Day Trippers

We missed the boat.

Literally. 

                                                              We did.

You see....it all started like this. We had a plan, my friend Sandra and I. It was an awesome plan. On one of the days in my vacation week, we were to take a day trip on the high-speed ferry from Boston Harbor to Provincetown. What a great plan, right? A boat ride, a little shopping, a little lunch, a little people-watching, then home again on the boat.

I suppose you could say that we became somewhat derailed the night before. At Girl's Night. With lots of good food. Like Honey Stung Drummies, and fresh fruit , and yummy cheese and crackers and Marbled Brownies and Sandra's "Secret Satanic Dip", and Smoked Turkey with Cilantro mayonnaise on Cranberry Walnut Bread with Roasted Banana Pudding, Pie Fries and icy cold pitchers of fruity Sangria and Mike's Hard Lemonade. Whew. What can I say? When my "peeps" get together, there's always too much food.

We always complain and vow to never do it again. Until the next time....when we inevitably do it again. Don't worry. I'll share those recipes with you soon.

Since Sandy and I were headed out early to catch the 9am ferry out of Boston, she stayed over my  house.Thinking that 90 minutes would be more than enough time to travel the 21-mile route into the city, we left my house early, happily chatting about the day ahead. After sitting in stop-and-go traffic for more than an hour however, we grimly realized that our proverbial ship had already set sail for Provincetown.

Without us.

Crap.

Now what? A Whale Watch cruise was initially thrown into the mix....until we realized that we would both have to buy sweatshirts before we boarded the boat. After all, even though it is late July,  the air temperature five miles off the coast can be brrrrisk!  Um...do they make sweatshirts that say, "We missed the boat to P-Town and all we got was this *;%# sweatshirt" ? Should we go to Gloucester?  Rockport?  Or should we just continue with our original idea and make the 3 hour drive to Provincetown? No. No. No.  Wait.................what about.....................

 Newport. As in Rhode Island.

Although it's a mere 1 hour and 15 minute ride from where I live, I have never been there. I know. I know. Insane.  But I've been in a deep, deep relationship with Cape Cod most of my life....and as you know, when you are in a committed relationship, you have no need to look elsewhere. Until you break up. Then you're free to roam. And explore. 

....and so we did.

...and I think I'm in love again.

Luckily, Sandy spent happy summers in Newport as a child, and was quite familiar with our surroundings. It was a good thing, as I was just too awestruck to be of any help.  We visited one of the famous Newport Mansions...........The Breakers. It was the Vanderbilts summer "cottage". See it there in the picture?? With the red roof?  First castle on the left.  (Name that movie!)

Photography was not allowed anywhere inside the house, but this is the view from the upper balcony.

I was awestruck.

Sandy was overwhelmed. :)

Even as she lay flat out on the ground, doesn't she look fetching in my new hat?

We followed up our mansion tour with a simply delightful lunch at a restaurant on Bowen's Wharf, located on Thames Street in downtown Newport. 

Sigh.

It was simply charming. Seated at an outside table, the pedestrian activity gave us something to watch while we waited for our lunch to be served. 

 We saw lots of hats.

 And dogs. And dogs wearing hats. At one point, Sandy even thought she saw Oprah......but when it turned out to be just a maintenance worker with dreadlocks, we chalked it up to the heat of the day.

And the beer.

We also saw lots of people on mopeds and scooter-cruisers with the words "Rent Me" blazed across the fenders. 

Yup. 

We did.

In fact, we couldn't believe how much we crammed into our day.  Funny how things have a way of working themselves out sometimes, right? I left Newport thinking that I couldn't wait to go back. I couldn't wait to explore more of the city, stroll through another mansion or two, or just stare at the incredible views.

All you have to do is pull up a chair.