Summer 2012 - Rhode Island

This is really for Tuesday, July 3

We went to Newport, Rhode Island today. We visiting 5 mansions from the "Gilded Age" owned by such folks as Cornelius Vanderbilt II , Cornelius Vanderbilt II and William Shepard Wetmore. https://tix.newportmansions.org/ecommerce/



These were considered summer homes or cottages. Even those these mansions were all extreme in their rich decor and style, I really liked the Breakers. It had a grand ballroom, but the children said they often rode tricycles in there and slid on trays down the ornate stair cases. The children were playful and mischievous and the family treated this mansion as a family home. We saw four other mansions and they were beautiful and "gilded", and they all had their own stories, but none so simple and filled with love as this one.


We toured the Breakers (above) the Marble House (depressing because of the story that went with it), The Elm, the Chateau-sur-Mer., and Rosecliff. All these mansions were summer homes for their owners. Some were the first to have electric lights. The norm for the day was 1 bathroom to a home, these mansions had as many as 20 - most with a beautiful bathtub as well as a sitz baths. One of the interesting stories was that, although they had telephones, they would not use them to call outside the home. That was considered rude. If they wanted to contact a neighbor, they would write a letter and have it hand delivered by a servant.
Only Male servants were seen by visitors. It was in bad taste for female servants to be seen. They were in the background tending the ladies, doing the laundry, tending to household chores. The ladies would change clothes 4 to 7 times a day. It was unthinkable to be seen in the afternoon in your morning dress. And of course, one would need a separate dress to go riding. A clean dress would be put on for each meal. From the looks of the clothing, it was no simple matter to get into those dresses.

Weeping Beech

The people walking beside this tree give a perspective of its size I think.  I told Nell I could plant one in my back yard and never mow again - nor would the neighbors because it would cover my yard and the ones on both sides of me.  It MAY be an exaggeration, but not much of one. The Weeping Beech is a HUGE tree.  Ray was trying to find Nell and here she came, walking out from under the tree.  LOL

I think this is Rosecliff.

  Hydrangeas are everywhere.  Purples and blues and beautiful.  It appears to be the flower or shrub of choice for this area.

After we visited the mansions, we went to Cape Cod where we had dinner in a busy busy seafood restaurant on the water.  While there, someone stole Ray's touch pad from the car.  He was bummed, but not as much as I would be.  He has such a wonderful attitude about EVERYthing!!!!