Blithewold (meaning happy woodland) was built in 1909… originally as a summer home (of 45 rooms) and while not nearly as grand the famous Newport cottages…
.
.
It was still quite lovely.
.
.
The entrance hall was bright and sun filled.
.
.
The dining room a good bit darker. Sadly most of the original furniture is gone, and the replacement table doesn’t quite fill the space.
.
.
The butler’s pantry.
.
.
With a funky arrow board pointing out where “servant needed”.
.
.
The family loved their gardens and most of the china patterns reflect this.
.
.
The daughters.
.
.
And the naughty butler.
The kitchen was cordoned off the day we visited as it was being used to cater a wedding on the grounds that evening.
.
.
The breakfast room also served as an indoor patio with large windows and doors that opened the house to cool breezes off the bay.
.
.
Floral tile and pinecone lighting. These people loved their plants.
.
.
A pillared hallway led to the billiard room.
.
.
And the telephone room with hand painted wallpaper.
.
.
The living room had a few scattered pieces of furniture …
.
.
Including this rather ugly throne.
.
.
About to head upstairs, we noted the hanging cherub lights.
.
.
And I don’t know about you…
.
.
But to me it looks like the little gold plated darling wants to bash someone on the head.
I kept strolling the gardens of Blithewold by myself…
.
.
Giving my husband time to exhaust the unsuspecting strangers who’d begun chatting with him.
.
.
I strolled.
.
.
And strolled.
.
.
And was tempted to check out the bamboo forest…
.
.
But turned around and realized he would go on all day without an intervention.
.
.
Working my way around the greenhouse…
.
.
I flanked the group, whose women were looking around, shuffling their feet and trying to politely escape.
As I joined them, the man was telling my husband about the line of trees that was pruned like shrubs in the background of this picture.
.
.
He said the tree was native to the Chinese mountains and had been extinct for a thousand years until a horticulturist retrieved some seeds from a fossilized specimen and brought it back to life. The man told us he had just collected some of its cones and intended to plant them on his property, suggesting we do the same.
Which my husband did.
.
.
Steering my spouse away, we continued exploring.
.
.
Blithewold is known for its fabulous old growth trees.
.
.
And some of them are hella impressive.
.
.
Sequoiadendron giganteum,
The Giant Sequoia.
.
.
This is the tallest one on the east coast.
.
.
But I loved these big beauties.
.
.
Weeping European beech.
.
.
Even the roots were awesome.
.
.
And this next tree?
.
.
A Dawn Redwood.
.
.
Whose surrounding ground was littered with little cones just like the ones my husband collected.
Thousand year old extinct tree my ass.
😒
.
.
Turns out this was the rare specimen.
A Franklin tree.
.
.
Extinct in the wild but cultivated and grown by gardeners.
We stayed at Club Wyndham Newport Onshore which is part of our timeshare.
.
.
The location was perfect, it was clean, well kept and fully staffed. Hot and cold running housekeepers brought my husband more coffee, firmer bed pillows, and even a toothbrush since he forgot his.
.
.
Some of our timeshare properties assign you a unit of their choice with no chance of switching. But this resort gave us the two bedroom, two bath top floor condo on the harbor I requested… and we were happy campers that this building had 3 separate card keyed lobbies with 3 separate elevators and only one other unit on our floor.
Peace and quiet is never over rated.
.
.
Indoor and outdoor pools, a gym, outdoor grilling areas, wine and cheese nights… I’d stay here again. But that doesn’t mean it was perfect.
Parking was limited, and definitely an issue. So much so, we were assigned three different spots during our stay and had to wiggle in and out every morning hoping not to hit anything, or anyone.
.
.
We started in the underground area below our unit. It was tight, but doable. And then….
.
.
The resort began replacing all its patio furniture and those areas were blocked off.
.
.
So we moved outside to space #13, which was fine, until we came back one afternoon and found this…
.
.
No way we were parking there.
.
.
Our final spot was under cover again, but pulling in and out with a lot full of diagonally parked vehicles made me glad the husband was driving.
The condo itself had been newly remodeled, but once again I questioned the interior decorators. I realize everyone’s taste is different, but the colors and “art” on the walls was….
.
.
Well…
.
.
A bit much.
.
.
I get it, Newport is on the water and they wanted a nautical theme. But couldn’t they find something more attractive than anchor chain and rigging?
We woke to a good bit of fog on our first morning back in Newport.
.
.
Of course we’re those annoying resort neighbors who are up at 4:30:-5:00am to start the day so we often beat the sun.
As we sat on the balcony with tea and coffee, a friend was making his presence known directly below us.
.
.
Most people who live on or near the coast hate seagulls…
.
.
But we love all creatures… so naturally the husband started feeding him.
.
.
This is not recommended.
.
.
Before long, our friend from down below became our friend up top.
.
.
Seagulls are opportunists.
.
.
If they find a food source, they’ll take full advantage.
.
.
My husband started with Cheetos, but then laid out a wheat bread buffet.
.
.
And though the railing proved a bit slippery.
.
.
Our new friend soon figured out a drive (fly) by maneuver.
.
.
And then he told a friend.
.
.
And another friend.
.
.
Three squawking, circling gulls at 5:30am was enough to prompt the man staying on the sailboat below us to holler up at my husband to please stop feeding the birds, which he did.
Reluctantly.
And as we were sitting on the balcony ignoring the still hungry and now pissed off birds…
.
.
My husband realized the nice little cafe where he had breakfast every morning on our previous trip was over there.
.
.
A not insignificant distance, but you know he got dressed and walked over there anyway. Every morning …to eat breakfast and more importantly, chat with the locals.
After unpacking and making a grocery run for the week, it was early evening so we headed out on foot to search for food.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
At the corner of Thames Street and Americas Cup Avenue (notice a trend?), we found the Red Parrot.
.
.
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”.
.
.
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.
.
.
Nearly empty when we arrived, I dove straight in to their lengthy cocktail list.
.
.
Tempting as a rubber duck margarita was, 48 ounces seemed a bit much… even for me.
.
.
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.
.
.
As well as humorous.
(If you’ve never seen the Godfather? Never mind.)
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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 …
.
.
(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.
.
.
Back at the resort, we relaxed on balcony #1 and enjoyed the end of our first day on Newport vacation Part Two.
Day 8 dawned bright, and as I looked out the window of our condo… windy. No surprise there.
.
.
We said goodbye to Narragansett Bay.
.
.
And a decent enough resort.
.
.
Heading out of Newport, we saw a T Rex selling Girl Scout cookies and had to stop.
.
.
These young ladies were doing a brisk business and we purchased 4 boxes in a drive through line. Very efficient.
.
.
Did I mention there are windmills in Newport?
.
.
Like, everywhere?
With the constant wind I can’t blame them. but it was odd seeing them randomly dominate the skyline.
.
.
In Providence this fellow didn’t seem pleased with the time.
.
.
In Massachusetts?
A very well marked curve.
.
.
Clearly the clientele of this McDonalds outside of Boston are somewhat… questionable.
.
.
Twin bridges somewhere along the way.
And in a mere 4 hours we were home, having greatly enjoyed our time away.
My husband’s birthday fell during our trip and while my surprise Antique Roadshow thing didn’t work out.. ( the rat bastards )…he still had a nice day.
.
.
I thought this guy looked a little like His Lordship.
.
.
Gift #2? A pair of night vision binoculars for critter spotting in the dark.
.
.
Gift #3? A package of stickers that made him groan.
.
.
Gift #4? A lighted coin microscope for closer examination of his collection … which he broke on day one.
As we were walking along the harbor that early evening, my husband spied a bar he’d heard about from some locals.
.
.
The Quencher is what some might call a dive.
.
.
But I grew up in New Jersey and then the working waterfront of Portland, Maine in the late 70’s and early 80’s (before gentrification of the Old Port). Trust me, I know dives… and this wasn’t one.
.
.
It’s a bar, you should buy a beer.
.
.
Old Winnie knew his stuff.
.
.
Being a Wednesday, I made it just in time for 20% off.
This bar was loud, with a bartender uninterested in conversation.
.
.
Internet photo.
We were still full from lunch otherwise I’d have been tempted to try a pizza.
.
.
The husband did order wings which were awful, so no photo required. We had one drink and moved on.
.
.
To the Newport shipyard down the road. The husband’s new favorite breakfast cafe was there and he’d come back to the resort every morning filled with stories of the giant ships being worked on there.
.
.
Untold millions of dollars in watercraft require a 24/7 guarded gate and no one drives in without a pass, but we walked and the guard recognized my husband as one of the breakfast crew. It pays to make friends.
.
.
This was a research vessel from Maine.
.
.
And this catamaran cost well over a million itself.
After our fabulous meal, we felt the need to walk off some of the calories.
.
.
And took a stroll around the waterfront of downtown Bristol.
.
.
Quiet on the off season, I’m sure the marina is full of pleasure craft in the summer.
.
.
Along the edge is the Maritime Center. A one time armory built in 1894, it now houses public restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for boaters as well as a wi-fi lounge and a 4,000 square foot multi use hall displaying local artists.
.
.
Though the marina was people free, the seagulls kept a close eye on us.
.
.
And since we were roughly 20 miles from the wind tunnel that is Newport?
.
.
A smile and a relatively in tact hairdo.
.
.
Should we visit the area again, I would take more time to explore this lovely town.
.
.
And perhaps bring the seagulls a treat.
.
.
The gulls concur.
.
.
As we were leaving I glanced over the side of the pier and saw…
.
.
Eggs?
.
.
They’re actually jellyfish, but tell me that doesn’t look like someone randomly cracked a few eggs in the harbor.
.
.
As we made our way back to the car through the park, my husband made a friend.
.
.
Who was a little reticent at first, but when he realized the strange man could push him higher than his mother?
Deciding to take a drive to Bristol on our 6th day of vacation, the husband spotted an antique shop on our way out of town.
.
.
Which turned out to be more of a tourist trap gift shop where the new items outnumbered the old so I thought I’d dodged a bullet. Until my guy started chatting up the owner and she told him about two giant antique malls he simply had to visit.
.
.
Damn her.
.
.
Bristol, Rhode Island is a lovely spot.
.
.
Waterfront, like most of the towns we visited.
.
.
.
.
With its share of stone walls and beautiful old homes.
.
.
Arriving at lunch time, we chose an assuming little place called the Beach House.
.
.
It was on the water, no surprise there.
.
.
And was nicely decorated, with a warm, welcoming beachy feel.
.
.
One aperol and pink guava spritz in…
.
.
I was feeling right at home.
.
.
My NY strip crostini with shallot brandy cream sauce appetizer?
.
.
Omg.
I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. The beef literally melted in my mouth.
.
.
And when my husband raved over his butternut squash bisque? I knew we’d chosen the right place.
.
.
They even had his new favorite local beer.
.
.
My main course of homemade wild mushroom ravioli with caramelized onions and porcini cream sauce?
.
.
Absolutely decedent.
But the husband’s crab topped filet mignon with stuffed lobster tail, sautéed garlic spinach and mashed new potatoes?
.
.
Huge.
Filling.
And perfectly cooked.
This entree alone… in Maine, would easily be $100. And we’re the land of lobster. In lovely little Bristol, Rhode Island? $44.
We were stunned.
.
.
And vowed to come back to this hidden gem if we’re ever in the area again.
.
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 