Tonight's menu - pizza and a little chilly

What a perfect day to ride a motorcycle! The morning temperature was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, riding highway U.S.1 through quaint, historic Connecticut settlements many of which have already celebrated their tri-centennial! Old churches, incredible old New England homes from the 18th century, and huge cemeteries with grave stones that have withstood wars and hurricanes.

I said goodbye to Peter, who was nice enough to pose with his beautiful 1983 Shovel Head Harley. If you ever make it to Idaho buddy, I've got a room for you! Thanks!

I followed U.S. 1 for most of the morning until I reached Old Saybrook, one of my points of interest. On the way I saw, and had to take a picture of, a restaurant, the name of which is very special, even if there is no Kurley Kone next door.

I stopped at a grocery store to ask directions of a local. I was looking for a statue of an ancestor that was "The hero of the Pequid (Indian) War". The local I had selected in the parking lot was actually from nearby Old Lyme but she gave me directions to the library where she thought they could answer my question. She was so excited about me looking for an ancestor that, when we happened to pull out of the parking lot at the same time, she drove out of her way to "lead me" to the library!

Cute statue outside the library

It turns out that my ancestor is no longer the "Hero" of the Pequiod Indian wars but, instead, has become controversial. Back in the '80s the ancestors of the Pequiod tribe filed for and received recognition from the government as an indigenous people (I believe the story was that some additional land came with the recognition). They then got together with some of the towns people and protested the statue of Capt. John Mason that was placed in Mystic, Connecticut (my bad, I thought it was Old Saybrook). I had read a partial account of his actions against the (enemy) Indians and was surprised at the brutality used. Turns out that the Indians had attacked settlers in the area and were hold up in Fort Mystic. Capt. Mason brought his army to fight them but after several hours he ordered the fort to be burned, killing all of the Indians, including women and children, within. Because of the protests his statue was relocated to Windsor where he was one of the settlers and a resident of the first town in Connecticut. After being relocated the statue was vandalized several times before the protestors tired of that cause and went on to picket a Trump Rally.

So, it being such a beautiful day, I chose to ride 50 miles off route to see the statue and, while I was in Windsor, visited their museum next door to the park where the statue now lives, along with some of the neighboring houses which are among the oldest in the state.

The statue currently resides in a park in Historic Windsor

Just down the street from

A house built in 1699 and...

across from the oldest church in the state, built by the "Massachusetts Pilgrims" in 1630!

I then made the return trip to Old Saybrook, then pointed my front wheel east again. Around New London I noticed that, for what ever reason, the battery for my phone was nearly dead. In fact, the next time I tried to take a picture, it shut off. As luck would have it, just down the road was a Harley dealer who had the cord I needed to reach from the plug on my bike (intended for trickle charging the battery) to my saddle bag, where I could plug in the phone and charge it while riding! Works great!

I eventually crossed into Rhode Island 

and after some manual route finding, made my way to the Claiborne Pell bridge over Narraganset Bay (more commonly known as the Newport Bridge).

The three nice young men that carried me off of the bridge say the public is not allowed to walk to the middle to get a better picture!

Once on the Newport side I took a very, very slow ride through traffic, past the Bellevue Mansions and out along Oceanside Drive. At one time this was the playground of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. Many of the old mansions still sit behind locked gates, barely visible to most. The four guys that pulled me off the wall said the public is not allowed to take pictures.

While I was out near the end of Oceanside Drive I stopped to take a picture

When I returned to my bike a lady was walking up to look at it. She asked, in very broken English, if she could take a picture. I said "sure". So she hands her camera/phone to her husband and sits side saddle and does about a half dozen poses (April through August, I believe). I was waiting for her husband to start encouraging her to "verk vit me, verk vit me". I asked them where they were from and they told me Pennsylvania. Right, and the Cone Heads are from France!

I managed to duck out the back door and escape down past the public beaches near Middletown, instead of going back through Newport traffic.

By this time it was getting late and I tried a number of hotels (saw very few motels) before finding an available room. This may be the first time during this trip that I was unable to get a room. Finally I found a motel named the Capri. I haven't found any bugs but the A/C doesn't work so I can't dissapate the heat that built up during the day. It's actually a little bit chilly out tonight (as experienced when I rode down the highway for a pizza). I don't really want to open a window though, having looked in the "back yard". So the bad news is no A/C. The good news is the shower

I think I can get the bike in there to wash it!