The Gilded age
Jul. 25th, 2017 11:33 pmToday was a great day (in spite of not getting a wake up call). It ended with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dragonydreams coming down to see me! That was great fun. We had a nice talk.
This morning I learned that I can leave the paid parking lot at the visitor center and come back without repaying. That’s good to know because I’ll need it for the ghost tour.
This morning I took the Viking trolley 90 minute history tour. I have to say that if I were ever to give money to a historical preservation group again, Newport’s might be the one. They not only saved 90 Colonial homes they saved many of the Gilded era mega mansions. I can’t believe so many of them (like 20) were lost, almost including the Elms.
I’m not 100% of the history I was told today (and there is WAY too much of it to recount here) is true. My guide never stopped talking. He was a excellent guide in that respect but he said a couple things I’m not sure are true. He mentioned Quakers being burnt at the stake in RI and MA. I know Quakers were persecuted but you’d think I’d have heard of something like that. I Googled it and yes it happened in the 1500s in Europe (which I didn’t know) but I can’t find anything here. Sigh.
One thing about this trip that is both fascinating and at the same time sort of sickening is the richness of this area (especially when the megamansions were built). We drove past an invitation-only country club that cost 100K/year and their tennis courts were packed. It bugs me and I’m not sure why. It’s their money to do with as they please and for all I know they give that amount to charity but still…
He took us past the Touro synagogue which I’d like to get into as it’s the oldest synagogue in the States. We also went past the church were Jackie O and JFK married (would be nice to get in there too), we went all over including a biodiversity farm that the Campbell soup Heiress saved and made (it was an estate prior) , buying it out from under a developer who wanted to carve it up into million dollar condos. After the tour I bought a 5 mansion tour ticket to drive myself there.
After the tour I walked up to the White Horse tavern, the oldest extant tavern in America (according to them, though there might be contenders in Boston), 1673. Well you know I had to have a beer there. I had RI’s Whaler Ginger wheat, it was good. They said I could take photos in the dining room I was in (I was sitting practically in the fire place) and invited me to photograph the upstairs too and both bars. Whee. (I think at the end of all this vacation stuff I’ll post links to my facebook post once I make it for photos or maybe work with another photo share serve). I had cherrystone clams steamed in white wine and herbs. They were SO good, served up with a big hunk of bread to sop up the sauce. Got some glasses for Christmas gifts.
From there I drove to Rosecliff house (as it’s closed most of tomorrow) You’ve seen it if you’ve seen Gatsby. It has an amazing ballroom and a sad story. The owner Tessie didn’t seem able to move on with the times and as the late 1800s early 1900s ballroom dances and parties became more casual and jazzy, all her friends drifted away. She invented friends to have parties with, suffering a mental breakdown living in the imaginary past. I felt a little sorry for her.
I decided to go to the Elms. Never heard of it. The original owner was a coal baron (making me think, so this is what my grandfathers and great uncles suffered and died for in the mines, even though I know this place was built a decade or two before they were in the mines. The Elms blew Rosecliff away for sheer ostentation and how nicely the tour was set up. It had several places where huge pieces of art had been taken from European homes and glued to the walls here, literally.
I must have a jillion photos and I picked up a ghosts of newport book. I need to decide if tomorrow is more mansions (I have 3 more coming) or the fort and the light house. Man I really need one more day. Should have driven and stayed in the Motel 6 one night...Ah well.
The downside: The hotel bed is hard as a stone slab and the White Horse had a dress code so I had a ton of walking to do in non-supportive but very pretty sandals. My feet hurt.
dragonydreams coming down to see me! That was great fun. We had a nice talk.This morning I learned that I can leave the paid parking lot at the visitor center and come back without repaying. That’s good to know because I’ll need it for the ghost tour.
This morning I took the Viking trolley 90 minute history tour. I have to say that if I were ever to give money to a historical preservation group again, Newport’s might be the one. They not only saved 90 Colonial homes they saved many of the Gilded era mega mansions. I can’t believe so many of them (like 20) were lost, almost including the Elms.
I’m not 100% of the history I was told today (and there is WAY too much of it to recount here) is true. My guide never stopped talking. He was a excellent guide in that respect but he said a couple things I’m not sure are true. He mentioned Quakers being burnt at the stake in RI and MA. I know Quakers were persecuted but you’d think I’d have heard of something like that. I Googled it and yes it happened in the 1500s in Europe (which I didn’t know) but I can’t find anything here. Sigh.
One thing about this trip that is both fascinating and at the same time sort of sickening is the richness of this area (especially when the megamansions were built). We drove past an invitation-only country club that cost 100K/year and their tennis courts were packed. It bugs me and I’m not sure why. It’s their money to do with as they please and for all I know they give that amount to charity but still…
He took us past the Touro synagogue which I’d like to get into as it’s the oldest synagogue in the States. We also went past the church were Jackie O and JFK married (would be nice to get in there too), we went all over including a biodiversity farm that the Campbell soup Heiress saved and made (it was an estate prior) , buying it out from under a developer who wanted to carve it up into million dollar condos. After the tour I bought a 5 mansion tour ticket to drive myself there.
After the tour I walked up to the White Horse tavern, the oldest extant tavern in America (according to them, though there might be contenders in Boston), 1673. Well you know I had to have a beer there. I had RI’s Whaler Ginger wheat, it was good. They said I could take photos in the dining room I was in (I was sitting practically in the fire place) and invited me to photograph the upstairs too and both bars. Whee. (I think at the end of all this vacation stuff I’ll post links to my facebook post once I make it for photos or maybe work with another photo share serve). I had cherrystone clams steamed in white wine and herbs. They were SO good, served up with a big hunk of bread to sop up the sauce. Got some glasses for Christmas gifts.
From there I drove to Rosecliff house (as it’s closed most of tomorrow) You’ve seen it if you’ve seen Gatsby. It has an amazing ballroom and a sad story. The owner Tessie didn’t seem able to move on with the times and as the late 1800s early 1900s ballroom dances and parties became more casual and jazzy, all her friends drifted away. She invented friends to have parties with, suffering a mental breakdown living in the imaginary past. I felt a little sorry for her.
I decided to go to the Elms. Never heard of it. The original owner was a coal baron (making me think, so this is what my grandfathers and great uncles suffered and died for in the mines, even though I know this place was built a decade or two before they were in the mines. The Elms blew Rosecliff away for sheer ostentation and how nicely the tour was set up. It had several places where huge pieces of art had been taken from European homes and glued to the walls here, literally.
I must have a jillion photos and I picked up a ghosts of newport book. I need to decide if tomorrow is more mansions (I have 3 more coming) or the fort and the light house. Man I really need one more day. Should have driven and stayed in the Motel 6 one night...Ah well.
The downside: The hotel bed is hard as a stone slab and the White Horse had a dress code so I had a ton of walking to do in non-supportive but very pretty sandals. My feet hurt.
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