Barry left for Ten Speed Spokes this morning to get his wheel fixed. Mike is off adventuring somewhere. I'm taking my alone time at the Days Inn to work on trip logistics. This is the best hotel room of the trip in my opinion. It's up to date, has a fancy rain shower and feels like the biggest room we've booked.
I'm camped out at the desk, studying maps, accommodations and reviews to fill in the plan for final five days of the trip. It's an iterative, time-consuming process, but then I tend to make a bigger production out of things than strictly necessary.
More than I expected from a Days Inn. The extra space is great for moving all the bikes in and out.
Barry calls before noon with good news. He has two new spokes, a new tire and the wheel is trued, all for $72. Pretty good deal, and fast for walk-in service. Hopefully this will get him to Provincetown.
The sun is starting to break through the clouds when I rendez-vous with Barry at Easton's Beach for a little walk. From there we ride by Salve Regina University to hike part of the Cliff Walk. Designated as a National Recreation Trail, the Cliff Walk passes by palatial summer homes from Newport's gilded age at the turn of the century.
Ochre Court is the second largest mansion in Newport. Completed in 1895 for New York real estate mogul Ogden Goelet, it was given to the Sisters of Mercy in 1947 and was the first building of Salve Regina University.
Karen PoretAs a graduate of (now shuttered) Mercy High School in San Francisco.. we used to say the fourth floor was where “the pool”was…to the freshmen..;+ ( the sisters lived up there) :0 Reply to this comment 5 months ago
The Breakers is the largest mansion in Newport. It was completed in 1895 for New York Railrood tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The 70-room palazzo was inpired by the 16th century Italian Renaissance palaces of Genoa and Turin.
Whew, that's enough opulence for one day. We ride on to the harbor for lunch at the Reef where I get my first lobster roll of the trip. While we're waiting for our food I wonder if there's any chance of a sail this afternoon. It doesn't take long to find a late afternoon sailing tour that leaves in just over an hour. I call Mike and he's up for it, no surprise.
We get separated on the ride to the wharf where the sailboat is moored so I text Barry the location. Shortly after he pulls up the directions his phone battery dies. Somehow we both manage to find our way there right at check in time.
We board the Adirondack II, an 80 foot pilot schooner that would have looked right at home cruising around Narragansett Bay 100 years ago. This early in the season the passenger manifest is short, just 10 people plus the crew on a ship that holds at least 50. The crew likes the small crowd too. They motor out of the harbor into the bay, raise the sails, and suddenly all is quiet as the ship glides through the water. We sail around the bay as the crew points out swanky waterfront estates and curiosities.
Clingstone, a mansion built on a rock in 1905 by J.S. Lovering Wharton of Philadelphia. The government had seized his land where he had a summer home to enlarge Fort Wetherill. This was his rebuke, "a house where noone can bother me."
Hammersmith Farm, the home of Jacqueline Bouvier's stepfather Hugh Auchincloss and the place where she spent her childhood summers. When she married Senator John F. Kennedy in 1953 the wedding reception was held here.
