NEWPORT NATIONAL
BLOCK ISLAND
ADOBE STOCK
KEVIN WARNEKE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41
the United States. It’s first on my list.
explored via moped and eventually ended
Here’s why: The bunker on No. 17 seems
calls them the “signature landform” in
up at Mohegan Bluffs, where we took the
to stretch forever, as do the wetlands that
the region.
140-step stairway to the beach below.
must be carried from the tee on Nos. 1,
Our trip included time for two rounds of
Robert Thorson, a landscape geologist,
“There are probably historic stone walls
9 and 18. The rectangular green on the
in each of the United States,” he said.
golf. No. 11 at Crystal Lake Golf Club in
par 5 No. 8 was the first I’ve seen, as was
“In most states, the task is to explain why
Burrillville is the most striking hole I’ve
the stone wall that cuts across No. 14’s
walls exist. In New England, they’re so
played, dropping 90 feet from tee to green.
fairway.
ubiquitous that the task is to explain why
You feel as if you are on top of the world
The stone wall on 14 and the many
they’re absent. There’s a reason for this.
until you try to target the green below with
other walls will be what I remember most
Only in New England did a livestock-tillage
your tee shot.
about Rhode Island. They’re everywhere
rural economy take place on ubiquitously
— enclosing cemeteries, framing yards and
stony soils.”
PGA.com ranks Newport National as the eighth-best links-style golf course in
shouldering roadways.
BEST OF THE BEST
Mom’s quest to see all 50 states became son’s quest too
Washington. For Idaho, we picked Shoshone
morning walk — and returned for a second
Falls, known as “Niagara of the West.”
visit. We found the Crystal Bridges Museum
While we stood along a deck watching the
of American Art spectacular and the spin on
Rhode Island compensates for
falls, we found ourselves in the middle of a
Bill Clinton’s presidency at his library and
what it lacks in geography with an
quinceañera, a celebration of a girl’s 15th
museum in Little Rock amusing.
overdose of flair. The first of the 13
birthday. It was the highlight of our trip.
I STORY
Now I understand.
KEVIN WARNEKE
saved the smallest for last.
Colonies was a fitting finale to my quest to visit all 50 states. I started counting states when my mother
No. 47: Alaska, which, hands down, is
I counted my travels and realized Idaho
the most impressive state. We saw a pod of
was my 43rd state (my mother assured me
whales breach and heard glaciers calve. We
I have been to West Virginia, but I have no
watched a brown bear run while we flew in
was closing in on visiting her 50th. She was
memory of it) and devised a plan to collect
a bush pilot’s care, and arose at 3 a.m. to
down to three — Idaho, Washington and
the remaining seven.
see the sun rise. You may think this odd,
Oregon — when my father died in 2014. She
No. 45: Arkansas, which my wife and I
fretted that she wouldn’t finish her journey
admitted exceeded our expectations and
— so I offered to take her.
smashed our stereotypes. We based an
We visited the three states in three days
but the best part of Alaska was the smell of the great outdoors. Mississippi and Rhode Island were
extended weekend in Eureka Springs and
my final two states. Before I could play
— targeting one attraction in each: Powell’s
spent part of each day walking nearby
favorites, work took me to Jackson,
City of Books, which occupies a city block in
trails. We discovered a stone dam at Lake
Mississippi, where a colleague and I toured
Portland, Oregon; and Mount St. Helens in
Leatherwood City Park during an early
the state capitol. Not a bad runner-up.
42 M A Y / J U N E 2 0 2 1
