Fort Getty Park; Jamestown, RI

Ed & I are spending a few days at one of our favorite campgrounds, Fort Getty Municipal Park in Jamestown, RI. It's on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, across from Newport. The campground is on a peninsula with water views and a boat launch. The last time we were here was six years ago, just after Memorial Day in 2002. It was our first stop on our year-long Great Adventure RV tour of the country.

Today dawned cool and sunny, so we decided to take a drive late morning to Beavertail Light, at the southern tip of the island.



With the breeze, it was a perfect day for sailing. We saw this guy fishing almost get knocked off the rock by a high wave. Risky!



After lunch, we decided to investigate Fort Getty Park itself. The Fox Hill Salt marsh seemed like it would be a great place to take our kayaks and see some wildlife.



We were not disappointed. Herons and egrets were feeding, or trying to, as we flushed a few as we got too close. In the upper right you can see one of the towers of the Newport Bridge.



This seagull seemed comfy atop the piling!



Leaving the marsh, we rounded the point and entered the West Passage of Narragansett Bay. We paddled out for a closer look at Dutch Point Lighthouse, visible from our campground. Accessible only by boat, the lighthouse was recently restored and relit in 2007.



The tide and current wanted to take us out to sea. It was more work paddling back to our camp than it was to paddle out.



Altogether, we spent about an hour and a half on the water. A glorious day!