2 Best Sights in South County, Rhode Island

At the beach end of Bay Street twirls one of the oldest carousels in America, built by the Charles W. F. Dare Company of New York City and part of a traveling carnival that came to Watch Hill before 1883. The carved wooden horses with real horsehair manes and leather saddles are suspended from chains attached to the ceiling, creating the impression the horses are flying. Riders must be under 13. Grab the brass ring from one of the outside horses to win a free ride.

A tiny museum at this 1856 lighthouse contains the original Fresnel light, letters and journals from lighthouse keepers, documentation of famous local shipwrecks, and photographs of the hurricane of 1938 and 19th- and early-20th-century sailing vessels off Watch Hill. Parking is for the handicapped and senior citizens only; everyone else must walk down the peninsula along a private road off Larkin Road.