Day 6 - Friday - Mystic Seaport

We were bound and determined to get an earlier start on our last full day on vacation, and WE DID IT!  We were up and on the road at 9am today.   It was a quick one hour drive through Rhode Island and just across the border into Connecticut to Mystic Seaport.  When my friend Jamie suggested we check this place out, my first thought was the movie “Mystic Pizza”, the first movie I ever saw Julia Roberts in.  And yes, this is THE Mystic from that movie.  Just across the bridge and up the hill, is the restaurant (drive by picture below).   

 Mystic Seaport is a wonderful place to visit.  We got to board the Charles P. Morgan whaling ship which is currently dry-docked for restoration (the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 1800’s).  Not only is Mystic Seaport a museum, but it is also a working shipyard.  The exhibits were fascinating and we even rode a water-taxi from one end of the grounds to the other.   The kids loved that!

We drove home through a torrential downpour, but were welcomed “home” by a delicious LOBSTER dinner.   Jamie drove down to Port Judith (where we rode the ferry earlier in the week) and bought 16 fresh lobsters direct from the fishermen on the dock.  Lobster, fresh corn on the cob, and sweet watermelon plus  a bottle of Cranberry-Apple wine from the Diamond Hill vineyard yesterday.  Doesn’t get much better than that!  

 

 

 

Hard to believe the week was over, but what a week it was.   We crammed so much into 5 days!   We will definitely be coming back to see our friends in Rhode Island. 

 

 

 Day 5 - Thursday - Vineyard and Providence

Today was a fun day!  We slept in….AGAIN….and then hung out at our friend’s  house.  The kids played Wii and ping pong.  About 3, we adults drove to Diamond Hill Vineyards, just 10 minutes away in Cumberland.   A little dirt road took us down in a valley, through the woods and up to Grandma’s house…well it looked like a house a grandma would live in anyway!   On the bottom floor of the house was the wine shop.  Mrs. Claire Berntson was the lovely purveyor of Diamond Hill wines.  We tasted every wine they make, about 8, including a wonderful cranberry/apple and blueberry wine!  We bought several  bottles!  The grounds around the house were gorgeous…beautiful trees, a gazebo, and a bridge over to one of the many grape orchards on the 34 acre farm.  This was my first time visiting a vineyard.  I WILL be doing more of this.    If you want to check it out, click here www.favorlabel.com. 

 

 

 

In the evening, we drove into Providence to what is called the East Side.  Our plan was to enjoy a latin jazz musician playing under the big elm trees on Benefit Street, but we ended up walking around the neighborhood and over into Brown University.  The old houses, buildings, trees and streets were some of the most beautiful I’ve seen.   Word is that Emma Watson, aka Hermione Granger is coming to school here next Fall. 

Just a short drive away from Brown University is Federal Hill, where we ate dinner.  Federal Hill is a neighborhood of mostly Italian restaurants and shops.  My friend/tour guide Jamie showed us where the old mob boss of Providence ran his business, and he also pointed out the scene of a mafia “hit” in one of the restaurants.   We dined at La Dolce Vita under the stars.  We survived!   The only way to make this day better?  A visit to The Ice Cream Machine!  So many flavors I couldn’t even make a list for you.  I had chocolate and coffee.  Yummy!!  Another great vacation day in Rhode Island!

 

Day 4 - Wednesday - Boston here we come!  

 

We got up and hit the road to Massachusetts today.   It was only a 50 minute trip under cloudy skies.  Chance of rain today, but we only felt a few sprinkles.  We drove straight to downtown Boston, found a place to park ($35 for the day - nothing is cheap when you’re on vacation), and got tickets for the trolley tour.  Chris and I spent a week in Boston many years ago and we remembered this as a great way to get a quick view of the sites.  We saw Paul Revere’s house, the USS Constitution, the old State House where the Declaration of Independence was first read, several graveyards (where Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and Mother Goose are buried, just to name a few), and many of the historic sites along the Freedom Trail.  Lunch at Quincy Market, a quick stroll through Fanuil Hall, watching street performers (they are everwhere here), picking up souvenirs (my t-shirt says “Peace, Love, Boston”!).  Then a harbor tour back over to the USS Consitution - something Chris really wanted to see but the line to get in was LONG and it was hot, humid and sticky.  We didn’t feel like waiting 2 hours so we got back on the trolley and went down Freedom Trail again; different tour guide - new stories!   Did you know that Dunkin’ Donuts first started in Boston?  They are everywhere!  The kids have had fun keeping track of how many stores they see.  In one afternoon, they counted 12 in downtown Boston.   And we went in one for an afternoon snack because we just had to.   Both tour guides talked about the Big Dig…a city project where the old above ground freeway was torn down that went through downtown Boston and a new underground freeway was dug.  You thought the light rail construction was a hassle?!!!  The Big Dig took 20 years to complete!  But now that the above ground freeway is gone, a beautiful park is in its place with statues, art, a carousel and water features.  After being tourists all day, it was nice to sit in the park and relax. 

