Tag Archives: food

It’s a walking town.

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After unpacking and making a grocery run for the week, it was early evening so we headed out on foot to search for food.

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Our resort was right on the harbor… but technically its address and check in office (white turret) is Thames Street, the busiest part of Newport, Rhode Island. One way streets, little to no parking and a constant flow of tourists make navigating the area by car challenging . On our last trip we weren’t able to explore, this time we were staying right in the heart of it.

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Right next to the Sailing Hall of Fame.

Did you know there was a Sailing Hall of Fame? Neither did I, but it was an interesting building.

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At the corner of Thames Street and Americas Cup Avenue (notice a trend?), we found the Red Parrot.

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The Red Parrot building is listed on the National Register of Historical Places in Newport. It was built in 1898 by John Alton Barker as a meat packing house where it employed hundreds of people during the era known as “The Gilded Age”.

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Through the years this building has housed a variety of eating establishments serving heads of state, diplomats, royalty, movie stars, the thousands of people visiting Newport each year and now you.

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Nearly empty when we arrived, I dove straight in to their lengthy cocktail list.

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Tempting as a rubber duck margarita was, 48 ounces seemed a bit much… even for me.

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I chose the Luxe Berry instead.

Citrus vodka, Chambord, pink lemonade and a splash of raspberry puree, served on the rocks with fresh lemon.

I wish I could copy and print the whole menu for you because it was large and extensive.

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As well as humorous.

(If you’ve never seen the Godfather? Never mind.)

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For appetizers…. husband had a wonderful and almost overwhelmingly cheesy French onion soup while I struggled to eat half of my amazingly rich ‘Shroom flatbread.

(Fire grilled dough, with caramelized onions, Portobello mushrooms. Topped with garlic herb Boursin and mozzarella cheese). That was a meal in itself… but we had to move on.

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Cocktail #2?

The Refresher… Prairie Cucumber vodka, raspberry puree, fresh lime over ice splashed with club soda.

Dinner was a tropical grilled Mahi Mahi with asparagus and mashed potatoes for the husband, pan seared scallops with spicy plum sauce, jasmine rice and sautéed spinach for me. Both meals were fabulous with generous portions and though I was honestly stuffed…

I decided to put myself in a sugar coma and drank my dessert.

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THIS DRINK IS BANANAS…B.A.N.A.N.A.S.

Rum Chata, Banana liqueur, White Crème de Cacao, fresh banana, vanilla ice cream and a splash of honey simple syrup blended frozen and topped with whipped cream.

By the time we waddled out of the restaurant there wasn’t an empty seat to be seen …

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(Vacant table on the left was the one we just vacated). And yes, that’s my husband on the far right chatting with someone at the bar.

The man loves to talk.

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Back at the resort, we relaxed on balcony #1 and enjoyed the end of our first day on Newport vacation Part Two.

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Ahhh…

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😊

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Is it any wonder I love this man?

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It was pouring rain recently and my big tough Marine husband was watching a hummingbird struggle to feed in the downpour.

Though I tried to explain hummingbirds live in tropical rain forests where deluges are common, he said, “These hummers are in Maine. They need help.”

So what did he do?

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He went outside and got drenched…

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In order to rig an umbrella over the feeder.

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As soon as it was installed?

Grateful hummingbirds.

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Of course the wind was blowing and securing it took repeated trips.

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But the little guys loved it.

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With one fellow happily perching there for an hour.

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❤️

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Let’s play.

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You know the drill.

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For me it’s ketchup.

I’m not a fan in general, and tend to cringe when I see people slather it on eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches and God forbid…. steak.

Burgers and fries? If you have to, though I usually pass.

I’ve seen people use it as a dip for potato chips, put it on their fried fish and top off their bowls of baked beans. For me those are a definite no.

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How about you?

What ruins your dish…

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Squirrelly acrobats.

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While the red squirrels are a constant unwelcome chewing, gnawing, destructive menace… our gray visitors provide hours of entertainment.

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I know we’re in the minority here, but we don’t mind squirrels eating from our feeders.

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They’re usually content to perch in the flat ones and happily munch away, but the other day this fellow was determined to get the last few seeds out of the carriage feeder and that proved more challenging.

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Gravity be damned.

And just when he figured it out?

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Squirrel #2 arrived and kicked him off.

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Undeterred… our intrepid acrobat regrouped and moved on to the suet.

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Gray squirrels….

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Ya gotta love them.

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An experiment, a nice lunch and a few laughs.

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We bought a new car last September. A fully loaded 2025 Subaru Forester Touring. I love Pearl… and with the current trade policies am extremely glad we didn’t wait to purchase her.

As an experiment, I checked the price before Trump implemented his moronic tariffs.

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Two weeks after the tariffs took effect?

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I’ll continue to check.

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A few days ago we popped into the Foreside Tavern in Falmouth.

(Summer Dreaming cocktail. Vodka, elderflower, lemon and pineapple.)

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Which used to be a Howard Johnson’s when I was young. I still miss their chicken croquettes…

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But the tavern’s bbq chicken flatbread appetizer was tasty.

(Winter spiced margarita. Cinnamon Infused Tequila, Cranberry, Orange, Cointreau, Agave, Lime)

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As was the ribeye steak spring salad with blue cheese, apples, red onions and candied pecans.

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That’s me.

Highly flavorful.

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Canadians.

Ya gotta love them.

🤣

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Finally.

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Yes, hope springs eternal and I tried another Facebook recipe.

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This time it was a shrimp and corn chowder.

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Southwest style and even though it only had 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper …

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It proved too spicy for my born and bred New England husband.

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I had jumbo shrimp and chopped them to bite size.

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It’s an easy recipe, and I quite liked it.

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Though even with the dissolved gelatin, I thought it too thin to qualify as chowder.

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If I make it again, which is unlikely because of the husband’s bland and boring taste buds, I’d add another thickening agent.

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Miscellaneous nonsense.

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Remember the improved box cake mix recipe?

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I tried it with butter pecan.

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And while the cake didn’t seem to rise quite as high as it normally does …

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My husband raved about the texture and proceeded to eat 3/4’s of it.

Honestly? I didn’t notice much of a difference.

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I’m so sick of this AI generated nonsense.

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As if.

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This is a real cat.

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Who jumps up to sleep on the spare bed pillows….

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And is too lazy to shift when he slides down between the shams.

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I found some old military photos when I was cleaning out a drawer the other day. That’s my husband in Beirut, with the remnants of the bombed Marine barracks behind him. He removed the bodies of six Marines from the wreckage on that horrible day.

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Welcoming my guy home after a six month Med float in 1988.

Damn, we were young.

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And talk about young.

My husband, right before he went to Vietnam.

❤️