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FILLING IN THE BLANKS

JULY 27, 2000

Not quite the spur of the moment, I took one day of my vacation week to shoot lights I missed a few Springs back travelling the Connecticut coast to Newport, Cape Cod, and Cape Ann. I chose this day with the assumption Mere would be working. Two things were wrong. The first, Mere wasn't working. The second, the weather forecasted showers, some heavy, tapering off later in the day. I was committed. I was going.

MILEPOST 0.00 - 2:14 AM

Three hours of sleep. The car fueled, film was purchased last night. My camera and my research were by the door. With the impending rain, I also packed a set of dry clothes. The ground was dry as I left. I planned to be near Warwick, Rhode Island at daybreak.

MILEPOST 18.1 - 2:36 AM

Flipping radio stations, in succession, I heard "Judy in Disguise" (John Fred and the Playboys) and "Brain Salad Surgery" (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). A favorite from grammar school and the first hard rock album I owned at college...diverse for sure. Though still four hours from dawn the sky was stratified shades of gray, much lighter to the north. Perhaps the rain wouldn't follow me?

MILEPOST 36.1 - 2:54 AM

Entering the New Jersey Turnpike, the ground is soaked.

MILEPOST 67.9 - 3:28 AM

At the George Washington Bridge it's raining so hard visibility is limited.

MILEPOST 80.9 - 3:54 AM

Crossing to Connecticut the rain continues hard. The truckers don't mind, instilling fear in me, going 70mph or more as I fight to stay in my lane.

MILEPOST 205.7 - 5:52 AM

I arrived in Rhode Island. The weather hasn't changed. Is this trip going to be a weather disaster?

MILEPOST 242.2 - 6:46 AM

Mapquest is amazing. Warwick, RI, calculated to be 231.2 miles from Ocean Grove. The ramp from I-95 was 231.6 miles. It was the most accurate information I would have for awhile.

WARWICK LIGHTHOUSE is at the end of Warwick Neck Road. The map in Kochel was vague. I took the unmarked road at the traffic light. I was on the wrong side of the harbor. In a light but steady rain a dog-walker, in his very best New England accent, guided me in reverse. I was one intersection off.

The grounds were to be open to the public. The locked gate said otherwise. Behind the keeper's house (complete with garage, two cars and a basketball court) was the short white tower, working green this morning. I put on my coat, raised the hood, and poked my lens thru the opening between the gates. With no flexibility to shoot, I managed the best I could.

MILEPOST 251.1 - 7:24 AM

To find Conimicut Point Park I needed help. The lady in the convenience store couldn't but her young son could. Backtracking again, I was to turn left at the "Jenny Freeze," then right, then left, then right. In five minutes I was at the park's entrance. It was a short drive to view two lights.

CONIMICUT LIGHTHOUSE is a white caisson structure marking a sandbar that extends from shore to light. I know this for two reasons. First, the tide was out and the bar was exposed. Secondly, in the shallow water, a shellfisherperson was raking for his catch. I tried to capture this arc of sand in my pictures, the rain making this quite a task. From the far side of the park I tried framing the light in trees and rocks.

Also to be seen, across the river, was NAYATT POINT LIGHTHOUSE. The distance, combined with poor visibility, made details non-existant. I could see the white tower. I could see the keeper's quarters. I could tell little else.

MILEPOST 287.8 - 9:14 AM

Tracking to the next light was a comedy of disasters, highlighted by one an all-time moron move. Less than twenty miles between lighthouses, I managed to make it a thirty-five mile ordeal, taking almost ninety minutes.

CT 103 runs E-W. Mr. Kochel said to head south. I chose East. I chose wrong, realizing it for sure when I hit the Massachusettes border. I reversed and still couldn't find a crucial intersection. Another convenience store, another young lady, she was a great help. I got on track, zigged properly, zagged properly, but found that Washington Avenue did not, as Kochel said, open to the water. I tried a third way in and finally had a line of sight. The drawback? I was next to a water treatment facility and the odor was horific.

I wish a frontal view of PONHAM ROCK LIGHTHOUSE was available. Close to shore, on a rocky island, stood the light. The keeper's quarters had an integrated tower standing from the front center of the second story. The architecture, from the mansard roof to the adornments around the windows, was striking. From the water it must be a beautiful structure to see.

MILEPOST 292.4

I refilled the tank and, without thinking, reset the mileage, something I never did on previous trips. The reason, I was in my car, with the analog trip counter (not the digital one in the van) and I'm used to rolling it back each fillup to track mileage. I'll have to keep adding the new numbers to the old to keep an accurate log.

MILEPOST 305.6 - 10:12 AM

Because the street had no signpost, a missed turn for the BRISTOL FERRY LIGHTHOUSE had me on the Mt. Hope River Bridge. Construction stopped midspan. I debated not turning around. I got to the other side, remembered it would stay light late, and reversed myself. I found the lighthouse with no more trouble.

