| The beacon of light cascading from the mighty | | | | overturned boat. Ida, who suffered from a cold, ran |
| lighthouse, along with its vigilant keeper, can be | | | | to her boat without taking time to put on a coat or |
| credited for many harrowing rescues at sea. These | | | | shoes. With the help of her younger brother, Ida |
| lighthouses standing sentinel along Rhode Island's | | | | hauled the two men out of the water into her boat |
| craggy coastline are monuments to history, offering | | | | and rowed to the lighthouse. Ms. Lewis became the |
| guidance and safety to seafarers braving hazardous | | | | first woman to receive a gold Congressional medal |
| shoals. A 21 beacon salute to Rhode Island's | | | | for lifesaving. |
| lighthouses still standing: Beavertail Tail Light, Block | | | | Watch Hill Light (Fishers Island Sound east approach, |
| Island North, Block Island Southeast, Bristol Ferry, | | | | juncture of Block Island Sound and Fishers Island |
| Castle Hill, Conanicut, Conimicut, Dutch Island, Hog | | | | Sound). Station established, 1808; present lighthouse |
| Island Shoal, Lime Rock, Nayatt Point, Newport | | | | built, 1856; automated, 1986. Closed to the public, the |
| Harbor, Plum Beach, Point Judith, Pomham Rocks, | | | | grounds are open during the day, and a museum in |
| Poplar Point, Prudence Island, Rose Island, Sakonnet | | | | the oil house is open for limited hours in summer. |
| Point, Warwick, Watch Hill. A deep blue sea requiem | | | | Without a doubt, the most comprehensive tour of |
| for: Bullock's Point, Fuller Rock, Gould's Island, Gull | | | | lighthouses would entail boarding a seagoing vessel. |
| Rocks, Musselbed Shoals, Sabin Point, Sassafras Point, | | | | You're merely a google search away from booking |
| Whale Rock, and Wickford Harbor. | | | | passage online or phoning in a reservation through |
| Shining a light on lighthouse gossip: | | | | Rhode Island Bay Cruises aboard the 400-passenger |
| Beavertail Light (Conanicut Island, Narragansett Bay; | | | | Millenium catamaran for a "Rhode Island Lighthouse |
| nearest town, Jamestown): Station established, 1749; | | | | Cruise." This 90- minute narrated sightseeing tour of |
| present lighthouse built, 1856; automated, 1972. | | | | lower Narragansett Bay encompasses 10 lighthouses, |
| Accessible by car, the lighthouse is located in | | | | 10 islands, and 30 miles of coastal scenery. You will |
| Beavertail State Park at the end of Beavertail Road, | | | | sail under the Jamestown and Newport Bridges, |
| at the southern tip of Conanicut Island. The grounds | | | | passing by historic Fort Adams, Hammersmith Farm, |
| are open to the public, and there is a museum in the | | | | Castle Hill, Aircraft Carriers USS Forrestal and USS |
| assistant keeper's house, though the tower is not | | | | Saratoga. You will cruise along Newport Harbor filled |
| open to the public. | | | | with sailboats and yachts. The Millenium departs from |
| Point Judith Light (West side of entrance to | | | | Quonset Point in North Kingstown in May through |
| Narragansett Bay; nearest town, Narragansett): | | | | October. Google Rhode Island Bay Cruises to book |
| Station established, 1810; present lighthouse built, | | | | your tour online, or phone in your reservation to |
| 1857; automated, 1954. Accessible by car, the | | | | insure passage on this popular tour. |
| grounds are open during the day, but the lighthouse | | | | For those more adventurous, Rose Island Light in |
| is not open to the public. | | | | Narragansett Bay north of Newport Harbor, offers |
| Lime Rock Light/ Ida Lewis Yacht Club (Newport | | | | overnight and week-long accommodations in the |
| Harbor; nearest city, Newport): Station established, | | | | keeper's house restored to its 1900 living conditions. |
| 1854; discontinued, 1927. Though the yacht club is not | | | | You can also sign up as a keeper to live in and |
| open to the general public on a regular basis, it can | | | | maintain the lighthouse for a full week. There is a coal |
| be viewed from the many harbor cruises in Newport. | | | | stove in the kitchen and a working Victrola with a |
| History shines brightly on Idawalley Zoradia Lewis, the | | | | large supply of 78 rpm records in the library. |
| most celebrated lighthouse keeper in American | | | | Whether you harbor the notion of touring a |
| history. By the age of 14 Ida had become known as | | | | lighthouse by land, sea or sequestering inside one, the |
| the best swimmer in Newport while her family was | | | | memory of any such jaunt will keep. Rhode Island's |
| the official lighthouse keeper, and is credited for | | | | rugged coastline is dotted with towering |
| rescuing many at sea single handedly. Ida's most | | | | lighthouses-beacons of safety and monuments to |
| heroic rescue occurred on March 29, 1869 during a | | | | history. |
| snowstorm when two soldiers clung to their | | | | |