27 July 2023 to 30 July 2023 - North Stonington CT to Portsmouth, RI
Left Connecticut to visit the summer home for the Gilded Age rich. Toured the Breakers, the "summer cottage" of the Vanderbilts. There are several other homes to tour, but I can take only so much conspicuous consumption. We walked a portion of the Cliff Walk, a path that provides beautiful views of the ocean and several of the summer mansions. We had beautiful weather to tour some of the coastal area surrounding Newport. Glad to hopefully leave the heat and humidity and smokey air behind.
Enjoyed watching the plovers chase the waves.
The campground we stayed at had several vintage trailers, including this one with a very elaborate Christmas display in the front window.
Took a drive along the coastline, including Narragansett, a very popular summer beach area. Got caught in lots of beach traffic, which wasn't fun. This is a previous casino, now part of the town's government buildings.
Just one example of many beautiful victorian homes in the area. Many have been remodeled into apartments/condos.
Drove out to Judith's Point, the site of one of many lighthouses in Rhode Island.
The Breakers, possibly the most luxurious of the summer cottages of the rich and famous of the Gilded Age.
The small windows are on the fourth floor, servant quarters. During the summer, there was alot of heat and very little circulation.
The back of the Breakers. They had beautiful views of the ocean.
This staircase was specially designed to showcase the women who would descend in their evening finery. The summer season was all about the women and their social circles.
Research showed that the paint which was previously thought to be silver was actually platinum. That explained by the paint never oxidized.
Compared to the first floor, the bedrooms were pretty simple. Of course, simple is in the eye of the beholder.
An example of the china the Vanderbilts used.
A sign of prestige was showing ancient artifacts in the summer cottages. The Vanderbilts had a 16th century tapestry as their showpiece.
The huge chandelier is Baccarat crystal.
This huge light hung over the pool table. It is so heavy; it is moored to the structural beams of the building.
I thought the library was beautiful - I could spend hours looking through those books.
The cold alabaster tub needed to be filled several times with hot water before it could be used.
This is the children's playhouse. It is the size of a small cottage. Wow!
The Cliff Walk is traveled by over a million people each year. We could only go on a portion of the walk because of repairs.
Was not impressed with the beach on this end of Newport. Lots of seaweed and the waves churned up lots of mud.
This is known as 40 steps. Very popular for phots.
Some of the wild roses along the walk.
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