Tag Archives: vacation

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Newport – Day 2… Goat Island, more geese and some serious waterfront homes.

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Our second day in Newport dawned bright, sunny and of course… windy. Not breezy mind you, but knock you off your feet gusts. It took some getting used to.

Seeing as our resort (blue dot) was right across from Goat Island, a drive over there was our first stop.

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Goat Island is small, and so is their lighthouse.

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Since the wind felt hurricane force, we opted to enjoy it from the car.

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The lighthouse is a popular wedding destination as it sits on the end of the giant Newport Harbor resort that takes up half the island.

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(Internet photo, I didn’t suddenly sprout wings.)

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The other side of the island is a private gated community so we opted to walk along the marina instead.

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You’re never very far from water in Newport and it’s all about sailing here.

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The masts are sky high and hella impressive.

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Back across the bridge we headed for Ocean Drive, a scenic byway that loops along the shore at the bottom of Newport.

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We found geese on walls.

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Geese on lawns.

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And geese in the air, flying by some stunning waterfront homes.

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The rugged shore is very like ours in Maine.

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And like Maine, the wealthy build their homes in the best spots.

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And while I never thought anyone could beat the amount of stone in my fair state…

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Rhode Island can certainly give us a run for our money.

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Newport – Day 1 …. geese, taking an old Marine back to base after 50 years and a sunset dinner.

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There were two things I couldn’t ignore about Newport, Rhode Island when we visited last month.

First?

The wind. It blew a gale force, every minute of every day, everywhere we went. Seriously, it put Chicago to shame and must be the windiest place on earth. Temps were in the 50’s but rarely felt like it. I brought one scarf and wore it every day. My hair spray screamed uncle. It was nuts.

Second?

The Canada geese. In every field, on every lawn, by the edge of all the highways and on every median strip. You might see three, or three dozen, or three hundred, but see them you will. And watch where you walk, because where there are geese there is … well, goose 💩.

Copious amounts of goose 💩.

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After we settled into the resort, the first thing my husband wanted to do was tour his old duty station.

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I’d never been there, so after clearing the security gate… we drove.

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Past a lovely marina.

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And the Admiral’s quarters.

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With the ever present bridge in the background.

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Did I mention there were geese?

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We drove past a giant anchor.

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And the Naval War College.

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And yes, more geese.

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The husband was searching for his old Marine Corps barracks, where this picture was taken in 1976.

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Husband is on the right, receiving a commendation for saving a young man’s life.

❤️

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We found a big red Marine Corps ball, but couldn’t locate the barracks.

I know he really wanted to chat with someone about his time there in the mid ‘70’s, but there were no Marines to be seen. The office was closed, as was the military museum.

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He recognized a few buildings.

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But so much had changed.

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Vowing to go back again another day, we made our way to Newport’s famed waterfront for dinner.

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The sun was beginning to set on The Reef and we were more than ready to relax.

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The restaurant looked nice…

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And even from the bar where my husband always wants to sit, the view was lovely.

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My spiced cranberry Sangria was perfect.

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As was the husband’s local beer (Whalers Rise APA) and butternut squash soup.

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My coconut shrimp appetizer was tasty but things went straight downhill with our entrees.

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I opted for the wild mushroom risotto which was beyond horrible and literally crunched. Not what one looks for in a risotto. I didn’t photograph the husband’s salmon but it was equally as awful and sent back as well.

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Shame, because the location was wonderful.

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And the sunset just about perfect.

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Bet you didn’t even know I was gone.

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On a miserably wet morning two and a half weeks ago …. the husband and I took off on a trip.

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Roughly 4 hours later we crossed a bridge….

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And reached our vacation destination.

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Newport, Rhode Island.

The smallest state.

Home to the Americas Cup and Narragansett beer.

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Newport is old and full of maritime history. Founded in 1639, it was an important trading port for the British colonies. After the Civil War, the Gilded Age rich chose its beautiful coast as a site for their “summer cottages” … by which I mean American castles. Today, tourists flock to its beaches and vibrant waterfront shopping and dining areas.

