Newport Escape

Scott's parents came to visit us during their spring anniversary trip to Newport, Rhode Island. They spent half of their time there and half of it with us in Boston. It was a hot week, with no air conditioning!

Together, we explored the Freedom Trail and saw things like, Paul Revere's House,
the Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung, "one if by land, two if by sea," in regards to which way the Bristish were invading...
the USS Constitution, affectionately known as Old Ironsides, since it never lost a battle. It was made out of very young, green oak, so the enemy's canonballs virtually bounced off...

and Bunker Hill, in Charlestown. Much of this battle was actually fought on Breed Hill and in fact the British won, but it was the biggest loss of the entire war for the Brits and afterwards, British General Henry Clinton remarked in his diary that "A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America"

As a reward for so much walking that day...we dropped with exhaustion in a little out of the way restaurant in the North End, which is like a little Italy, and shared some fresh, rustic pizzas. Yum!

Moving on to Newport, this is one of many scenic shots I took when Scott's parents surprised us with a sailboat ride in Newport's famous harbour. I just love the red boat and ivy-covered stone arches under the distant bridge...
Carl got to take the wheel for a bit....he's such a natural!


I don't think I've ever been on a sailboat before. It was magical, even though there wasn't much wind and we had to use the motor...
Scott couldn't get enough of the rocky beaches and was jumping around like a mountain goat and just as sure-footed!
We took the Cliff Walk that runs at the back of all the mansion properties on the edge of the ocean. This is the Breakers, the biggest, most glorious, owned by the Vanderbilts.
this is an aerial shot of the Cliff Walk--a picture of a picture I took inside a tourist shop. The Breakers is gleaming white on the left. Newport is also where Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis grew up. This town has some serious money.



Later that night, we returned to the hotel, which looked out over part of the harbor where fisherman were hauling in their catch all day long, and went to the roof to watch the sunset, with some wine, cheese and crackers. You could hear taps playing in the distance...

We had such a wonderful time and perhaps the best and hardest part was getting to leave with them and having to say goodbye to Scott. I will see him in three weeks!

On Sunday, Father's Day evening, we hit Ohio, and witnessed the longest, awe-inspiring sunset I've seen in a long time. A blessing at the end of day's journey...and a promise of wonderful things yet to come for my time in Indiana...