July - Part Two - Rhode Island + NYC

Samantha Kate Cleary
Nov 29, 2022
8 min read

Rhode Island

After beach hopping up the east coast, we headed to Rhode Island. We absolutely loved Rhode Island! Rich with history and beauty!

Our first stop was Beavertail State Park in Jamestown. Beavertail State Park had the most beautiful lighthouse!! It was on a rocky cliff right at the ocean. I LOVE lighthouses and the Beavertail Lighthouse was a real dream! We walked around and explored the grounds and sat on the rocks overlooking the ocean. This is one of my favorite spots we have visited!

While there, we also did some geocaching. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the geo, BUT we did see someone get ENGAGED while we were searching! SO fun!! She said yes! :)

After exploring the park, we stopped by The Wicked Whisk. The cutest little ice cream shop! I went with something different than my norm, just chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles! It was so good! SK stamp of approval! On our way to get ice cream, we stopped by a beach access to dip our toes in the water. It was cold!

We ventured onto Newport, where we were staying for the night. Such a cute little town!! We had dinner at the oldest restaurant in the US- The White Horse Tavern. Opened in 1673. The food was delicious! We slept right at the water, and we didn’t get kicked out! It was a beautiful spot to wake up the next morning.

We started the next day with breakfast and then headed to do the Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is 3.5 miles right on the edge of the cliff going to the ocean. On one side is the ocean, on the other side are huge, old houses. It was fascinating to see all the houses and to just be walking through rich people’s backyards! Wild! It turned out to be a much warmer day than we were expecting, the sun was relentless, and we didn’t have water. Whew! Not great planning on our parts- but we made it and it was worth it! The big kicker of the afternoon, it was 3.5 miles ONE way and there wasn’t a path back. We consulted a map and saw what looked like a bar and beach access not too far away. When we arrived, we realized it was a very ritzy country club. The nice ladies at the entrance quickly gave us a cup of ice water to get us to go away. We were thankful. We went back to the map and found the quickest walk to the nearest gas station. It was a couple miles, but we were walking through neighborhoods. Looking at houses is the best distraction on a walk and one of our favorite things to do especially in an area that has intriguing architecture.

After all the walking and the heat, we’d earned ourselves some ice cream! One of my coworkers from the museum had told me about The Wright Scoop, a local ice cream shop. It was so cute!! Hands-down the BEST ice cream I have ever had, and that is saying a lot from an ice cream snob! I chose cookie dough and unicorn flavor. The unicorn flavor was vanilla ice cream with chunks of locally made cake and sprinkles. It was SO pretty! Of course, I added some extra sprinkles to the top :)

After ice cream, we moseyed on to Providence, Rhode Island. Our first stop was Haven Brothers Diner. Haven Brothers is the oldest food truck. It was founded in 1893. The hotdogs were amazing!! Such a fun atmosphere! Afterward, we wandered around until we found a happening street with a live band! We danced and people watched for a while. It was a fun night!

On Sunday, we made it over to Connecticut where we spent the afternoon paddleboarding. It was a beautiful afternoon and we were so glad to be on the water! Paddleboarding is my new favorite water activity! TC is still a bigger fan of kayaking, but he does like to paddleboard. For dinner, we headed over to Mystic, Connecticut for some pizza from Mystic Pizza! Mystic Pizza was opened in 1973, but became famous in 1988 when the movie with Julia Roberts and Matt Damon came out. They had the movie playing in the restaurant which was a fun addition! I had seen parts of it, but not all of it. The pizza was phenomenal!! I am not a huge pizza fan, but this pizza was top notch!

There were a couple items we needed to finish in the van, so we spent Monday evening finishing those items. We put in the mounts for TC’s computer screen. There is a screen hanging from the upper cabinets and a screen mounted to the countertop. TC works there most days, but sometimes I sneak some time at that desk. I love working with my screen mounted! The other item was the paper towel roll. The great paper towel roll debate. At this point, we had been living in the van for five months and we still had not agreed on where to hang the paper towel roll. Too close to the countertop didn’t work because we already are limited on countertop space. Over the sink made sense, except it would get caught in the door if it unrolled. We finally settled on above the driver side bench. We had to move the battery monitor, but it ended up being the best spot! T was worried it would unravel while we drove, so he put it at a slight angle. It has only unrolled twice, both times from the wind when we have the door open. When we have the door open, we just clip the roll closed. Also, binder clips - life changing! We use them for everything! Holding up the curtain at night, holding food closed, hanging clothes to dry. So many options! I went to bed a very happy gal with a few more items checked off the list!

