New England Fall Colors Tour...The Grand Finale!
Day 6
Our trip is rapidly drawing to a close, and we have completed that "fall colors" part of the tour. Today we have a different plan.
Once again, Shannon picked us up and we headed for Newport, Rhode Island. The sunshine of yesterday disappeared again, and it was threatening rain. Shannon was very knowledgeable and chatty and kept up a running commentary of the sites and historical information for the places we were passing.
Along the way everyone felt the need for caffeine so we pulled into Starbucks. Now that was a new experience for me, I had never even passed by a Starbucks, let alone stopped. I wasn't in need of caffeine, and the choices were nearly overwhelming so I just looked around and recorded the experience with a picture on my phone.
Arriving in Newport, we headed to the marina where we were to
For a short while it was easy to imagine myself as Jackie Kennedy out for a sail! The cool wind and the spray of the water were exhilarating. (I texted Mike and suggested that we purchase a sail boat!) And the sails were full and the boat was leaning away from the wind.
As we cleared the enclosed area of the harbor and headed out into open waters, our captain asked if anyone wanted to go back. We all felt very safe in his capable hands and said no. About 5 minutes later he said we were returning to shore as conditions were not safe! OK, let's go then because we didn't want to end up in the water under our boat!!!
The boat ride was supposed to last about an hour and a half, but with the early return we were out less than an hour. That was a bit disappointing but probably the safer thing to do.
After rejoining Shannon and our tour bus, we took a drive along the ocean front where we saw the raw power of the Atlantic Ocean. The weather was becoming increasingly stormy, and the ocean was beautiful as it crashed against the rocks. Our drive also took us along several avenues where a few of the mansions from the Gilded Age stood in the middle of their stately lawns. From the outside, they were very impressive in their size and splendor.
A tour of one mansion is part of the tour package, and we were able to tour "The Breakers", the summer "cottage" of one of the Vanderbilt families. It is apparently one of the showiest homes among the Newport mansions.
In a home that was built in the late 19th century, we took a very high tech radio transmitted tour. Each person was given headphones and a transmitter which played as we walked from room to room. We toured the entire first floor and selected rooms on the second floor. I was in absolute awe at the expense involved in building this mansion that was only used for 3 or 4 months each year!
It would take an entire book to describe each room we saw, but suffice it to say that they were very elaborate and large. The entire house, from the large main hall to the huge dining room with a long table to the many bedrooms, was designed with entertaining in mind.
The main kitchen was bigger than our entire house, plus this was only the kitchen used for cooking. There was also a huge pantry and a special room for storing the dinnerware. And it was all situated far away from the dining room so that guests didn't smell the cooking smells or hear the noise from the kitchen.
A few features that stood out as truly unnecessary and overdone:
In Mrs. Vanderbilt's bathroom she had a bathtub carved from a single slab of marble. (It must have weighed a ton!) It was plumbed with hot and cold fresh water and hot and cold ocean (salty) water. It had to be filled and emptied 4 times with pure hot water before it was warm enough to bathe in.
In one room there was some very unique wall covering. Since the Vanderbilt family members who commissioned the building of the mansion are no longer living, they couldn't explain what was on the walls. It looked like silver but never tarnished. Finally some testing was done on the material, and it was determined that it was a wall covering containing a lot of platinum. Very expensive, even in that day.
In the 1890's it cost over $7 million to built this ostentatious mansion. That is the equivalent of $150 million today, and it is currently valued at $350 million. That's some serious change, especially for a summer home! It was obviously more for show
We departed Newport in rain and drove back to Merrimack after a busy day of touring. Our tour director, Mel, usually took us to dinner but lost the keys to his van, so he had another tour driver take us to supper. We spent our meal reliving our day and enjoying the company of a new tour driver, even if she was only with us for the evening. Then back to the hotel to pack because tomorrow was going to be our departure day.
Day 7
What is that bright ball in the sky? Why, it must be the sun! Once again the weather was cool but the sunshine was a welcome sight! Shannon was once again our tour driver as we headed into Boston.
Along the way Shannon shared stories of America's history. Much of it we already knew but she had lots of tidbits of information that the history books don't tell.
Our first stop was at the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides", a frigate from the early 1800's. The ship sits in the harbor at Boston and can be toured, however by this time, we are getting tired and my knee is beginning to kill me so we opted for the visitor's center which was very interesting and informative. We found the room where they were running a video and enjoyed sitting through a 15 minute presentation.
Leaving the shipyard, we drove through many of the historical sites of Boston, all along being entertained by stories out of America's past. I wish I could remember all that we saw. I know we passed Breed's hill where the Battle for Bunker Hill was fought. We drove by Boston Common's which is basically just a park, and were also able to drive by Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox. We also drove by part of the route of the Boston Marathon and the place where the infamous Boston Marathon terrorist attack took place. It is not marked because the city doesn't want it to become a thing to remember, but our tour guide knew!
Our final stop was at Quincy Market. I wish I could tell you more about it, but we stopped at the first restaurant we found. My knee was getting worse by the minute, and we were both wearing out by this time. We caught lunch at a Hard Rock Cafe.
After lunch we met up with our bus driver and were taken to the airport for our flight home. From beginning to end, this day was hectic, but sitting in the airport, watching planes land and depart, was the most relaxing part of this long day. Our flight was finally called, and as we became airborne we took one last look at Boston, New England and the Atlantic Ocean.
After a layover in Chicago, we finally arrived in Sioux Falls a bit after 10:00 PM. We once again checked into a hotel and spent a restful night before heading out on the final leg of our journey. After sleeping in on Wednesday morning and catching breakfast at Denny's, we headed to Vermillion where we collected a couple of grandkids who were coming home to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa.
We enjoyed every bit of the tour, but honestly, the best part of the entire trip was when we crested the cemetery hill and saw the lights of Springview! As Dorothy has been heard to say, "There's no place like home". And we had to agree!!!
I am so thankful for the experience of this trip. We met some awesome people, saw some beautiful countryside, experienced pieces of America's history, and tasted a culture that is somewhat different from our Midwestern lifestyle. I don't know if I will ever get back to New England again, and if I don't that will be OK. It is a big nation that we live in, and there is much of it I haven't seen. Looking forward to a new experience!
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