2 Best Sights in Newport County and East Bay, Rhode Island

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 America's Cup winner. 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. Visitors can come by land or sea for a summer music series on the museum's lawn.

Newport's former Armory is the new home for this museum dedicated to the sport and history of sailing. Incorporating the National Sailing Hall of Fame, the museum mixes historical information and displays on legendary sailors and boats with hands-on interactive stations where visitors---including kids---can get a feel for navigating, steering, and racing boats.