In Which We Hit the Road with Angela and Great White*
November 04, 2013
Day one of our New England tour had
us flying into Boston Logan
Airport Newport , RI Boston :
don’t.) The most stressful part of the entire
trip was the drive from the airport out of town. We had a GPS
we had never used before, so as I was trying to figure out how to read it and
orient myself on Boston ’s roads, we
found ourselves in tunnels and guess what?! You lose satellite service for a GPS
in a tunnel. (We’re lucky we’re not still
circling Boston underground.) I
have no idea where we actually were, but we did eventually get out of there and
on the road to Newport .
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| Admiral Fitzroy Inn |
After escaping from Boston ,
we drove to our first night’s hotel, the Admiral Fitzroy Inn, a former convent
that is now a bed and breakfast. It was overcast and drizzling and we were
tired and frazzled, so we dropped our bags in our room and went in search of
dinner. We walked to The Mooring, recommended by the desk clerk (who also lent
us an umbrella). We loved the food, and one dish, the “bag of doughnuts” (lobster,
crab & shrimp fritters with chipotle-maple aioli), was possibly the best
single thing I tasted the entire trip.
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| The Breakers |
We made an early night of it (possibly because we were
stuffed with good food), and got up the next morning to begin exploring. Newport
has an interesting history, and was at one point the summer playground of some
of America ’s
wealthiest families. We went to see The
Breakers, the grandest and most famous of the Newport
“cottages” (if you can call a 70-room mansion a cottage). I have never seen a
more ornate home in my life. Sadly, we were not allowed to take photos of the
interior of this house (or any house on the entire trip, actually) but I assure
you, it was stunning and worth a visit.
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| He'd be fun to sketch... |
We walked around the corner from The Breakers to an entrance onto the Cliff Walk, a 3 ½ mile trail along the eastern shore of the island. We wandered only a small section of the path, enjoying the ocean views and a peek into the back yards of some enormous houses. (Part of Cliff Walk is still closed because of damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.)
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| Cliff Walk |
From Cliff Walk, we headed to The Elms, another of the Newport
mansions. Modeled after a mid-18th century French chateau, it was
completed in 1901 for coal magnate Edward J. Berwind. Much less ornate than The
Breakers, it was still a grand mansion.
 |
| The Elms |
After our mansion tours, we hit the road again. We stopped at
Stonington ’s (CT) Old Lighthouse Museum
(thanks, Cheryl, for the suggestion) and stopped briefly at Mystic for a late
lunch—and no, we didn’t eat pizza. We
were too tired and it was too late in the day for us to hit Mystic Seaport, so
we’ll just have to go there another time.
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| Stonington's Old Lighthouse Museum |
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| Climb the ladder to the top |
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| Part of the view from the lighthouse |
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| More views from the top |
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| Climb back down |
We wanted to be in position to ride the Essex Steam Train the following day, so we pushed on to the town of Old Lyme , where I’d heard about a bed and breakfast I hoped to stay at, The Bee and Thistle. Built in 1756, The Bee and Thistle was my favorite lodging, and why not? We had a gas fireplace in our room and an extra-long bathtub I could stretch out in. On top of that, they served the best breakfast and coffee we had on the trip. I would have liked to explore Old Lyme a bit more, but we had to move on.
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| The Bee and Thistle |
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| Our room |
Next up: Riding the rails and the river in the Connecticut
River Valley
*We named the GPS Angela,
because its voice reminded me of Angela on The
Office. “Great White” was our nickname for our car, which had a sort of
shark fin-like thingy on the roof.
4 comments
Glad you had a good trip, and you're welcome for the recommendation. I really like lighthouses, so any trip near water is going to include a lighthouse or two for me.
ReplyDeleteCheryl--I even looked in to staying at a lighthouse, but it didn't work out. I think that would be really cool!
ReplyDeleteWow your trips sure sounds like a fun get-away. Very interesting places you stayed and got to peek at. I'm another lighthouse lover. Maybe someday we can gather at one. Miss you.
ReplyDeleteP.S. How is your son enjoying college?
Claire--It was wonderful, and the first time my husband and I have been on a vacation alone for more than a couple of days in many years.
ReplyDeleteWe should have a sketching trip to a lighthouse! There are even lighthouses that you can stay in--wouldn't that be fun?
Nick is loving college, and seems to be doing OK. He comes home almost every weekend to sleep and do laundry, though--so we haven't quite got an empty nest!