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Newport is surrounded by water.

And lighthouses.

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And criss crossed with bridges.

It’s also home to the Naval War College where my Marine Corps husband was stationed 50 years ago.

This walk down memory lane trip was part of my birthday gift to him.

Our digs for the week? A Wyndham resort on Long Wharf.

Internet photo.

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My photos.

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Though we had a two bedroom, two bath unit it was smaller than most of our timeshare condos.

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With a seriously ugly color palette.

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But it was clean and quiet.

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With a Narragansett Bay view.

In the background, to the right.

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After unpacking, we left our home base and started exploring.

( to be continued, sequentially and ad nauseam… so be prepared for photo bombs lasting into May )

😉

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The long awaited visit. Day 1…

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A little history is required to fully enjoy my next series of posts.

When we lived in NC we had a neighbor. She was a single mother with two children and her daughter D. stole our hearts from day one. She was a happy little munchkin we enjoyed spending time with but when D’s baby brother stopped breathing at the babysitter’s and suffered irreparable brain damage, her life changed forever. We stepped in and helped wherever we could, taking her under wing and making sure she still enjoyed the part of her childhood untouched by tragedy. She became the child we never had… the daughter of our hearts, and we love her still.

Fast forward to present day… that young girl is 39 and married with a child of her own. We brought D to Maine with us a few times when she was young and the week after Labor Day 2024 life came full circle when she brought her family to visit the legendary land of lobster.

Meet G.

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And the lobster I gave her at the airport upon arrival, Larry.

G. is a little peanut and the granddaughter of our hearts.

The family stayed at what looked to be a cute little AirBnB on a lake.

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The view was lovely.

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But the house itself was weirdly laid out.

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No living room, a weird staircase and camp like accommodations downstairs.

Though it did come preloaded with a can of beans.

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Welcome to Maine!

Feel free to toot..

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As they’d be spending most of their time with us it wasn’t a big deal, but a tad disappointing all the same.

The first afternoon was spent settling them in, stocking the weird house with groceries and then back to our place for a home cooked lasagna dinner and happy hour in the man cave/Barn Mahal which they all fell in love with.

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Me?

I was so happy to have them here I reveled in the moment and only took one picture.

😊

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Thank you South Carolina… and the journey home.

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We woke up on the morning of the 8th day and had to say goodbye to our palm trees.

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Vacation was officially over and though I didn’t want to leave quite yet…

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We headed to the airport in Charleston, enjoying a few final glimpses of the South Carolina low country.

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It looked like the buzzards had lined up to see us off…

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But they were just having breakfast.

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Yes, my last image of Edisto Island was a carcass. Bet they don’t highlight that in the tourist brochures.

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We relinquished the giant rental vehicle… me quite easily – the husband with pangs of regret…. and began the long haul to the terminal. Seriously Charleston, could you put Avis any further away? Damn.

You’ll notice the husband is lugging both of our suitcases because…

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Yes. Mine might have been a trifle overpacked…. but it’s still rude of the airline to advertise the fact. Luggage has feelings too.

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Goodbye South Carolina. We enjoyed our visit immensely.

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Washington National Airport…

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Where your dog has a rest room too.

And apparently a fire hydrant.

We had two hours to kill and opted for lunch at PF Changs. We don’t have them up our way and I wanted to try it.

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One tasty Asian pear mojito in…

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I was questioning this man’s seating choice.

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I don’t care if there’s a heart, it’s still the business end of a very large horse.

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One horrible chicken lo mein and one even more horrible beef fried rice later, we vowed not to eat at PF Changs if they ever do make it up our way. Blech.

In other news, the flight to Maine did not start smoothly.

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Because of course, out of all the seats on the plane… my husband’s had to malfunction. The cushion was basically free floating and not attached to the seat frame at all. Every time he tried to sit down it just slid out from under him.