New Jersey - New York

We were spending the weekend in New York City, but we had one very important spot on our way! TC’s cousin lives in New Jersey, so we stopped in to see him and his fiance. We were so excited! We’d met Renata a few months back and loved her! We could not wait to spend time with her and Ethan! We went to dinner at one of their fav local polish restaurants. The food was delicious! We then headed back to their house to pick the guitar and sit on the back porch. You know how much TC and I love a back porch and these two had the best one! We stayed up late into the evening talking and hanging out. We had the absolute BEST time! We were thankful for the time together!

The next day, we took off for the city! I absolutely love New York City and was so excited to experience it with TC! When I was a child, I decided I was going to live for one year in NYC. I want to know what it is like to live there! TC was not on board. After a weekend in the city, he said absolutely! Let’s do it! That will be coming down the pipeline one day. We had so much fun! The first night, we walked to central park. There was a disco skate party happening. I can’t skate, but if I could, I would have been down there! We loved getting to watch! We then found a beautiful spot to watch the sunset!

The next day, we worked from a side street in Brooklyn. The sun was blazing, which was hot, but it made our solar panels very happy! That evening we headed to dinner with one of my friends from the museum! She lives and works in NYC. We met while working on a project together with the museum and her company. We met last November at an event in Raleigh, and she said she would show us around when we made it there! We had a great night! We went to dinner and then headed to a rooftop bar. The NYC skyline was dreamy! Later in the evening, we met up with Will. Will is the brother of our roomie, Joey. I had not met Will, even though he has been to our house in Raleigh several times! I was always out of town or at work. TC has hung out with him a couple times though. It was fun to meet him and hang out with him! Before heading back to the van (at 3am-yikes!), we ended the evening with a slice of pizza. T was dying to try a $1 piece of pizza. We went to the famous Joe’s Pizza. It was delicious! We said our goodbyes to Jena, and headed back to the van. We slept semi-peacefully under the Brooklyn bridge.

The next morning, Cousin Ethan came into the city to eat breakfast with us! We were glad to have more time with him! That afternoon, I needed a nap before our evening activities- The Dead and Co. concert!! Part of the reason we chose this weekend is because Dead and Co. was playing a two-night run at Citi Field. It was the tour ending show which was a fun one for us to be at since we were at a tour opening last August in Raleigh. We had the BEST time! The show was obviously phenomenal! And we had wonderful seats!! We had some trouble navigating the subway on our way to the show, but we eventually found a huge group of people wearing Dead shirts, so we followed them the rest of the way!

Our first stop the next morning was for bagels! I thought I wasn’t a huge bagel fan, but I learned I was wrong and now I can’t stop eating bagels! Ha I wanted a rainbow bagel, but we couldn’t find one, so we just went to the closest spot. They were delicious! We spent the afternoon walking the High Line. The High Line is a 1.45 mile walkway made on a former elevated railroad. It was fun getting some exercise while also seeing the fancy buildings and apartments of Manhattan! After getting very hot, we stopped in at Ample Hills for some ice cream! Good ice cream, but nothing special!

We booked a hotel room in Manhattan for the evening. It was fun! We were excited to be sleeping in AC! I was glad to have a spot to fancy myself up for our dinner date. We found a really cool rooftop to eat dinner. We also walked around Time Square. I am terrified of people dressed up. I have slowly been working on this fear, but I still get anxious in touristy spots. We needed to walk through Time Square or walk several blocks out of the way, I assured T I could do it. The last time I was in Time Square, I had to close my eyes and be led through because I was so scared, and Spiderman was harassing me, so Spiderman was what I was most worried about this time. Before we walked through, I laid down some ground rules. If I start running, don’t grab me, just follow. And I am leading us. I will decide the best path forward. I walked up to Time Square and took a survey of the scene. I spotted five spidermans, I mapped out a course and we went for it! I made it through without having a panic attack! What a relief! Not today Spiderman!!!

Before hitting the dance floor, we had to stop by a Dunkin’ and get some coffee. I guess this is what it is like to be in your 30s! Haha It was the best evening filled with all our favorite things!

While in the city, we left the van at the airport. We figured it would be safe there overnight. Before going to pick it up, we found a nearby bagel shop with rainbow bagels!! I had a honey sriracha cream cheese on mine. They were delicious! After getting the van, we headed to Coney Island for one of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs. It was just as good as I remember!