Oct 20, 2012 - Splitting the team

Friday we decided to split up the team...Connie and Pat continued their tours of mansions while John and I headed for the International Yacht Restoration facility. The report from the mansion tourers was that they had a great time, but it could not possible have been as good as our visit to the boat re builders. This is a great big building right on the water in downtown Newport. You can climb the stairs to a catwalk that overlooks the floor and watch the work being done down below. Awesome place...we were really impressed by the size and...

Oct 19, 2012 - Sick As A Dog

Pathfinder got up yesterday...took a shower...suddenly blinding headache...wracked with coughs...shooting pains in the joints...muscle weakness....dizzy....Pat thinks a run to the hospital is in order...Pathfinder fights the idea off...every fiber of his being is in agony, but his tremendous spirit fights back...all day and all night in bed...the other three visit mansions, but he lies in bed in agony...this morning Pat insists on a trip to the doctor...Pathfinder relents, he knows whatever he has is so horrible it probably can not be...

Oct 18, 2012 - Wandering the Streets

Hung out in town yesterday.....walked around, checked out the shops. It's getting cooler here every day. Got to wear a jacket for sure as you wander around...John toughed it out in shorts yesterday, but I played it safe. We found the Rhumb Line restaurant yesterday...may go there tonight...plan today is to see the inside of some of the mansions. See you tomorrow Lobstah Man (sort of)

Oct 17, 2012 - Yeah, It's Newport all right.

Yesterday was our first full day in Newport. Took us a little while to get going, but by just a little after noon we were out of the door and down to the Visitor's Center. It was decided that it would make sense to get on one of the tour buses in order to get the "lay of the land". We had done this in Seattle and it worked out great there. So off we went on a tour of the area with our new bus-drivin' buddy, Roy. We grabbed the seats in the back of the bus, and good old Roy drove us around for a couple of hours, telling us a lot about the...

Oct 16, 2012 - No, wait....we're in NEWPORT

10 minutes ago: me: Hey Hon, I just posted the blog Pat: What did you write about? me: Our trip here to Portsmouth Pat: What? me: Our trip here to Portsmouth Pat: We're in Newport me: Huh? I just went outside with John....she's right, it's Newport. Tell you all about it later.

Oct 8, 2012 - Feeling good!

Newport, RI. Another day of accomplishments. We are working on a quilt made of t-shirts. It has presented some unique challenges, especially since we had no idea when we started how we were going to make it. If the shirt designs were all the same size, life would be so much easier. Instead we had to figure out how to incorporate a number of different sizes and make them all come out equal in the end – no small task! The fact that 2 cats were "helping" added to the challenge. We are also adding some unusual features such as 2 different types...

Oct 7, 2012 - Off to Scotland!

Newport, RI. We are so international! Yesterday were the Italian and Octoberfest celebrations and today we ventured to Scotland, Connecticut to attend the Scottish Highland Games. It was in a lovely setting at the Edward Waldo Homestead. It had a very fallish look to it with lots of leaves on the ground. We were able to browse through the vendors tents, learn about spinning thread and other old customs, and, of course, find lots of goodies to eat. We watched the opening ceremonies with the bands of bagpipers and saw (and heard) individual...

Oct 6, 2012 - Cross off another one!

Newport, RI. We have quite a sense of accomplishment for the day. We finished installing the shelving system, loaded the bars and shelves with clothes and NOTHING fell down! Yahoo! Another project crossed off the list. Then we replaced a door on a cupboard in the bathroom that our mother had ripped off its hinges when she visited in May. Got to watch her – one time she even torn the door knob off of the bathroom door and then had to be rescued! The repair was a task we had been dreading but we managed it. We have 3 more projects going as...

Oct 5, 2012 - Where did the time go?

Newport, RI. This was one of those hodgepodge days. After decorating the house for Halloween, we made a run to the airport in Providence, RI to drop niece Keelan at the airport. Then Barb and Sandi ran a ton of errands. It was late in the day by the time we got back to project work. One of those errands included a trip to the hardware store where Barb sweet talked one of the workers into modifying a piece for us that is part of a shelving system. Naturally we would be capable of doing it ourselves (we are unafraid to tackle almost anything)...

Oct 4, 2012 - Black Pearl

Newport, RI. It was an overcast though mild day. Sandi and sister Barb spent it working. We got started on three projects and finished one. It was not all work though. There was time for a walk around the neighborhood and then a trip to the Black Pearl Restaurant. The Black Pearl Restaurant is known for its beautiful waterfront ambiance and award-winning New England Clam Chowder. Naturally Sandi, Barb and niece Keelan treated ourselves to a big bowl. Even Frommer's (the elite travel guide) says "don't miss the definitive Newport chowder,...

Oct 3, 2012 - Parting of the ways

Newport, RI. We did history a little bit backward today by starting with Concord, Mass. There we went to Concord's North Bridge, where on April 19, 1775, colonial commanders ordered militia men to fire back at British troops for the first time. British colonial militia and minutemen killed 3 regular army soldiers (Redcoats)and wounded 8 at the North Bridge. In his 1837 poem, "Concord Hymn", Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized the North Bridge Fight as "the shot heard round the world". The Minute Man Statue of 1875 is also there. Across the...

Sep 30, 2012 - More mansions, neighborhoods and a fort

Another fabulous day here in rainy Newport Rhode Island. It just spit again yesterday so it didn't interfere with our plans to see 3 more mansions. It is just incredible that these wealthy of wealthies used these homes for just 10-12 weeks a year in the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were all in the same social set and vied for the best dates for their dinner parties and dances. Everyone had a ballroom and 600 people would come for the dance. Interestingly enough, most of the mansions that still stand were built after other older...