Day 7 - 30 April (Mystic, CT to New Port, RI to Boston, MA)- Last Day

With a nice English breakfast (what else do you expect in New England!), loading up the panniers & bags, we head back into town to shop for some tiny curios. After some loafing around due to road construction work we are ready for the long highway. Being the last day of our ride and having to visit a few attractions in Newport, Rhode Island, before heading to finally dock at Boston, we slab the interstate 95 east. With the six pistons blazing inside the all powerful GTL, before we know, there is a white board welcoming us into the state of Rhode Island.

The famed Bascule bridge in Mystic

After some more enjoyable zipping on the highway, we dip right onto Rt 138 East that passes thru the calm & beautiful towns of Kingston & Saunderstown. We then get on the long & hunchback Jamestown Bridge with beautiful scenery accompanying us. We pass Jamestown and then get onto the long Newport Bridge that lands directly into the touristic & historic city of Newport, Rhode Island.

Although this city has a long colonial history, the famous Newport Mansions are what its best known for. To give you a brief into- Back in 1800, some of the wealthy American families of the time chose Newport as the location for their exotic & extravagant summer homes. These are huge mansions built in various architecture style with unending rooms to keep track of and a host of amenities inside, truly majestic and aristocratic….The notable mansions are- The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms, Rosecliff, Chateau-sur-Mer, Kingscote, Isaac Bell House, Hunter House, Chepstow etc. Anyways with the limited time available we decided on touring the most notable of the bunch- The Breakers, which was owned by the wealthy Vanderbilt family who enjoyed its 65,000 sq ft of living space, 70 rooms, 300 windows, the backyard opening directly into the Atlantic Ocean etc etc and cost them US$ 12 million at that time (with inflation calculated, that's a whooping US$ 330 million today!). For something so big & extensive, fortunately the present caretakers have made our life easier by providing headsets during our walking tour of the property that explain everything from the construction to how life ran inside, how the servants & family members had a strict code of discipline and what not…I am sure if Me & family lived in one of these mansions, half the day would be spent finding my way from bedroom into the dining room or living room and my wife would go nuts getting all of us onto the dining table on time…! Anyway a very fascinating trip back in time and worth a visit if one is passing thru the tiny state of Rhode Island.

After the mansions, we ride the famed 'Ocean Drive' with some of these mansions and isolated beach homes enroute, but thanks to Mr. GPS confusing some road construction work, we end up starting the drive from its end point and end at its starting point!! With no time for a re-run in the correct direction and frankly, having ridden the breathtaking ocean drive in South Africa, this was not so exciting to our senses for an action replay!

Here we wrap up our visit to the lovely city of Newport in Rhode Island and start our final leg of the trip towards home. With lots of stop & go traffic in Newport city, we decide to take our lunch break out on the highway on Rt 114. Bad decision since the long delay caused us to lose our appetites due to our hunger being put on a waiting list. After lunch at Burger King outside Fall River, we continue North on Rt 24 and join onto I-495 which after some miles merges with the I-95 near Mansfield.

The GTL being a supremely comfortable touring machine, the ride on the I-95 is one long, mostly straight but boring ride. Along the way as I am riding I felt a slight jerk from my pillion, which is normally akin to my lieutenant taking pictures or videos above my helmet etc, however, when I enquired on the intercom, I am shaken to my roots when Mrs Adventure tells me she had actually dozed off for a couple of seconds!!!!! Now that's a pioneering attempt by my wife in our bike touring history so far. Mr. Adventure surely is not amused as I don't know whether to compliment the bike's comfort or scream at my wife...... Anyways we have now got onto the I-93 and after some more miles of the boring interstate, slowly the traffic is getting thicker and towards the distant horizon we are gradually seeing hazy images of highrise buildings, which unmistakably is Boston. We turn off towards Quincy & ride into downtown Boston on the beautiful memorial drive along Charles river.

They should have added a line- And a sleepy pillion rider!!!!

After a small break, we get back on the bike and follow the GPS in peak traffic towards the suburb of Malden- home-sweet-home, where the grand reception committee of our son Adil, daughter Amal and their cousins, Numair & Norah are eagerly awaiting to welcome back the weary travelers.

Arriving back at the parking of - Home Sweet Home

Our trusty steed taking a breather

This brings a sweet end to our week long New England excursion on two wheels.

Distance travelled 170 miles

The US ride has been a very different experience on two-wheels. Although history wise it's a very young country, the natural beauty & scenery is never ending, while the highway system is so extensive that we truly end up with the expression- So many roads, so little time! In the North East USA, it is about the ride & not the destination, coz there is so much to ride and explore. We hope we can also make a future bike trip to the west coast which has its own diversities & specialties.

Thanks for coming along with us on yet another wonderful riding experience for me & wife on our lovely planet.

Cheers
Haroon & Farzana