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They say you can’t go home again and sadly that was true of what was our favorite restaurant on our previous trip to Rhode Island.

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We returned to the Beach House in Bristol expecting another stellar meal but were in for a surprise.

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I wanted a mojito but they had no mint. The blackberry margarita was alright, but $17 for an old fashioned glass size seemed a tad much.

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My husband’s lobster bisque, while creamy… wasn’t exactly brimming with lobster.

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And searching for the crab in my crab fritters was a time consuming task.

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Sadly they’d changed their hours on full entrees vs lunch so the husband ordered nothing… he’s not a sandwich guy… and I settled for an uninspiring chicken Caesar wrap with tiny overdone fry bits. Very disappointing.

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As we hit the parking lot, a family of geese.

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Photo worthy, yes.

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But everyone was headed for the road…

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And that wasn’t good.

This road is a busy straightaway and people fly by. Not wanting to see any of our avian brethren squashed, I dropped my purse ( but not my phone, once a blogger – always a blogger) and ran into the road like a lunatic waving my arms for cars to stop.

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Once they were safely across, the mother and father geese jumped a stone wall to access a pond, but the goslings couldn’t manage the leap and were distressed enough to start heading back to the road…

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Which is when my husband jogged across, picked up every little gosling and plopped them over the side with mom and dad. Look to his right and you’ll see an adult goose head giving him the stink eye.

Rescue complete, we headed down the road to Colt State Park.

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I’ll quote the history instead of summarizing.

Colt State Park is a true gem within the State Park System. With 464 acres of lawns, four miles of paved pathways, hiking trails, historic stone walls, and one of the state’s most spectacular shorelines, Colt State Park is a favorite among visitors and locals alike.

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The stone walls were impressive, and unusual in a state park.

Beginning in 1905, the Colt family began to assemble the parcels of land that would become their farm on Poppasquash Neck from lands owned by old Bristol families. These were the farms of the Chase, Church, and Van Wickle families.

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Colt Farm, now Colt State Park, became a showcase of wealth. The entrance to the property alone spoke of the tone and ambition of the owner. A pair of bronze bulls anchors the approach.

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The bulls.

Throughout the drive to the main house and its complex of barns, a party casino, and stables, Colt dotted the landscape with examples of European sculpture and statuary of mythical Greek gods and goddesses. This display of the human form prompted one of Colt’s relatives to call the drive to the casino/party pavilion “Wall Street,” an avenue of the “bulls and the bares!” Colt prided himself on operating the farm to breed prize Jersey cattle. The magnificent cow barn is one of the surviving structures in the park.

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The barn.

As local town histories note, no expense was spared on Colt’s prized herd. “There was one employee for each cow. The cows’ horns were polished, and their tails were washed daily. When in their stanchions, the cows always had a thick bed of fresh straw. Cork and rubber covered the concrete floor where the cows stood. The spotless, comfortable barn was even heated in the winter.”

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Samuel P. Colt died in 1921. Disputes about his will, clouded by disagreements among family members, stalled attempts by the State to acquire the property by the Metropolitan Park Commission in 1935. It wasn’t until 1965, using Green Acres funds, that the state bought the farm for use as a park.

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In the meantime, throughout the intervening years, the estate was managed by the Industrial Trust Company. Governor John H. Chafee dedicated the park in 1968. Today, a statue of Chafee overlooks the landscape of an open-air Chapel by the Sea, ten playing fields, six picnic groves, restrooms, a public boat ramp, and four miles of walking, jogging, and bicycle trails.

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The statue.

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It was quite a place.

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And in case you’re wondering about the history I quoted above, yes…

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Poppasquash Road really does exist.

😊

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