As if to emphasize Kochel's point of where you cannot park, a police car was waiting at the bottom of the hill. I lingered to get sight of the lighthouse, then parked further up the road. I walked back under the bridge. There was no rain falling, the sky looked brighter, the air turning warm and humid.

I looked at no pictures before the trip and the sketch in my book showed a lanternless stone building. What I saw was a complete white brick tower with a black lantern room, an attached two story keeper's quarters to one side. To the left, in the mid-river, was HOG ISLAND SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE. I got a two shot. Lots of pictures taken here, making the re-decision to shoot a right one. I also tried shooting the bridge from underneath. It was a unique view, lots of arcs and curves.

MILEPOST 324.3 - 11:07 AM

My last time this way I missed DUTCH ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE in a race to get to BEAVERTAIL before dark. Seeing the light today it was the right choice then. I was charged no admission to the Fort Getty recreation area when I told the guard I wanted to shoot the light. I slowly drove the curved road about 1/2 mile and in the middle of the river, at one end of the island, stood the light.

Abandoned and decaying (ruins of a keeper's home appeared to be behind it), square and short, because of distance and location, this became a point and shoot exercise. Leaving the area, the sky was dark, the wind was strong, and rain was again falling. Two little girls from the adjoining campsites were wading through puddles more than ankle high.

MILEPOST 327.1 - 11:22 AM

Crossing the Newport Bridge I had seen both ROSE ISLAND and GOAT ISLAND lights. I had good pictures of GOAT ISLAND. I needed better of ROSE ISLAND. Travelling through Jamestown there was a marina that faced the lights. I pulled in to see if shots were available. Though raining harder, I walked to the end and the view of ROSE ISLAND was much better than the reccomended ones in Newport. If the swaying dock was no impediment, these shots should be great.

MILEPOST 383.7 - 1:01 PM

My original thoughts allowed time to try a sneak attack on MORGAN POINT LIGHTHOUSE in Noank. Ultra private, totally exclusive, I thought I would try to be unobtrusive and "wander" around until asked to leave. It just was raining so hard at this point I decided against it and headed to the next light.

AVERY POINT LIGHT is located on the UCONN campus in Groton. It's an octagonal tower, though not an official lighthouse, built as a memorial. Made from brick and concrete, the tower room was unique in that it swept up to a point rather then showing a capped appearance.

Other lights were seen from here. There is an observation deck at water's edge. Looking out, the NEW LONDON LIGHTHOUSE is across the river to the West. The NEW LONDON LEDGE LIGHT is at its most viewable dead ahead. From here, AVERY POINT is to the left. Well out in the sound, two other lights are visible. Kochel's chart says maybe it was NORTH DUMPLING and LATIMER REEF. I'm going to question one of the bulletin boards and maybe find out.

MILEPOST 470.5 - 3:25 PM

Traffic, over three miles near New Haven, slowed this operation condsiderably. To view PECK LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE I needed to be inside Calf Pasture Park. To be inside the park I had to pay a 15.00 fee. I told the guard I only wanted to view the light and then be leave. He said I could take my chances but the constable could ticket me and that would be 75.00. I paid, but I wasn't happy. He said the best view was at the far right lot, where SHEFFIELD ISLAND LIGHT would also be visible.

Leaving the car the rain started again, harder this time. Big as life, right off shore, PECK LEDGE was like many other caisson lights. There was a pier built, extending a few hundred feet, to afford a closer view. The light was white with a black top and dark band around the middle.

From the end of this pier, looking back to the west, SHEFFIELD ISLAND LIGHT was visible. From this distance, only the shape, a two story building angling up to a tower standing from the center, was apparent.

MILEPOST 485.6 - 4:26 PM

I spent time looking for a better viewing of SHEFFIELD ISLAND. I thought I had one, but came to a private beach club and could go no further. I then hooked up with Kochel's directions, which were perfect, and landed on Crescent Beach in the exclusive area of Pine Point. Sitting a few hundred feet from shore, GREENS LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE is another caisson structure, white with a white top, a dark band around the lower half. With "Private - Resident Only" signs posted conspicuously, I shot from the street and moved on.

MILEPOST 494.6 - 4:51 PM

This is where it was all to begin a few trips back. Today I would shoot STAMFORD HARBOR LIGHTHOUSE. I stepped onto the beach and looked left. At the end of the breakwater was the all-white cast iron structure. Picture taking was easy but limited.

I tried one other spot, where Kochel said STAMFORD was visible one way, SHEFFIELD ISLAND the other. There was a stairway down to the beach but for five or six blocks all around there were "No Parking" signs. I wasn't tempting fate here.

MILEPOST 504.5 - 5:31 PM

Approaching Greenwich, rush hour traffic was slow but moving. I followed the signs to view GREAT CAPTAIN ISLAND. I think I saw it. A fog had rolled in and visibility was poor. I saw an outline, the same general shape as SHEFFIELD ISLAND, and I shot a couple of frames. Figuring I was rained on enough for one day I surrendered at this point and headed for home.

MILEPOST 600.8 - 8:29 PM

I landed in Ocean Grove.

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