TRAVELOGUE
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Newport, Rhode Island
Hello everyone~
Today we greet you from Newport, Rhode Island. I woke early to find a beautiful soft pink and blue sunrise off of our verandah this morning. We had been told that it was going to be partly cloudy with a chance of showers. The morning brought beautifully clear blue skies above only dotted here and there with a fluffy cloud; it was hard to believe we were in for any inclement weather. It was a bit hazy, but that was about all. As the day progressed, the dark clouds did pass overhead, but apparently so did the weather as we only felt a few drops of rain and then it was gone. It couldn’t have been a more gorgeous day for taking a historic walk in Newport!
We caught the tender to shore right around 12:00 noon and as the group of 21 of us gathered near the pier, we could not help but notice that the cherry blossoms were in full bloom throughout the city with vibrant pink blossoms covering every branch of the trees with solid tufts of pink flowers. The harbor is lined with cherry trees in full bloom and there are dozens interspersed throughout the city streets along with gorgeous azaleas, tulips and pansies also dotting the landscape. The red maple trees were also a vibrant red and just magnificent to see interspersed amongst all of the other trees in the city.
Our tour began by walking from the pier down to the city square to view the State House (for whatever reason, even though it is the smallest state, Rhode Island has five State House buildings) which is under reconstruction and then on to the Old Colony House and the Quaker Meeting House. Across the street from the Quaker Meeting house is the White Horse Tavern, the oldest operating tavern in the United States (its license dates from 1673!). In the evenings now it is a 5 Star Dining Restaurant and quite elegant. Jim said that the Sunday brunches he had there in years past were among the best he has ever had.
The 200 or so buildings/homes in the historic district is the largest group of original homes in one location that were built in the late 1600’s to early 1700’s in the National Register of Historic Places in America. Although it was fascinating to walk past these old structures, we wished we could have gone inside some of them; but they were “closed” to the public as many of them are actually private homes today. Others are owned and rented out; and we were told there is a two year waiting list to find out “if” you qualify and then there is another two year wait to actually be approved and move into one. You are not allowed to do anything to the outside of the home, and if you are renting, you are not allowed to do anything to the inside of the home as it is all strictly regulated by the Newport Preservation Society. They even tell you where you can hang a picture on your wall. You must have “period correct” furniture – so, in other words – they want you to have antiques and no modern appliances inside either – meaning no modern kitchens with granite tile or Wolff ranges or ovens.
After seeing the Quaker Meeting House, we walked past the oldest house in Newport (built in about 1670) the oldest Synagogue in the United States and on to the Artillery Company which is the oldest Militia building in the U.S. built in the 1700’s. There are actually four cannons built by Paul Revere inside, and every May 4th, one is brought out and actually fired with gun powder and the whole bang! Why May 4th? Because, that’s when Rhode Island declared her independence from Britain. We walked along the old brick sidewalks where many of these “vernacular” (that is, pre-Colonial) homes are today. Some are still located in original spots and others have been moved to their current locations over time.
Doris Duke, the famous tobacco heiress, bought about 60 of the historical homes when they fell into dilapidated condition when the Navy pulled out and refurbished them with her own money – and then donated them to the Newport Historical Society. The Duke family was one of the “Gilded Age” families who had a summer “cottage” in Newport, so she knew the city well and so she personally invested in one of the largest private restoration projects in U.S. history. There was also a group of elderly women (the “Colonial Dames”) back early in the 1900’s who would buy one house at a time and fix it up and then sell it. They purchased several dozen homes this way and became quite wealthy in their own right by doing that – but have all since passed away now. The rest of the 200 homes are either privately owned and occupied or owned but closed for renovation at some time in the future.
We journeyed on towards a house where George Washington slept during the Revolution when he met our new French allies, and then went across the street to the Trinity Church and graveyard. It was built in 1726 and said to be the most beautiful Anglican Church erected in America during the Colonial period.
After the two hour tour, everyone dispersed and went on their own way. We found our way to the Christmas store (we’ve been there before) and “adopted” a new Santa – how odd! He is about 20 inches tall and is wearing a long cloak made of elegantly rich, dark green tapestry.
As we walked back towards the pier we stopped inside one of the small taverns along Thames Street and had a delicious bowl of New England clam chowder. Our table was right next to the window facing Thames Street, and we saw several of the people from the ship passing by. After lunch we walked a little further going in and out of the local souvenir stores and finally found our way back to the pier and took our tender back out to the ship.
For whatever reason, the Maasdam will be here in Newport until 11:00 tonight – but we do not plan on going back into town at this point. Jim is sound asleep taking a nap, and as I am typing this, I am looking out our window over towards the large estate where Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was raised – Hammersmith Farm. We had visited St. Mary’s Church where Jackie and John Kennedy were married in 1953 on our cruise in 2005 with Clayton and Natha. We could see the steeple through the cherry blossoms today, but did not go over there.
We passed many lighthouses on our way into Newport harbor this morning - the Rose Island Lighthouse, the Castle Rock Lighthouse, the Ida Lewis Rock Light and entering the harbor was the Beavertail Lighthouse. They are all uniquely different and I tried to get pictures of all of them this morning as it will be dark when we leave tonight at 11:00 p.m. and pictures won’t be an option.
Newport is another place where Jim spent several years growing up when his Dad was in the Navy. His parents lived in two different homes here and he went to three years of high school here. He always enjoys sharing his stories and it is nice for him to be able to reminisce like that when we are in these places. Jim’s history trivia lesson for today is that Rhode Island is the state with the longest official name (official name = The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) and the state with the shortest official motto (motto = “Hope”). It’s nickname is the Ocean State.
We will have a leisurely evening and enjoyable dinner again tonight. Last night Jim had an Indonesian noodle dish with spicy beef kabobs (having steak every night gets a bit boring) and I enjoyed a penne pasta with a very light marinara sauce and Italian sausage. After dinner we played a game of Scrabble in the library.
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