Another "New" Place to Visit

Last weekend it was New Haven and New York. Yesterday it was Newport, as in Newport, Rhode Island. We drove over for the day. It's about 125 miles from here, but it takes close to three hours.

As I'm sure you know, Newport is famous for its mansions.  A lot of the mansions in Newport are now museums that are open to the public.  We visited one of them, Marble House.  Marble House was built in 1892 by Alva Vanderbilt and her husband, and at the time was one of the most expensive and lavish houses in the country.  Alva was not only a socialite but she was also a leading suffragette.  I had read a book about her in my book club last year, so Brad and Mary were good sports and agreed to visit this particular house.  This is me and Mary in front of the house, which when it was built was referred to as a "cottage."  Yikes!

Mary and Brad at the front door to the "cottage."  Inside there weren't as many rooms as you might imagine (only six bedrooms), but everything is on a grand scale and it's incredibly ornate.  The inspiration for the house was Versailles, which pretty much sums up how ostentatious it was.  (But photos weren't allowed indoors so you'll have to trust me.)

Mary and Brad in the back of the house.  They are facing the ocean and the back lawn is behind them.

Me and Brad on the back lawn of Marble House.  The weather was stupendous. 

Newport is also known for its yachting (think: America's Cup), so after visiting Marble House we decided to eat lunch at the harbor.  We ate on a pier right next to the boat slips and enjoyed all the boat scenery. At lunch, Mary made fun of my picture taking by taking silly pictures of her lunch, including this self-portrait.  (And now it's on the blog.  Mary, have you learned your lesson?)

Naturally, we had to accost a stranger and ask to have a picture taken of all three of us sometime during the day!  This is at Newport's Cliff Walk, which is simply a public walkway along the ocean, which runs for over three miles. We had ocean on one side of us and mansions on the other.  

An example of the view along the Cliff Walk.  And that's the end of our Newport story . . . . almost.  If you're interested in maps, I think the map of Rhode Island (and Newport) is really interesting.  I didn't know until yesterday that we'd drive over two very long bridges (and an island) to get to Newport.  It may be the smallest state but it's geography is unique.  So I'm leaving you with a map of Rhode Island: