I was a bit down last night.  Been traveling solo without seeing any friends or family in nine days. Doesn’t sound like much, but it can get a bit weary.  I was thinking it would be nice to catch up with a friend again.  And a bit after that, my friend Jay contacts me on FaceBook because he’s in Boston for work and would like to catch up.  Cool 🙂  We made plans to meet for dinner.

I decided to check out the mansions and cliff walk of Newport, Rhode Island in the day before heading back to Boston.  When I arrived, I bought a pass to tour five mansions, but I only used it for three.  The first stop was the Marble House, and it was my favorite of the three.  It’s an incredible place with more marble than any house I’ve seen previously.  These mansions were built near the shore at the height of the sailing society about 100 years ago.  Families that had amassed wealth and power built these mansions and their sailing society.  The mansions contain histories of the families, their ships, and their achievements. I took a stupid amount of pictures.  Some highlights starting with the front door.

Some of those picture may have been from the second mansion.  RoseCliff mansion was the second stop.  This mansion was used in filming The Great Gatsby.  What I liked best about this mansion was the backyard and view from the house and from the edge of the backyard.

The Breakers was the third mansion I visited.  My favorite part was the water feature under the staircase. 🙂

Jay was staying with his friends, Elizabeth and Michael, in Waltham.  I picked him up at their house and we went out to eat on Moody Street.  Being Friday night, most places had a long wait without a reservation.  We ended up eating Indian food at Santa Banta.  It was excellent!  The staff were very cool and gave us a free appetizer and a free dessert.  We grabbed some beer at Gordon’s and headed back to Elizabeth and Michael’s house.

Elizabeth and Michael live in an amazing house.  It’s been officially dedicated as a historical house, which limits changes they can make to it.  The entire house is built around a central courtyard.  It’s quite beautiful!  Elizabeth joined Jay and I in conversation and drinks.  After some inappropriate story sharing between recent strangers, Elizabeth considered me enough of a friend to generously offer me a place to stay for the night.  I happily accepted and we continued drinking and talking for hours before calling it a night.

• Uncategorized