We arrived in Newport, Rhode Island. It’s world renowned for the famous summer cottages built in the 1850’s.  They were really mansions and it was called the guild age. The most famous mansion was called the Breaker’s and it was owned by the Vanderbilt’s.  It had 70 rooms and a 45’ high central great hall.  The setting of these homes is spectacular and a natural beauty. The ocean on one side and these mansions on the other.

The girls again explored the shopping in downtown.  We had lunch in the White Horse Tavern.  Built in 1673 it’s the oldest operating tavern in the US.

The Historic White Horse Tavern

 There is lots of Island charm here and lots of history.  The second oldest golf course is here, the first in Scotland.  The first free school in the US was here. The America’s cup was here in the 1980’s and John and Jackie Kennedy were married here in 1953.

We enjoyed a visit to Elks Lodge #104.  It’s in a beautiful old mansion.  Tom had a “Stuffie” at the bar.  It’s a RI one of a kind dish.  Made of Quahogs, the largest of the clams here.  Fried strips of clams mixed with onions, celery, breadcrumbs, wine, and Portuguese chorizo sausage, which is scooped back in the shell and baked.

The smallest state makes up to one quarter of the country’s total supply of clams.

Ralph and Doris bought Tom a cute little lobster to remind him of all the great lobster rolls he consumed on this trip. We have all been enjoying lots of good seafood the last couple weeks.  Prices have been much cheaper than at home.

Tom & Doris sharing one last lobster roll

We took a drive to Jamestown on the last day together.  One last day with some great friends and seafood. After a nice lunch in a fishing town called Galilee.  We hoped we could by some fresh fish or seafood at the docks from the fisherman returning for the day.  We had no luck.  The boats that came in went straight to the packaging company and we were not prepared to buy 50 lbs. worth.

 

Lobster Boat in Galilee

On the way back to the campground we stopped for some wine tasteing.  The wine we have tried back east has all been sweet.  Can’t beat CA wine.

The trip to New Jersey was very stressful.  Bad traffic and bad roads.  We ended up getting on the wrong freeway.  We pulled over to check the map.  A Conneticut cop stopped to help.  He said to get off the next exit or we would be driving a comvertible motorhome.  The underpass did seem to be getting lower.  We touched bases with the Rissoto’s and Fernandes’s and they were 30 minutes ahead of us.  When we finally got to the campground Tom asked to be parked by our friends that had driven in 30 minutes earlier.  The office said they had not arrived yet.  We all had bad memories of that drive.  When we got parked I told Tom I need a drink or two.  We sat waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.  They had a similar driving experience and ended up coming in about 20 minutes later.

We could see the Statue of Liberty out our front window.  How cool!  Now we are ready to see NY city.

Beautiful Colors

And More Color