Abby Epplett, Historian

In October 2024, I checked off another Blackstone Bucket List item by taking the forty-passenger Explorer boat cruise on a fifty-minute guided river tour. Departing from Central Falls Landing in Central Falls, RI, the tour reviewed the ecology and history of the Blackstone River Valley, providing a great refresher to those familiar with the story at a relaxing pace. As an added bonus, the day was unseasonably warm and sunny.

Finishing up my trip to Newport in late August 2024, I took the Fort Adams Bay Walk around Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI after completing the excellent tour of the fort itself . A tall ship, unique signage, a cemetery, a bunker, and a historic mansion were all highlights of this relaxing two-mile loop. For those of you keeping track of how far I walked that day, when combined with my morning hike on the Cliff Walk , the fort tour, and other Newport exploration, this brought my total up to eleven-and-a-half miles.

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. My sixth stop was Cape Cod Maritime Museum of Hyannis, MA, established in 1998 to share the history of the region. During this visit, I learned about boats, scrimshaw, lighthouses and their keepers, women of Cape Cod, and building the Cape Cod Canal.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the fifth post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last four posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village” along with the “Preservation Shipyard” and “Galleries” . This post includes “Boats, Signs, & Shows” such as the Charles W. Morgan , the Joseph Conrad  and Little Vigilant , many other antique boats, the opportunity to operate small boats, signage, and shows about maritime life in 19 th century New England. The final upcoming post will feature “Bonus Houses”.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the third post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last two posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village”. Today’s post focuses on the “Preservation Shipyard”, where I saw the ongoing restoration of several boats along with an exhibit on the materials used to build these boats. Upcoming posts include “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

For the third year in a row, I took my annual trip to Portsmouth, NH. This trip was shorter than the previous two, as I spent a day in the city revisiting Strawbery Banke , which I last visited in 2022 , and checking off a bucket list item: riding the gundalow operated by The Gundalow Company . While the day was overcast with occasional drizzle, I enjoyed seeing new surprises at the living history museum, along with viewing the city from the water.