For JFK, Rhode Island was a second home. Revisiting his ties to the Ocean State.

Though John F. Kennedy was a native of Massachusetts, he spent quite a bit of time in Rhode Island, including several key moments of his life. At the 60th anniversary of his death by an assassin's bullet, on Nov. 22, 1963, here's a recollection of his time in the Ocean State, during his presidency and before:

Navy training in Melville

Kennedy's heroic effort as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109, when he rescued crew members after their boat sank during World War II, are part of the Kennedy lore. His journey to that famous event began on Sept. 27, 1942, when Ensign Kennedy, of the U.S. Naval Reserve, entered the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center at Melville, on the Rhode Island coast, straddling the border of Middletown and Portsmouth.

Courting a Newport girl

As a U.S. Senator for Massachusetts, Kennedy pursued the affection of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, a reporter for the Washington Times-Herald. Her mother and stepfather, Janet and Hugh Auchincloss, had a home in Newport, Hammersmith Farm. So the sight of a young Senator Kennedy relaxing on the lawn of the Casino watching tennis or whizzing along Ocean Drive with the top down on his Thunderbird convertible became commonplace.

Marriage to Jackie Kennedy in Newport

On Sept. 1, 1953, Kennedy and Bouvier wed in St. Mary's Church, Newport. Some 3,000 people crowded around the church, and, in addition to wedding guests, 50 to 100 journalists were at the reception at Hammersmith Farm.

Family tragedy

Jackie Kennedy had several difficult pregnancies during their marriage. On Aug. 23, 1956, during a visit with her parents, Jackie, who was expected a baby that October, underwent an emergency operation at Newport Hospital when she started bleeding uncontrollably. Her baby girl was stillborn.

John Kennedy, who was traveling with his brother, Edward "Ted" Kennedy, in the Mediterranean, flew home and visited Jackie at the hospital.

Hints of a presidential campaign at the Biltmore Hotel

On St. Patrick's Day 1959, as Kennedy prepared to run for the President, he was introduced to supporters at the Sheraton-Biltmore Hotel, in Providence, and then gave a speech in the hotel ballroom, where the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick held a dinner.

Climactic campaign speech in Providence

On the morning of the day before the 1960 election that would send him to the White House, Kennedy gave a brief speech on the steps of Providence City Hall. A crowd of nearly 40,000 cheering, shrieking supports filled the Mall, the square in front of City Hall that would later be renamed Kennedy Plaza.

Presidential vacations in Newport

The Kennedys frequently vacationed in Newport, often with the President dropping in for weekends while Jackie and their children, Caroline and John Jr., would stay through the week.

The First Family would fly in and out of Quonset Point Naval Air Station, in North Kingstown, where they would frequently be met by hordes of onlookers.

While staying at Hammersmith Farm, the President would frequently golf at Newport Country Club, swim at Bailey's Beach and cruise Narragansett Bay in his yacht, the Honey Fitz, which was his maternal grandfather's nickname. He and Jackie would attend Mass at St. Mary's, which always drew a crowd behind a rope barricade on Spring Street, beginning on Oct. 1, 1961, during his first visit as President.

In 1962, the President watched the yacht Weatherly beat the Australian challenger in the America's Cup off Newport.

Final Rhode Island visit

The Kennedys' last visit to Rhode Island was in September 1963, two months before the assassination and just one month after the death of their newborn son, Patrick Kennedy, in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

The President visited two consecutive weekends, with his family staying the week.

The family flew out of Quonset Sept. 23, 1963, with plans to return for two months the following summer, renting Annandale Farm, adjoining Hammersmith Farm.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: JFK had deep ties to Rhode Island, from Newport to Providence