.

The next morning, a little weary from our late night out, we left Salem and drove to Concord to visit the Minute Man National Historic Site.

The multimedia presentation there is brilliant in transporting you back to April 1775 when the first shots rang out in the American Revolution and Paul Revere and William Dawes made their famous rides to warn the local militia who were ready to fight at a moment's notice (hence "minute men").

Witch Central

Salem in Massachusetts earned its supremely spooky reputation more than 300 years ago when mass hysteria broke out over accusations of witchery.

At the Salem Witch Museum you're enclosed in a dark room before a multimedia presentation unfolds around you.

It paints a picture of the restrictive puritanical life of the girls of the time, the events as they unfolded and the terrible end-result of the series of trials now known as the Salem Witch Trials (1692 - 1693).

Here's my take on what happened...

The girls were going out of their minds because they were so incredibly bored. They got one of their slaves, a woman named Tituba, to share some of her beliefs with them. The girls started acting strangely (either for giggles or because they'd actually gone mad from being so bored). When the doctor said he couldn't find anything wrong with them (and they didn't have psychiatrists in those days) he suggested it was the work of the devil. When they were interrogated around the clock by priests they started yelling out peoples' names.

When those people were then put on trial the girls claimed they'd seen their spirits flying around and up to no good. This 'spectral evidence' was taken on board as fact. If the accused people confessed then they just lost their lands. If they refused to confess, they were hanged. Nineteen people went to the gallows and one other was pressed to death while many others were held long-term in prisons.

Much later on, the girl who'd made the first accusation said 'Oops, I guess I made a bit of trouble. Sorry. My bad.'

An additional room at the museum described Wicca, the modern witchcraft religion based on pagan beliefs, and examined different perceptions of witchcraft such as the Halloween-version created by Hollywood.

The first presentation really affected Indy and he was asking questions for most of the day trying to figure it all out.

I tried to simplify and said that some girls told some lies and people believed them. The people they'd told lies about were killed. It was terrible and not fair at all. Bad things happen when people tell lies.

Dash, who at three is not quite as 'deep', thought it was all great fun and ran around outside saying "You're a witch! You're a witch!"

We had camped the van at Winter Park, a former fort and lighthouse turned coast guard station turned recreational area.

To make our lives easy, we caught the Salem Trolley which stops at Winter Park, the Witch Museum and other sights in downtown Salem with commentary along the way.

After the Museum, we stopped in at the waterfront for some chowder and checked out the maritime exhibits along the old wharves.

Indy got the attention of a parks ranger on board the "Friendship of Salem", a ship that is moored there as part of the National Historic Site.

It was closed to tours that day but sure enough the ranger allowed us on board and answered all of Indy's questions.

After the boys had a spin of the wheel and a play with the tender and rigging, we left and hopped back on the trolley to Winter Park.

We were glad we'd visited Salem in August and not in October.

Apparently, on Halloween night, the population swells to two and a half times its normal size, earning Salem the title of "Halloween Capital of the World".

Bush Digs and Cape Ann

Cruising down the New England coast in our very own version of a stretch limo we took a detour to Kennebunkport and checked out the summertime digs of former President George Bush (Senior). 

The compound is visible from the road but is clearly nowhere near as luxurious as living in a 28-foot RV so we decided not to call in and moved on through the beautiful seaside communities of Ogunquit and Wells Beach.

The beaches themselves are fairly ordinary by Australian standards but the pristinely maintained homes brimming with charcter and set amongst the grassy salt marshes are what make these communities so exquisitely different.

After spending the night at a campsite in New Hampshire, we took a gorgeous drive through Massachusetts' beautiful Cape Ann the next misty morning.

We passed through Essex which was building ships as far back as the 1600s and Gloucester, home of America's oldest commercial fishing fleet.

Rockport was extremely quaint and heavily touristed. 

Had it not been raining and had they not been staging a fun run there (on the American Labor Day Public Holiday) then we may well have parked and caught the free shuttle bus back into its heart to explore it at leisure.

Instead we continued onwards through the lovely towns en route to Salem, stopping in for a couple of hours at Manchester to make the most of a nice little oceanfront playground.