This delayed the flight a good 45 minutes while we waited for the maintenance people and did not endear us to our fellow passengers. After another 20 minutes of tinkering by the repair guys?

Velcro to the rescue.

I kid you not.

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An ignominious end to an otherwise delightful trip.

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At least it wasn’t duct tape.

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Saying goodbye to the boneyard and quirky Edisto.

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Thought I was done with the Boneyard Beach photos?

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Almost…

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I promise.

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But who could resist framing their spouse in driftwood?

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Making our way back to the path, I snapped my last photos.

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And my husband joined in the odd shell placement tradition…

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Trying to balance one on the sign.

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Success.

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Exiting through the marsh …

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We climbed back in the ungodly expensive rental behemoth…

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Of which my husband had become entirely too enamored.

It was late afternoon of our last day of vacation so we took a leisurely drive around Edisto Island and enjoyed some of its quirks.

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No one knows who erected this odd marsh angel but apparently she changes with the seasons and has become a local favorite.

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This is the only acceptable answer to the question what do I do with dead palm tree stumps?

Hula girls, that’s what.

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We drove past this native while on the main beach road.

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It was a wonderful sight so I made my husband turn around and circle by him twice to ensure decent photos.

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A poo covered jacket seems a small price to pay for such a beautiful friend.

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This bottle display is an old Gullah way of driving out evil spirits. They have to be blue, but sorry… for the life of me I don’t remember why. The Clemson tiger paw is a modern addition.

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Remember the herd of tiny deer we saw every night? I wondered where they could possibly live in so busy an area…

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The answer was our resort’s golf course.

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Where they clearly didn’t read the sign.

😉

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Do you think the other trees are jealous?

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When you’re in Edisto Beach, South Carolina one image looms large.

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It’s the one lone tree that stands in the surf at Boneyard Beach in the Botany Bay preserve.

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Admittedly it’s a fabulous tree.

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Silhouetted against the sky…

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All by it’s lonesome surrounded by plouffe mud.

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It’s certainly the most photographed tree there.

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But it does make me wonder if the other trees feel left out.

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No one prints postcards of them…

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And some of them are fabulous too.

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Such a strange and amazing place.

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I never would have thought dead trees could be so appealing before visiting here.

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But they were.

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And as much as I would have loved to spend the entire day here, our last few hours in South Carolina were running out and we had to move on.

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Past some live trees that were decorated with shells.

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Shelling amidst the bones.

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Walking the relatively treeless section of Boneyard Beach, it was all about the shells.

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All the beautiful shells it was illegal to remove.

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So of course most of them were perfect.

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It was hard not to slip a few into my pocket.

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There was no one around and they were so pretty.

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But I chose to do the right thing and did what others do.

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Found a perch and left my favorite (look at those colors!) for future beach walkers to enjoy.

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And then it was back to the trees.

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Those marvelously twisted…

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Skeletal trees.

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Needless to say it was against the law to remove the driftwood as well.

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A driftwood selfie was the best I could do.

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❤️

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Bones, burls, swirls and above all… wood.

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Yes, it’s another photo filled post of Boneyard Beach at Botany Bay preserve.

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I’d say I can’t help myself, but I could. I just don’t want to.

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We loved this place and I want you to love it too.

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It was truly one the weirdest natural wonders we’ve ever explored.

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The husband insisted I take this next picture.

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Clearly size is important to men.

Some of the wood was gnarly, some dried out and some twisted.

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But this piece was marvelously swirled.

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As we walked farther down the beach the trees were really piled up.

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Each weirder than the last.

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As we rounded a bend we found areas where shells had been strategically placed.

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It’s illegal to collect and remove things from this beach so people get creative.

It’s a wonderful way to conserve the beauty but this treeless stretch had some amazing shells that were hard to leave behind.

My husband, not caring about shells… found something else photo worthy.

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I can’t imagine why.

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🤣

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