8-1-11 Mansions and LOTS of Lighthouses

Today was a day to finish off Newport and head to Cape Cod. We ate breakfast at the Marriott (a points stay). Sue doesn't like Marriott - the breakfast is not free and the towels are cheap. She thought the Hampton we stayed at the night before is a much better place than Courtyard. The Marriott breakfast of oatmeal and nuts and crasins was very good. We drove down to the Newport Visitors Center to get a map and started walking to the old commercial district we had driven past yesterday on the way to the Breakers. Took a detour into the harbor, saw some huge sail boats. Found a group of young girls on a week long trip to learn sailing skills, on a trip to Boston with a three masted square rigged ship. It was very hot and soon we got tired of the commercial district. Walked up into the houses and found some interesting designs and features. We soon came to Belview, the street of the Mansions. Lots of traffic, hotter still. We bailed and headed back to the car.

Since walking was out, and thus the Cliff walk would not happen, we decided to see another mansion by upgrading our tickets from yesterday. So for $10 we went through the Elms, the summer home of America's coal magnate, Edward Berwind. A very beautiful, elegant house in the French style, though the owner was German descent. Much nicer than the Italian over-the-top Breakers. This was an entertaining location so it only had 7 bedrooms - the couple had 3 other "cottages" in Newport if they needed more space. Full electricity, using its own coal-fired generator and a 8 x 8 x 2 fuse panel made of marble. Wonderful gardens and we were lucky that there was a great breeze blowing through the house to cool things off. Several interesting fountains to see.

 When we got done, it was about 12:30 and time to think about heading across the bay to catch the boat for the Narraganset Bay lighthouse tour we had reserved. We stopped at a grocery store and got some fruit, drinks and sandwiches and then drove off - traffic was very bad. Sue and I did not much like Newport - too commercial, too much traffic. It reminds us of old Annapolis, but on a much larger scale - all the homes are old as opposed to there being an Old Town. That part was neat but the press of humanity was not.

We got to the boat at the old Quonset AF base with 15 min to spare before the 2pm sailing. Lots of people. The boat was a fast ferry (5800 Hp in 4 motors so it could really get going). The cruise was great - got some closeup pictures of  lighthouses in the water and on the shore and also a spin through Newport harbor. Big treat - the Nantucket Lightship was in and had just been refurbished - looked brand new. Huge yachts, gobs of them, huge sailing ships, lots of 12m world class racing yachts, included some America's Cup winners. For a 90 min trip, we saw a lot. Never had a chance to eat our food on the boat so we sat in the parking lot and finished it.

I drove to Cape Cod and we got there at 6pm. The hotel is a very plain older place, right off Hwy 28 in West Yarmouth. We went out for food and tried two places with very long waits. Finally stopped at a small place, Jerry's. I got Fish and Chips, Sue got a Greek salad. We didn't need much after the late lunch. There are a lot of people here, traffic on 28 is packed. At the table next to us was a family for Boston, we guess because the father was warning his son about running into the parking lot and getting hit by the "caws". Great!

At the room we planned our day for tomorrow - heading for the seashore, do some trails, see some light houses. We have to see the whales sometime - on a cruise - and see seals and maybe go to Martha's Vineyard. Lots to do!