Welcome to Rhode Island?!?

We are way behind in getting travel posts published this summer because we're having too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

July 27, 2022

We stayed in our site with electricity in Connecticut until around noon, before we made the 35-mile trip to our next camping destination. The motor home drives aren't far in these tiny states in the northeast! We stayed hooked up to electricity longer than usual because we are heading to our no-hook-up site at a Rhode Island state park. So our short drive today took us over another state line as we were welcomed to "Discover Beautiful Rhode Island." This is another new state for the motor home.

We've been traveling for seven and a half years, so we thought we were pretty knowledgeable of different state park systems. But the woman at the Rhode Island state park entrance soon determined we were ignorant. We are staying at Burlingame State Park, and paying dearly for that privilege. Knowing that we only have a place to park--no water, no sewer, and no electricity--we were shocked to find that the price was $36 per night. They doubled the usual $18 price because we are from out-of-state. Then they added on a $8.75 transaction fee. Then they charged us an extra $12 for our pickup because it is a vehicle with a separate steering wheel so it is not included in our camping fee. They even charge for taking showers at the bathrooms inside the campground. All total, our two night stay at this state park cost $92.75--with no hookups! We don't feel very welcome! 

Besides that, at most state parks where we have stayed in the last seven years, paying for a campsite allows you to explore the state park. Not in Rhode Island. The clerk at the desk seemed to think that everyone should know that we are staying at Burlingame State Campground, but we would have to pay another entrance fee to go to Burlingame State Park. We would also have to pay another $20 entrance fee per car ($40 per car on weekends) to go to the Rhode Island State Park Beach down the road. Wow! We're not feeling welcome at all here in Rhode Island!

We got a peek at one of the state beaches to see that they were not crowded, but were lined with sea weed this afternoon.

We were hoping for a walk on the beach this evening, so we stopped by the town welcome center down the road. Finally, we felt welcomed into our new state! Even though it was getting close to closing time, the woman working at the Charlestown Visitor Center was very pleasant and gave us good advice. She directed us to the city-owned park down the road that is free for everyone to enjoy--even out-of-staters! We headed to the Ninigret City Park that is tied to the salt water pond in the Ninigret wildlife area. After our mosquito fiasco yesterday, we are a little shy about going to another wildlife area, but this one was bug free. We found this green heron wading in the salty wetlands in the wildlife area.

At the city park we also found this curious piece of asphalt with large numbers painted on it. That's because this was once a training runway for pilots before they headed out for the South Pacific during World War II. President George H.W. Bush was one of those soldiers stationed here, and he named his plane "Barbara" after a girl he was dating. That girl would later become his wife and First Lady.

The other good advice we got at the Charlestown Welcome Center was that all the area beaches turn into free beaches in the evening. The Charlestown City Beach that would charge us $12 earlier, became free at 5:00 p.m. Likewise, state beaches stop charging admission at 6:00 p.m. So we still got our free walk on the beach after all.

We found absolutely no shells on the beach, but that didn't keep Denisa from her usual tradition of making beach art.

She used strips of sea weed anchored by rocks to spell out "Charles" for this city-owned Charlestown beach.

The waves were rolling this evening as the tide was coming in during our walk.

Remember that salt pond that we visited earlier today at the wildlife area? It is fed from ocean water that enters through a breach in the sea wall. We walked a mile to the breach walls, that are lined with large boulders.

From here, the salt water continues all the way into the Ninigret wildlife management area. We saw the campground beside this breach wall, and all the sites were filled.

Those water-side camping spots have views of the breach and the wild roses,

and might be visited by a beach bunny.

But as we looked in-land, we saw that most of the RVs crowded into this little state campground were actually far from the water.

The tide is coming up. As we walked back towards our parking spot, we saw that Denisa's sea grass artwork had already been erased by the ocean.

It was an interesting first day in this state of Rhode Island. While we question how welcome we feel, it turned out to be a good day here in the tiniest state.