Autumn in New England Part I

October 24, 2023

Brad and I visited Maine and New Hampshire several years ago and have always wanted to go back and see some other New England states. Since Autumn is the best time of year to visit and see the beautiful Fall colors, we took time off a couple of weeks ago, and spent ten wonderful days in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Plymouth, Massachusetts

We flew into Boston (more about Boston in later post), rented a car, and started driving south along the coast. We weren't planning on going to Plymouth originally, but we had a day to kill so we took the scenic way to our AirB&B in Seekonk, MA. While in Plymouth, we walked along the shore and took pictures of the boats and Mayflower replica, ate fish & chips at Wood's Seafood, got ice cream from one of the quaint shops, and visited the Forefather's Monument up on the hill. That evening we met up with our good friend's Tim & Jill (from Washington State) who just happened to be staying in a hotel about twenty minutes from our AirB&B. Tim was running marathons in the Eastern U.S. and called to see how far Kentucky was from Ohio, where they would be at some point in their trip. We said that we were actually in Massachusetts on vacation and they said "no way...we're in MA too"! We picked them up at their hotel and went out for Thai food and ice cream. It was so wonderful catching up with them. I love it when the world becomes so small like that!!

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Narragansett is such a quaint coastal area with a lot of history and lighthouses (I'm kind of obsessed with light houses, but due to our limited time, we only visited some of the main ones). The Fort Judith Lighthouse is a working lighthouse so we viewed it from outside the fence. We also enjoyed walking along Scarborough Beach , hiking the Black Point Trail and seeing the ruins, and catching some spray on Hazard Rock .

Jamestown, Rhode Island

In the Jamestown area we visited Beavertail State Park & Lighthouse, looked at the boats and views of Dutch Island Lighthouse from Fort Getty Park , drove through Windmill Hill catching a glimpse of Plum Beach Lighthouse , and ending up in Providence , Rhode Island's capital. Providence is a beautiful city with the water views, Capital Hill, and College Hill, but driving it was a little nerve-racking, especially at dinner time! We wanted to eat at one of the great restaurants near Brown University , but the traffic and parking was a little too crazy, so we ate at a Portuguese restaurant on the outskirts of Providence called "Caravela". We ordered a typical Portuguese dinner, and it did not disappoint!

Newport, Rhode Island

Another small-world story...while we were on the trolly driving through Newport Harbor (which is really big!) our tour guide was talking about a historical boat called Oliver Hazard Perry, and as we passed by it, I caught a glimpse of our friends' (who live in Utah) daughter Christina, walking along the outside of the boat! I freaked out and hurried and texted her mother who confirmed that it was indeed Christina! I knew that Christina helped restore old boats for her job, and that she was recently in New Jersey working on a boat, but I had no idea she was in Rhode Island restoring the Oliver Hazard Perry!

The Marble House

During our trolly ride Brad and I got off at The Marble House & The Breakers' to tour the homes. If you've read my previous blogs then you know my obsession with the Vanderbilts and their homes! So of course, I had to take a tour of these "summer cottages"! The Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Alva & William Vanderbilt. The fifty-room mansion required a staff of 36 servants and cost 11 million dollars to build, 7 million was spent on the marble alone (Alva wanted Italian marble because of it's varied color...she wanted the Marble House to look warm and inviting, not sterile). Alva actually received The Marble House as a gift on her 39th birthday. Alva divorced William in 1895, and remarried Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont in 1896, moving down the street to Belmont's mansion. After his death, she reopened Marble House and added the Chinese Tea House where she hosted rallies for woman's suffrage. Alva closed the home in 1919 to live closer to her daughter Consuelos, in France, and later sold the home to Frederick Prince in 1932. The Tiffany Ball in July 1957 was held there and included such guests as Senator John F. Kennedy and wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (John & Jackie Kennedy were actually married in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Newport and were frequent visitors to Newport) Mr. & Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse, and the Astors.

The Breakers

A couple doors down from The Marble House is The Breakers, a Gilded Age mansion built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The original Breakers burned down in 1892 so Cornelius insisted that the new Breakers be made as fireproof as possible, composed of masonry and steel trusses, with no wooden parts (the children's cottage playhouse in back was built around the same time as the original Breakers mansion in 1878). The Breakers got its name from the waves that continually crash into the cliffs below. The mansion has 70 rooms on five floors, and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Renaissance Revival style. It also includes imported marble from Italy and Africa, and rare woods and mosaics from around the world. Some of the scenes from the series Gilded Age were actually filmed in the grand ballroom. The main entrance to the property has 30-foot-high sculpted gates and a 12-foot-high limestone-and-iron fence that borders the property. Cornelius Vanderbilt II died from a stroke at age 55 and left The Breakers to his wife Alice Gwynn, who died at age 89 in 1934, leaving The Breakers to her youngest daughter Countess Gladys Szechenyi. In 1948, Gladys leased the high-maintenance property to The Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 per year. The Preservation Society bought The Breakers and 90% of its furnishings in 1972 for $365,000 from Gladys's daughter.