Day 3, July 2021, Rhode Island to New Jersey (again)

Day 3 Newport:

The sun rose on this pretty little beach town and we were raring (-ish) to go! A few weeks ago, my friend Liza posted about her trip to Newport and I basically just poached her itinerary. After 8-years of trip planning, I am worn slap out. We’d decided on starting the day with the 7-mile Cliff Walk. This National Recreation Trail meanders through a National Historic District that features a cliff to the ocean on one side and Great Gatsby Mansions on the other. One miss-step, and you could either plummet to a rocky saltwater grave or get tackled by Jay Leno’s security guard and eaten by a Doberman. I recommend you just stay the course. The girls ran the trail because the cross-country grind does not stop. The boy had a high old time bouncing and ricocheting off big rocks and boulders.  It was H-O-T and by about mile 5, Thomas started to air his grievances. 

I hate all y'all.

We're here too!

I think they might actually like each other! 

We are 50% sure that is this is Taylor Swift's Beach house! 

Do you know what teens and tweens love more than long, hot, hikes with the family? Root Canals? Nope. Ingrown toenails? Nope. Historic Home Tours? Nope. But, teens and tweens don’t always get what they want, now do they? We told them they would get ice cream when we finished the hike, what we forgot to mention was that the hike would take a slight detour when it transitioned into a historic home tour! 

Where's Waldo?

Kids just loving life and new experiences! #sograteful

Sky Light Goals

Cue up your headsets! We’re going to see The Breakers! The Breakers was the Vanderbilt’s summer home. I’ll call it Biltmore-lite. It was ever-impressive in the style of Liberace meets a really big trust fund. It’s glittery, guilded, marble-carved opulence causes common folk like me to take pause and wonder….Where does one put Meemaw’s crocheted tea cozy?  (The one you inherited whether you liked it or not….) Is there even a spot on the wall for the 1987 Olan Mills family portrait? Not the Family portrait that was commissioned by Cornelius and painted by Monsieur Croissant in Paris and shipped in its own cargo vessel back to the states…. No, I mean the one with the sky bangs that took a whole bottle of Aqua Net, the one from the mall.  No, not the one in the wicker chair, the one with the library backdrop with you awkwardly holding a fake apple.   I guess if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Anyway….we finally concluded our Newport day with a little beach time and a late lunch on the harbor. Mmmmm, Lobster Rolls…..

Our hot sticky selves loaded up and headed South. This time, I drove through New York City and we didn’t die! Tonight we will lay our heads in Trenton, New Jersey! Site of the pivotal revolutionary Battle of Trenton, I’ll bet they also have an Applebee’s.