3 Best Sights in Bristol, Newport County and East Bay

Starting with a sea of daffodils in April, this 33-acre estate on Bristol Harbor blooms all the way to fall. Highlights include fragrant pink chestnut roses and one of the largest giant sequoia trees on the East Coast. The gardens are open year-round. The 45-room English-style manor house, opened seasonally, is filled with original antiques and artworks.

This maritime museum, devoted to the sport of yachting, honors the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, maker of yachts for five consecutive America's Cup defenses. The museum's several dozen boats range from an 8½-foot dinghy to the Defiant, a 75-foot successful America's Cup defender. Halsey Herreshoff, a four-time cup defender and the grandson of yacht designer and company co-founder Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, established the Hall of Fame in 1992 as an arm of the museum, which hosts talks on yacht design and restoration and operates a sailing school for both kids and adults.

North of Bristol, Warren has the distinction of being the smallest town in the smallest county in the smallest state in the United States. The East Bay Bike Path travels through Warren's commercial district, so stop for a Del's frozen lemonade, browse the unmissable Imagine Gift Store, or catch a performance at the eclectic Galactic Theater.