Day 3 - Tuesday - Block Island

Slept in again…that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re on vacation, right?  After coffee, breakfast and visiting with our hosts, we packed up and headed south….as south as you can get in Rhode Island - Block Island.  Our friends live in Cumberland which is just about as north as you can go in R.I., so the trip south to Block Island took us 45 minutes.  Being from Texas, that is amazing to me that you can cover an entire state in 45 minutes!  The closer we got to the coast, the foggier it got.  It was soupy, soupy fog at Port Judith where we got on the ferry to Block Island.  The trip was about an hour, in and out of fog.  But it was sunny skies when we reached our destination…a beautiful, quaint little island out in the Atlantic Ocean.  We were going to rent bicycles but my husband decided that a jeep would be much more fun (and less strenuous)!  That ended up being a GREAT idea!  We made it all the way around the island in about 2 hours.  Imagine the countryside and cottages in Ireland….that is what Block Island looks like.  Could I live here?  Oh Yeah!  We took off down a little dirt road on the west side of the island and discovered a trail that lead right to the beach….not a soul to be found but us.  I loved it! 

 Wow doesn’t even describe the beauty found at Block Island.  After a quick fish sandwich we boarded the ferry to head back to the “mainland”.  Again the fog moved in and as we came into Port Judith, it reminded me of London fog.    After we arrived back in Cumberland, we sat on the back patio and enjoyed a fire (only 75 degrees!) and a few cool beverages.  Another exquisite day. 

  Day 2 - Monday - Newport

We got a late start on our first day here in Rhode Island, but we made up for it in the afternoon.  We drove to Newport and visited Astor Mansion.  The Astor family from Europe spent 2 months in Newport every year.  They were VERY wealthy and their summer home is elegant.  The tour guides got into their roles as Astor family members and “domestics”. In fact, they never came out of character.  Made me wish we could back in time to attend the fancy parties and balls!  Their home sits on a hill overlooking the beach below.  Gorgeous!  We drove a short 5 minute drive to Easton Beach and spent a few hours splashing in the waves.  The weather is just right here now.  Warm enough to swim, but not too warm.  It was very windy yesterday.  We took a drive around Newport taking the Ocean drive right along the coast.  We drove by Fort Adams and by JFK’s summer property.  The kite flyers were out in full force.  Our friends are of Irish desent so we had dinner in an Irish pub in downtown Newport.   It was a lovely first day in Rhode Island!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhode Island facts I’ve learned….RI was the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the Declaration of Independence because they demanded the addition of the Bill of Rights. 

Today, we are headed to Block Island at the very south end of Rhode Island.  Details tomorrow!

Day 1 -

Hi KMLE freqs and fans!  I am on vacation this week.  After the Keith Urban concert Saturday night (which by the way was FANTASTIC!), my husband, kids and I boarded a plane Sunday morning for Rhode Island!  The flight was long to our first stop, Philadelphia, but smooth.  We had a 2 hour lay over there, then boarded the flight for Providence.  That was when the pilot made the announcement that the weather had delayed our departure…..by 2 hours!  Thank goodness for a good book!   We finally arrived in Providence at 12:30am and made our way to my friend’s Jamie and Michelle’s house in Cumberland.  The weather here is beautiful!  Highs around 85 all week and it’s GREEN!    We plan to hit the beach, Newport, Block Island, a trip up to Boston and Cape Cod.   I will keep you posted on our adventure.

Thanks to Ralph Davis for stepping in for me this week.  Give him a holler on the hump line 260-0108.  And don’t forget to vote on the Hump It or Dump It song, Blaine Larsen “It Did”, on the KMLE Freq site.  Listen for the results on Monday, Aug. 3rd, my first day back on the KMLE.

Gwen

 You saw them at Graham Central Station in June at the KMLE Beach Party!  Click here to watch Love and Theft's new video for "Runaway"!

Aaron Watson, who played Martini Ranch in Scottsdale earlier this year, has released a new live album.  See Aaron here from his Deep in the Heart of Texas DVD, singing Rollercoaster (#1 on the Texas Music Chart).