I used to love riding down to Colt State Park just with my dogs or with my family. When I was a young child, Mom, Nana, my sister Erika, and I used to go to the Bristol Town Beach every week and enjoy the sun, play in the grass, or swim in the waters. My sister and I used to hunt for periwinkles in the water and look for shells on the shore. It was a great place to spend a summer day in Rhode Island.
As I got older and was able to drive, I used to take rides down to Colt State Park with my dog and walk around the Park and on the paths there. I would bring a lawn chair or a blanket and a book and whittle the day away reading and working on my suntan.
When I was last in Rhode Island in 1999, my Mom and I went to Colt State Park to see the fireworks. After 7 years of living in Idaho and anemic fireworks displays every July 4 on Payette Lake, we realized what we were missing as the fireworks exploded over our heads. Colt State Park is one of a few things things I miss about Rhode Island.
I returned to Colt State Park on the way to Newport on June 14 to relive fond memories. I noticed that it has changed a bit with new bike paths and parking areas. There has also been a statue of the late Rhode Island senator John Chaffee erected in the park facing Narragansett Bay. I stopped and took photos of our moderate Republican senator (1922-1999), former governor, and Secretary of the Navy, who did a lot for Rhode Island and earned the love and respect of many Rhod Island Democrats and Republicans. After taking pictures at Chaffee''s statue, I took the wrong way out of the park and had to be helped by a park employee, but making a wrong turn was just another good memory of Colt State Park for me.