Dearest
Family and Friends,
Our newest
journey started with a nice flight to Newark Intl. Airport and an hour-delayed
pick-up by a highly inefficient transit company hired to transport us to the
London NYC hotel in the center of Manhattan.
The trip into the Big Apple was fine until we got into the city. Seems the United Nations general assembly
meeting was about to kick off, attended by President Obama who was staying at
the hotel across the street from ours.
Traffic was horrendous; streets were blocked off, seemingly without
regard for either common sense or local inconvenience, and secret service
personnel were positioned every thirty feet or so for blocks in every direction,
recognizable only by the most sharp-eyed observer as they were inconspicuously attired
in black suits with white shirts, black ties, black lace-up shoes, bulges under
their jackets and an ear-piece with coiled wire disappearing at the neck line.
We met
Brandi, Noel, Eliana and Gehrig, who drove in from Princeton just for the
evening, at the famous NYC steakhouse,
Smith & Wollensky’s, for dinner where fine cuts of charred mammal flesh,
succulent lobsters, jumbo prawns (as huge as I have ever seen) and delicious
crab were in abundance and consumed in great quantities. It was a fun evening and a perfect way for
Vicki and me to start our vacation.
The hotel
was 5-star and loaded with luxury so after a wonderful night of sleep Vicki and
I walked down to the famous Diamond District for a little light shopping. Vicki
says that is a mandatory activity when in NY. For our 45th Anniversary we picked
out matching Raymond Weil watches and struck what we thought was a fairly
decent deal. So much for the kid’s
inheritance.
We boarded
the Regent Seven Seas Navigator at about 1:00 PM and sailed at 9:00 PM for
our cruise to Montreal. The first pictures below are of the New York skyline. Note the almost finished Freedom Tower, which looked amazingly regal against the night sky and dwarfs the buildings that surround it. Of course, who can look at the Statue of Liberty and not feel proud. This is a ten
night cruise visiting both U.S. and Canadian ports of call. First stop….Newport, RI, then on to Boston,
MA, Bar Harbor, ME, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), Sydney, Nova Scotia,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Canada), Saguenay, Quebec (Canada), Quebec
City, and, finally, Montreal. Below are
some of our pictures and adventures in Newport.
Future posts will include details and photos of the rest of our
cruise. Hope you enjoy following along.
NEWPORT,
Rhode Island
Vacation
spot and summer home for the rich and famous dating back to the middle 1800’s,
Newport is filled with gilded age “cottages” along the rugged shoreline, some
with as many as one hundred rooms. The
Gilded Age ended in 1914 when the government instituted the Federal Income Tax
and even some of the wealthiest people in the country at the time, including
the Vanderbilt’s, the Rockefeller’s, and the Morgan’s decided they could no
longer afford to maintain these opulent and exclusive properties. Many of these mansions fell into disrepair
but have since been purchased and restored to their original beauty, either by
individual, decedents of the original owners or by historical foundations.
We took the
scenic Cliff Walk which winds along the eastern coast line with gorgeous views
of the ocean and the homes that lined Bellevue Avenue with their spectacular
backyards facing the water. Our hike
ended at The Breakers. This Richard
Morris-designed 70-room Renaissance-style palazzo is considered the most
opulent of the Newport mansions. Commissioned
by Cornelius Vanderbilt II after the original wooden structure burned down in
1892, this residence is filled with over a ton of gold leaf details, pink, gray
and green marble, polished granite, ancient tapestries, elaborate Persian rugs
and fine woods of every species. The
sculptures, molding details and craftsmanship is exquisite and the view is one
of the most breath-taking on the entire cliff line.
Unfortunately,
no photos of the interior were allowed but before the docent informed me of
this little detail, I did get one shot of a portion of the ceiling in the main
living room. Hey, who knew? You will have to be satisfied with outside
shots for the rest of the visual tour, but it will give you an idea of why this
“cottage” is so revered.
Next stop….Boston! Stay with us. God Bless you all.
Jud and
Vicki
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