Newport

Newport

May 2013

Tuesday, May 21:

           After good experiences last year w/ LivingSocial on-line vouchers for B&B inns in the Catskills & New Hampshire, another getaway to Newport seemed a good way to celebrate the end of the semester. A nice AM, unexpectedly warm & sunny, 7:30am start. Along the Mass Pike, then south to a friendly sign: “Welcome to Rhode Island: The Ocean State.” Across one bridge, then another w/ pretty fog bank underneath, to Newport at 11. Confusing maze of streets, one wrong-way turn, then successfully to the Inn on Bellevue. Our digs aren’t ready, so coffee & shared croissant at a friendly café before heading off to see some sights. Along pretty streets, colorful houses, flower boxes, flowering trees, fragrances of magnolia & wisteria.

Into Trinity Church (Episcopal), built in 1726. A wonderful guide shows us the beautiful interior: mostly white, lovely woodwork and stained glass windows, wineglass pulpit, pretty pews w/ brocade seat pillows and embroidered kneelers; Marjorie sits on a “George Washington sat here” seat. 

Next stop on our “ecumenical tour”: Touro Synagogue, National Historic Site, oldest synagogue in the U.S. (recently celebrated 250^th anniversary). Guide gives interesting history of the congregation and the position of Jews in early America. George Washington credited w/ setting the standard for religious freedom in a letter to the rabbi here, saying the new nation “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” A simple classical interior, Torah is over 500 years old. And we’re staying next to the Colonial Jewish Cemetery of New England.

Some wandering past pretty buildings.

Back to the Inn and our suite (in nearby Bellevue Manor): bedroom, sitting room, plus fridge & sink; and welcoming bottle of wine w/ snacks.

           Marjorie announces she’s hungry, so it’s down to the harbor to share (appropriately) clam chowder & lobster bisque plus salad at Aquidneck Lobster Co. Forecasts for our stay had not been promising, but it’s a beautiful PM: lots of warm sun, cooling breeze in the shade.

Wandering thru shops, a later stop for coffee and for me a “vanilla & raisin” scone very much like Mom used to make. Chatty café owner is surprised we ventured past construction that began this AM. A peek into the fancy Hotel Viking, on the National Register of Historic Hotels (seem to be lots of “historic” stuff here), opposite our abode. Some time in our suite to share welcoming wine and “relaxation.”

          Refreshed, out on the Ten Mile Drive and a stop to hike part of Cliff Walk. Cooler and more overcast, pretty soft lighting. The walk is beautiful, between ocean and dramatic rocks w/ tide coming in on one side and historic estates and twisted trees on the other. We spot a dormitory-type building w/ large writing on the wall: “But I being poor, have only my dreams,” WB Yeats. A friendly fellow clues us in that this is Salve Regina University (founded by Sisters of Mercy, 2600+ students). Yeats quotation seems a student project, made of shells, stones, etc., facing the field used for commencement  ̶  what a setting for that! 

Richly colored azalea (here & all around the area), historic mansions that are now academic buildings; we later learn from our friendly innkeeper that one was used for “Dark Shadows” TV series. Into Stop & Shop, across from the International Tennis Hall of Fame, to get sandwiches for dinner back at our inn. Local news shows severe storms north around Providence, but we’re spared. It’s been a wonderful day! 

Wednesday, May 22:

         A very quiet night . . . until birdies, trucks, EMS sirens from nearby fire station. So, I hike out at 6am, cool & overcast. Lots of photo ops: old houses, some quite weatherbeaten, pretty churches & inns, flowering trees & shrubs, Old Stone Mill, boats in the harbor. 

