We continued past Newport and up the bay until we approached Bristol. We had never been here before but chose it because it was a convenient place to meet Gerhard, Andy’s friend who has kindly offered to take care of Archie when we go to the San Juan Islands in Washington State in September. We wanted Gerhard and Archie to meet each other and it was a perfect opportunity for us to see Gerhard again. We tied up at a mooring ball in a nice calm harbor filled with sailboats.
Jonny picked Gerhard up at the dinghy dock and he came on board for a drink. Then the four of us (including Archie so Gerhard could see how well-behaved he is) headed into Bristol for dinner. We were delighted by the charm and beauty of Bristol as we walked down the main street towards S.S. Dion, the restaurant I had chosen. There were several restaurants to choose from in Bristol but this one had such a good review by a fellow chef, that I thought it sounded best for us. And so it was! We had a delicious dinner with a variety of seafood appetizers that we shared and some delicious main courses. We really enjoyed our conversation with Gerhard and we felt really good about leaving Archie with him.
Originally we were going to leave for either Cuttyhunk or New Bedford the next day, but we decided to spend more time exploring Bristol so we extended our stay for one night. We headed into town and walked all around the historic center which is lined with lovely old homes from the early 1800’s, most of which were bedecked with American flags. It turn out that Bristol calls itself the most patriotic town in the U.S. since it has one of the longest running 4th of July parades in the nation. The town even has replaced the white stripe down its main streets with a red, white and blue stripe that defines the entire parade route through town.
It turns out that Bristol also has a darker history. In addition to its prominence as a boat-building and marine center, its leading family from past generations, the DeWolf family, was a significant slave trader. In fact, the slave industry was a major source of the wealth of this town. The DeWolf family was responsible for the trafficking and enslavement of over 10,000 people from Africa!
After strolling through the lovely and well-kept downtown area, we had a delicious lunch at a French restaurant called Le Central. And later took Archie for his first swing!
From there we walked a mile and a half to tour the Blithewold Mansion and Gardens situated on the edge of town overlooking the water. The mansion was built by a well-known industrialist who died shortly after it was finished. His family eventually transformed it into a beautiful home and garden. They eschewed the more ostentatious Newport style and chose a more natural and “rustic “ setting. We enjoyed strolling though the gardens and lawns which included the largest sequoia tree east of the Rockies, groves of bamboo and many lovely nooks and crannies.
As we walked back to the boat, the skies darkened and thunder was rumbling in the distance. We debated rushing back to Zendo or taking cover in Aidan’s, a popular pub. We chose the latter thinking we could wait out the storm and avoid getting wet. It worked! But actually the rain circled all around us and we managed to avoid it completely! Naturally, we had to order the local Narragansett beer on tap.
We finally headed back to Zendo and had a good dinner on the aft deck consisting of grilled lamb chops, potatoes and zucchini. We were watching some sailboats futilely attempting to race each other with their colorful spinnakers trying to catch the non-existent breeze. The moment caught in the photo below was quickly over.
We were very glad to have stayed an extra day here. The waterfront towns in this area are just beautiful! The plan for the next day is to sail for the New Bedford - Fairhaven area.
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