Newport, Rhode Island was founded in 1639 along the Narragansett Bay. It became the most important port for the state during the Revolution and it has welcomed members of the Jewish faith quite openly since 1658. During the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy southern planters seeking to escape the heat began to build summer cottages here. By the beginning of the twentieth century, America's most famous socialite families were summering here: the Vanderbilts, Astors, and the Wideners. We started by visiting The Breakers, built between 1893 and 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. He is Anderson Cooper's great-grandfather. It's a 70-room mansion and is about 125,000 square feet in size. Opulence and grandeur was important for these folks during the Gilded Age. While the over-the-top nature of it is somewhat hard to swallow, the design and construction work that went into these structures is pretty amazing. Interestingly, HBO is currently on-location at Marble House (another Vanderbilt mansion here) filming the second season of The Gilded Age.
A few blocks away was Rosecliff, a mansion built between 1898 and 1902 by Theresa Fair Oelrichs, a silver heiress from Nevada, whose father James Graham Fair was one of the four partners in the Comstock Lode. The principal architect, Stanford White, modeled the mansion after the Grand Trianon of Versailles. Unlike The Breakers, ownership of this house changed hands several times until a New Orleans family bought it in 1947. The original furnishings were all sold off in 1941 so this mansion is much less "cluttered" as only a few pieces have returned. Upstairs, an exhibition of antiques from several of Newport's mansions were on display along with interpretive information about each piece. Additionally, modern-day commentary from different walks of life was included.
After a quick lunch downtown (al fresco!), we hopped onto Ocean Drive which circles the southwestern and southern parts of Aquidneck Island. The wind was really blowing in off the bay causing the surf to be strong and adding a chill to the low 60 degree temperature.
After crossing the Claiborne Pell Bridge and the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, we headed southwest to the Judith Point Lighthouse. It's closed to the public, but we arrived at a nearby beach in time to watch teh sunset over the bay.
When we arrived at our Mystic, Connecticut hotel, we were met by an ambulance, police car, and fire marshals. We decided it was best to go have dinner prior to checking in. Not being overly hungry, pizza sounded good, so we ended up at Mystic Pizza. Yep, the one made famous by the 1988 movie of the same name. As we were unloading the car, Carolyn noted the spooky moon and sky, so I , of course, had to get a picture! Tomorrow is our last full day in New England and we're heading right for peak fall foliage in western Connecticut.
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