DAY 5: Battleships & a Touch of Heritage

  

Observation of the day

Even if we never met them, finding family makes you feel connected.

 

Quote of the day

“It is the United Nations' Cliff Walk.” – observation by VM as she and EM passed families of all nationalities on the Cliff Walk trail behind the mega-mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. It seems EVERYONE is happy to be out vacationing again. 

 

VM & EM: Today we headed out early to Fall River, Massachusetts to check out Battleship Cove which is a museum and memorial consisting of five national historic landmark Navy ships. The highlight (and the ship where we spent 2 hours!) was the USS Massachusetts which was a battleship commissioned from 1942-1947. Incredibly the ship was like a mini city, with up to 2,300 men and officers. And amazingly, despite being involved in a variety of missions they lost ZERO men during combat, therefore she was known as a “lucky ship.”

 

EM and I really enjoyed touring the ship, it has an incredible amount of artifacts and “veteran’s voices” videos of men who actually served on her, providing color about life on Massachusetts.

 

Battleship Cove has many interesting conservation initiatives including JFK's PT59, which was sunk in a salt water harbor after changing hands from private collectors a few times. What remains is here, submerged in fresh water in an attempt to preserve it.

Boarding the Massachusetts.

VM noted this was a recipe for corn bread YANKEE style. No Southern corn bread here.

The Christmas menu from 1943 included CIGARETTES,
never knew this was a food item, but shows you how prized they were.

The bi-monthly newspaper gave the sailors "cliff notes" for writing home about their Christmas dinner!

The ship houses thousands of artifacts including this "mini" Time Magazine.

VM thought these signs were funny & indicated the age of the sailors,
as they were being admonished like kids to not waste food!

One of the most popular spots on the ship was the soda fountain. Coke & ice cream win again.

The brig was where sailors who broke the rules were sent with bread & water. It is also where they stored the beer under lock and key!

Like the submarine, we were in awe of how many steeps stairs and physical hurdles the sailors had to maneuver on the ship. 

We were amazed to find out the ship carried $1 million in CASH as the men were paid every two weeks. The disbursement officer would dole out the cash, the men promptly spent much of it on the ship and then he was responsible for collecting it back from the canteen, the barber, the soda fountain, etc.
where the money had been spent!

This safe held the cash!

No STDs on the Massachusetts!

Loved details like this -- the unofficial mascot of the Massachusetts
is "George the Gremlin." He was painted on a projectile including enemy flags. The picture below shows where it was originally located and the one below that shows where it was recreated.

We also checked out the other vessels, but by 1:30pm we were done. Afterwards, we headed over to Somerset, which is adjacent to Fall River, on a family genealogy mission. VM’s paternal grandfather, Frank Griffin, was from Somerset and while VM’s dad primarily grew up in Aruba, he was born in Somerset & spent a year there in 5^th grade, staying with his grandparents. Prior to his passing last year, Grandpa Bob told us stories about the year he was there, including sledding down the Somerset hills in the winter.

 

We headed to St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery, knowing our family was buried there, but not sure where. Luckily, it is a small enough cemetery that within 15 minutes of arriving we found both where VM’s paternal grandmother (who passed before she was born) was buried with her parents and we also found the plot where VM’s great-grandfather, his wife and two of their children were buried. While of this group, VM only ever met her great-aunt Eleanor, there was something about seeing all these names which made EM and VM feel connected to our roots.

 

The Griffins are buried in a plot with the Donahues. The patriarch, Cornelius Griffin, is VM's
great-grandfather. He married Mary Donahue. They are buried with two of their children. 

The resting spot of Grandpa Bob's mom and grandparents.

After making the discovery, we drove around Somerset a little, including down the hill where Grandpa Bob fondly remembered sledding. Starting to feel hungry, we headed to Newport, Rhode Island for linner.

 

Two thumbs up for The Mooring!

The salmon dish at The Mooring was a work of art & 
tasted even better!

EM found another great spot by the water called The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar (https://www.mooringrestaurant.com). It was yummy. Afterwards, we strolled a bit through the Newport seaport, but quickly tired of the crowds. It is a hopping town!

 

To work off our lunch, we decided to walk on the famed Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is a trail behind some of Newport’s most renowned homes including The Breakers. We chose to stay on only the paved part of the path as EM wisely stated, “I don’t need to be twisting my ankle today by climbing on rocks.” Nevertheless, we walked more than 2 miles and enjoyed meeting many doggies along the way. Our favorite was Lola, a yellow lab who was scavenging for any food items she could find. And funny enough, it turns out her “people” were a young couple from Winter Park, FL who were FL Gators. We are everywhere!

Next to the Cliff Walk, Easton's Beach seems to be a popular spot for surfers, but we couldn't imagine getting in the cold water full of seaweed.

The Breakers!

Loved seeing this little fellow having his "linner" while on our Cliff Walk.

 

We ended our wonderful day with one last scoop of ice cream at a local New London spot called Berry’s (https://berrysicecream.square.site) New London is where the Coast Guard Academy is located and EM was excited to see some cadets (in khakis & polos) “hanging out.” Tomorrow she will be trying it all out!

                                                    Random Pic of the Day
Rhode Islanders aren't too worried about humans on the Cliff Walk, but they want to make sure the dogs are taken care of -- these are our kind of people!