July 10 - 14 Newport, RI

We had so much fun in Newport!  Our stay was long enough for us to get rested and be total tourist.  

lunch at the Black Pearl

Black room at the Black Pearl 

Red house, black door circa 1710 founded by Doris Duke

Reading on the bow with my KY pillow - thanks sisters!!

every night this view from the boat

As you will see i got Harry on the public transportation bus that took us around town and to tour the mansions on Bellevue Avenue.  

The marina was very busy with ferries and mega yachts and everyone coming and going but it was a fun place to be.

beautiful schooner taking some folks 'out'

Notice the name:  'Unbridled' within a horse head design - curious huh?

These two braved the busy harbor while having a cocktail tethered to their boat!

And Ann Leslie - i took this one for you.  Meet the earlier Rochambeau, French nobleman and general that assisted the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The mansions were more than amazing, built in the Gilded Age, by the guys who built America, using their steel, railroad, mining (coal), monies to out do one another on this very famous Bellevue Avenue in Newport.   We giggled at the absolute opulence exhibited in these homes that they called ‘summer cottages’ because all were second or third or fourth homes where they spent, at the most, 6-8 weeks out of the year.  unbelievable.  Most would not allow photos taken inside but i was allowed to take shots in the kitchens....so organized and so BIG!

Tessie Oelrich's Rosecliff - known in its day as the party house.  they tell us the Great Gatsby was filmed here.  

Back yard view ain't bad...nice wedding spot huh?

Another mistress, Alva Vanderbilt from the summer cottage called the Marble House, hosted Women's Suffrage Movement rallies known as 'Votes for Women' on the back lawn - yea, that's what they call it, not 'the back yard!'  

'The Breakers', the Vanderbilt's summer cottage - one of their 8 homes, was 156,000 square feet!  They built this baby with railroad monies in 2 years!!  hell, two bath tubs were carved out of pieces of marble, that must have taken 2 years.  Can you imagine how many laborers they must of employed to have it completed in 2 years?  The story goes that the those marble tubs had to have many fills of hot water before the marble was warm enough for the 'precious bathers'.  

and this veranda ceiling is mosaic tiles that were hand set - it is so unbelievable - and done in two years. 

a view of the back yard - HA.

And last but not least, is a small, downtown church called St Mary’s Catholic Church where John F. Kennedy wed Jacqueline Bouvier.  

Wednesday, July 8 & Thursday July 9 - Block Island, RI

Foggy morning allowed us time to stay put.  I straightened up the boat and did paperwork and worked on blog.  Headed out after lunch to ride our bikes on the northern part of the  island. 

many rock fences along the way

i've grown a horn since you've last seen me....did harry do that on purpose???

North Lighthouse

beach rock working hard on becoming sand....

approaching boat by dinghy after dinner at marina

Thursday, July 9

We took it easy today, cloudy and foggy early on.  did some house work and then headed into town to get some provisions.  Tonight we’ve been invited to Ted and Sally’s boat for cocktails.  They are right across from us at a mooring ball.  This is the first time on this trip that another couple has invited us over to their boat!!  So we’re headed into the grocery on our bikes to pick up something for cocktail nibbles and to buy some special wine - can’t very well take over my Bota Bag!  And then we will dinghy over to their boat.

Took this shot for you Jamie - does it bring back memories of the Colorado River?

Tuesday, July 7 - Block

you can not successfully utilize a mooring if your dinghy isn't working - talk about stuck on the boat.  Ted and Sally are here.  They are friends of Harry’s sister Nancy.  Ted helped Harry work on the dinghy most of the morning.  Afterwards, we ventured in and the dinghy does seems to be feeling a lot better now.  So we loaded the bikes into the dinghy and headed in.

decided we needed nourishment before we set out to bike the southern part of the island.  Lovely, old seaside hotel over looking the atlantic.  We watched the ferries coming in from Port Judith, RI and Westerly and New London, CT. 

well once you leave the downtown you really begin to see what Block is all about…spectacular.  It has an Ireland feel to it…and boy is it hilly - ARGH!!  here are some shots i want to share as we toured the southern part of the island.  absolutely breathtaking country.

Look closely at the flowerbed border - finally, something to do with my wine bottles!!

 This is Southeast Lighthouse - it made the news (i think there's even a documentary about it) when the townspeople moved the complete structure back due to it being closer to the cliff where erosion was rapidly creeping toward it.  Supposedly one of the most unique lighthouses in US.  Isn't it beautiful?  It was closed but they do allow people in and you can travel to the top and see the one of a kind lens used for displaying/dispersing the light out across the sea.

And i swear, i thought i saw the old captain's ghost in the window.....

view from where the lighthouse used to stand....yikes.

Next we traveled down the road to the Mohegan Bluffs......and all i can say is, WOW.....and NO we did not attempt the stairs (I know, Nancy, you would have!)

A local sitting on the steps waiting on some folks informed us of another scenic overlook up the road, so off we went...

Ahhh, a lemonade stand at the top of the hill!!