Breakfast at the inn, quiche & breads. Following a terrible tornado in Oklahoma, strong storms are moving from the Midwest into Michigan & Pennsylvania; maybe here in a day or two? After a stop at the SRU chapel, lovely woodwork and stained glass, pretty grounds,  

we head to The Elms, one of the National Historic Landmark “cottages.”We have a guided Servant Life Tour, a very “Downton Abbey” experience. As many as 43 staff worked here, tho the house was generally occupied only July 4^th to Labor Day; “Miss Julia,” sister heiress of the original coal magnate owner, still had 27 servants into the 1950s, and still in Victorian-era costumes and responsibilities. After she died in 1961 the property was purchased by Newport Preservation Society for only $65K; such estates had fallen from favor and it was slated to be razed for a shopping center! 

We enter via servants’ entrance under a trellis of wisteria (one of many efforts to hide staff and their activities), then 82 stairs to 3^rd-floor living quarters. Panoramic rooftop view of grounds and harbor beyond; something staff couldn’t see, as their windows faced a wall to hide evidence of their presence. Work was 7 days a week, 18 hours a day; when a number of staff walked out in protest they were summarily replaced the next day  ̶  the coal magnate was not a benevolent despot. Back down to basement work areas: “subway” tiled walls (for easy maintenance and a bit brighter in the dim lighting), coal furnaces, laundry tubs (used pretty much nonstop), kitchen and pantries, wine cellar. 

After the tour we wander the pretty grounds: tea houses, sunken garden, elaborate coach house. And here and elsewhere are distinctive trees: European copper beech, weeping birch, catalpa, red Japanese maples; Newport has been designated a “Tree City USA.” 

          Back to the Tennis Hall of Fame, looking into the beautiful grass center court; much fancier than anywhere I’ve played. A lovely lunch at nearby Annie’s, including yummy corn & crab chowder. 

Hazy PM sun as we head to another guided tour: Chateau-sur-Mer, an ornate Victorian residence that was used year-round. Elaborately carved woodwork, even the ceilings of some rooms, 3-story central hall w/ stained glass skylight.

Some strolling near our inn. An interesting and chaotic miniatures store and “doll hospital,” friendly owner trading ideas w/ Marjorie and showing examples of her room construction and doll restoration. Nearby real estate office w/ photos of available properties, some w/o prices; if you have to ask . . . 

After more “relaxation,” back to the harbor w/ fog settling in. Marjorie spots plantings of rust-colored clover she covets for her garden. Dinner at The Barking Crab; seafood of course, crab cakes and scallops, I try tasty Newport Storm ale w/ floating blueberries. We pass up Cupcake Charlie’s, but later to Newport Creamery for “Good Mood Food.” A drive in damp fog to see lighted mansions, topping off another fine day.  
 

Thursday, May 23: 

           I’m up too early again, so more wandering for atmospheric harbor photos in fog, breezy & cooler. “Today” has news of the beginning of the 17-year cicada “invasion;” it will reach us as weather warms up. 

Gas at a full-service station w/ the best-ever windshield cleaning, over 2 foggy bridges and north to Providence. We park amid academic buildings, views of impressive bell towers, steeples, capitol in the distance.

A short walk to the RI School of Design Art Museum. Impressive and wide-ranging exhibits: “sassy signs,” Mark Rothko (the subject of a play, “Red,” Marjorie attended recently), Pendleton House rooms, ancient Etruscans and Egyptians, Renoir and Cezanne, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, modern fashion and furniture designs. Most interesting is “Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion”: art, photos, fashion of “the dandy” persona, from early 19^th C satire of the aristocracy to modern “romantics and revolutionaries;” Oscar Wilde to Patti Smith.

Off to join friend Francisco for lunch, a detour leads us to wander thru Swan Pt. Cemetery w/ especially impressive trees. Iced tea & a decadent muffin at a café to hold us over until Francisco arrives for a tasty Indian buffet and a nice visit w/ Francisco, who’d been a regular overnight guest when he conducted the Empire State Youth Orchestra. 

Back on the road, rain all the way home, sometimes torrential, but it doesn’t matter now.

          This proved a good time to visit Newport, uncrowded and we avoided the rain that settled in the next several days. Fascinating historic sights, pretty harbor, lots in bloom, good food, comfortable lodging. It was all we could have hoped for.