Joe and Jamie’s Blog

Today was the last day of vacation. Unfortunately it rained almost all day. We didn’t get to finish the cliff walk which stinks because I really wanted to do that. One good thing came out of the rain though. It started to pour as we were walking to the restaurant we wanted to go to, but it got so bad that we just stopped in front of the Rhode Island Quahog Company restaurant. This was honestly the best food we had while we were here. We enjoyed some more stuffed quahogs, surf and turf with stuffed lobster, stuffed shrimp. We tried their award winning, Rhode Islands’ best, New England Clam Chowder. Boy, was it good, actually the best I have ever had. I bought some cans of concentrate to bring home and make.

During the day while it was raining we visited the last mansion, the Breakers; good thing we bought the five mansion pass. The Breakers was completed in 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II to replace the wooden house that was there originally that he bought very shortly before it burned. What is nice about this house is that it never changed hands out of the family so almost everything in there is original from the Vanderbilt family.

To learn more about the mansions and the Preservation Society of Newport County please visit their site here. I have to credit them for some info on the posts about the houses as well as the info I received while on the tour.

After the Breakers, we went down Belleview Avenue (where all the mansions are, pretty much the fancy pants street in Newport) to the Belcourt Castle. Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont was the first owner of Belcourt Castle. Later on Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, Oliver’s wife joined him in the castle. If you remember the post on the Marble House, Alva was married to Cornelius Vanderbilt and divorced him and literally moved down the street to the Belcourt Castle. She received the Marble House after Cornelius Vanderbilt’s death and kept it store her dresses. Take a minute to let that set in…….. She kept a mansion as a storage closet. Anyway, after Oliver and Alva died, the son took over, but he sold the house and then it changed hands a few times. It was bought for $25,000, yes that’s right a whole mansion sized castle for that cheap, by the Tinney family, who still owns it today. One woman lives in the house all by herself. I can’t imagine why you need a whole mansion to yourself. Tours still go on in all the parts except her area. Because it was raining I couldn’t get many pictures of the outside, but you can view them at their website here.

The tour went well, it was great to be able to get up close to everything and not just pass through rooms like the Preservation Society tours, but since Belcourt Castle won’t sell the house to Society, the house is in shambles. All the precious architecture and fine linens and destroyed because it is not being restored. One room the floor bowed so much it was about an eight inch difference from one step to the next. Chairs were torn up and falling apart. The beautiful silk walls were torn and faded, same with the linen and cashmere curtains. There was even a puddle in one room. Ancient carpets are worn to nothing because they let everyone walk on them. Plaster ceilings had water damage or chipped paint. It’s just a huge shame that all that history is gone to waste. Over the years the family collected stuff from 33 different countries, and its all getting damaged. I think they are really dumb for not letting the Preservation Society preserve their family’s history that the care so much for.

After the tours we went souvenir shopping for everyone and ourselves. After dinner we headed home, where I am writing this post now.

You can see how bad the rain is in this picture. Good thing we weren’t waiting on line when it was that bad.

This little house on the grounds was actually a cottage for the kids to play in. It’s almost the size of a full house and four times larger than any NYC apartment.

Belcourt Castle. Doesn’t look like the castle you probably had pictured in your head, but there is something in the house that allows it to be defined as a castle.

What I want to do next is formulate a hotel review as well as the whole Newport experience. Look for those posts coming during the week.

Today was a pretty good day. We woke up early and rode the ferry to Block Island. Unfortunately there is only one ferry from Newport to Block Island and it arrives there at 11:15 and departs at 4:45, so we didn’t have much time to really enjoy everything there. The ferry ride there was very nauseating. I don’t really have sea legs and this ferry was incredibly small, so you really, really felt each wave. That plus the heat I felt sick, but as soon as I moved to the shade I felt much better. The water was very calm on the way home so I was fine. I felt bad for the people that actually got sick on the ride there in the choppy water. We also had a nice experience with a seagull on the boat. In the beginning of the ride, about twenty minutes out in the ocean, a seagull came out of no where and hovered over the top deck where we were. Well this fool across from us decided to hold up some of his bagel and let the gull eat it out of his hand. Very bad move because now it didn’t leave. He kept feeding it, and when he didn’t, it pecked him in the head. Stupid man. Eventually he got very risky and held the bagel in his mouth and let the seagull take it. I just really hope that guy knows what diseases those things carry.

When we landed Jamie and I decided to walk around a bit and find something quick to eat since we wanted to digest the food before going back on the ferry, for caution sake I guess. After sandwiches at a bagel shop, we walked down to Mansion Beach and enjoyed the very cool water. The water wasn’t actually as salty out there and was very clean. That is one thing I like about going to places like this, everyone does their part to keep things neat and clean, not like public beaches back home where everyone litters. Anyway, after the beach we walked back to town and rented bikes to ride around and see what else was left on the small island. We ran a bit short of time but were able to see most of the houses. Our first stop was North Light, the farthest point from the ferry landing. Here is a very old lighthouse that is now a museum, but it was under construction so we couldn’t go in.

After roasting in the sun all day and on the ferry, my arms are on fire and are still burning as I type this post. I have the worst burn I have experienced so far and it’s not fun, but I won’t let it ruin the day. We ate dinner back in Newport after relaxing from the bike ride. We were a little stiff from the ride so we went two buildings over to Tickets Restaurant. Their food selection was pretty good and we ordered just some basic stuff like chicken parmigiana, nothing special about the place.

For the night entertainment, we went to Newport Grand Slots to play some slots. This was fun since we both have never been to a casino or played slots before. We played $30 on the slots and actually walked away winning $25 back, which is great since we really need the money for tomorrow’s food.

Tomorrow is checkout day. We have a full day of events planned but need to take care of any water activities before we give up the hotel room. The beach across the street has been closed for the past three days and we don’t know why. It says “Water Testing” but we aren’t sure if there is really testing going on or just that the water has been very “testy” and rough lately; too rough to go in at all.

Arriving at Block Island.

Mansions Beach.

We climbed the rock wall that defined the harbor.

Leaving Block Island now.

Ain’t I sooo red?

Lighthouse near Fort Adams in Newport. Almost home!

I just liked this picture. Shows how large those oil tankers are when they are empty.