Our Travelogue
Canada/New England cruise on Crown Princess
Day 2 – Newport Rhode Island
We arrived at our first port-of-call, Newport, Rhode Island at around 7:00 a.m. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east as the Captain anchored the Crown Princess in Newport Harbor. The tender boats were lowered and began transporting passengers to shore. We went ashore about 9:00 a.m. and found the group for our tour of a drive through Newport along Ocean Drive out to The Elms and then back to town around noon.
After boarding our motor coach, our tour guide Steve began his narration and off we went traveling through the small town of Newport. Steve pointed out Saint Mary’s church steeple where John and Jacqueline Kennedy were married. We passed many of the pre-colonial houses along Thames Street. As we traveled further along, we passed the boat harbor and on the far side of the boat harbor is the Ida Lewis Boat Club. She was the lighthouse keeper there and was credited rescuing 18 people during her service. Just past that was the summer home of the New York Yacht Club. They are the club who used to conduct the America’s Cup race here in Newport.
From there we went over to Fort Adams which is where Jim and his family used to live back in 1958-1959. Where his home used to be has now been turned into a large grassy knoll. Since Newport was captured by the British in the Revolutionary War, Fort Adams was built in the early 1800’s from further British Conquest. There was never a shot fired from the Fort in anger. It is now the home of the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival.
Next we drove down towards Hammersmith Farm, the childhood home of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. It is on a sprawling, meticulously manicured numerous acres of land with stone fences facing Newport Harbor. It is a large, two-story grey colored home. On the grounds we saw a black and white striped cow. We were told that the current owners raise exotic animals such as this. The Kennedy’s had their wedding reception here.
Next door is a large yellow, two-story home that President Dwight D. Eisenhower frequented during his presidency. It is called the Eisenhower House now, but once used to be the home of the Navy Admiral.
Off in the distance across the bay was the Beavertail Lighthouse. After Castle Park we began entering the homes of “the Guilded Age” and we began to pass the summer “cottages” of the Vanderbilt’s, Morgan’s and Astor’s. We passed one mansion that was the home of Klaus von Bulow who was accused of murdering his wife, Sunny. Then came the Marble House that was estimated to be worth $17.9 million. We passed the Beachwood Mansion that was owned by Larry Ellison, of Oracle Software – the third richest man in America. We passed Rosecliff Mansion and eventually came to The Elms.
The Elms Mansion was owned by Edward Berwin, a coal magnate from Pittsburgh. His coal fueled all of the Navy ships of the day. As we entered the off-white granite mansion, we were given headphones and a recorder with a pre-recorded self-guided tour of the mansion. It is hard to believe that the wealthy only lived in these homes six weeks out of the year. Their servants would arrive prior to them and would set the house up. At this particular mansion, there were 43 servants. It is said that the women changed clothes approximately 7 times a day. Can you imagine? The bedrooms were smaller than what you would imagine for this size of a home; but the living areas were quite large and ornately decorated. There were paintings on the ceilings surrounded by crown molding. Each room had its own fireplace. Every room was wallpapered. Marble tables were a centerpiece in several rooms. The outside grounds were manicured perfectly. One of the things I enjoyed most of all was a huge tree in the backyard that would have been perfect for climbing.
After The Elms, we traveled back into Newport where we hailed a taxi that took us to the Newport Casino (Tennis Hall of Fame) where we enjoyed a lobster roll for lunch overlooking the grass tennis courts. We walked back through town and down to the pier where we eventually stood in line to get our tender back to the ship.
The ship left port about 4:30ish. It was very windy out on deck, but we were out there trying to take pictures of the Rose Island Lighthouse and Beavertail Lighthouse. It was beautiful. We enjoyed dinner in Michaelangelo Dining Room. Nola and I had Cornish Game Hens served with snow peas and baby corn and Jim enjoyed his Tornedos of Beef.
Till Boston tomorrow…
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