Newport, Rhode Island -- June 2001: Day 1

We arrived at year two with new jobs for each of us, but still a reluctance to venture out too far outside the safety bubble of New England.  We decided to celebrate our anniversary weekend this time a little further away, in Newport Rhode Island.  We wanted the champagne luxury of The Breakers on our Coca-cola budget, so we booked The Adele Turner Inn (somehow twice the cost of our inn in Maine!).   We stayed in the Great Gatsby Suite, complete with memorabilia from the 1974 film, filmed in Newport.  The two-room suite included a sitting area with fireplace . . .and a whirlpool tub?!  It was a little Poconos-ish to have a bathtub right in the living room, by the front door, but it was much appreciated after two marathon days of schlepping to every mansion in Newport.  We arrived just in time for "tea" and wolfed down what was left in the dining room.  We had been delayed due to another torrential rainstorm while driving (the second in two years?  Maybe traveling in New England in June was not such a good idea).

Fun fact: Beatrice Turner, daughter of Adele was a kooky socialite from the 1930's who spent her days painting self-portraits.  A thousand of them. 

One of the bonuses of staying at the Adele Turner Inn was our proximity to Newport's waterfront, in walking distance.  For dinner, we stopped at The Red Parrot Restaurant.  After way too many cookies during tea time, I got Skinny Minnies, a raw veggie platter with dip, and a frozen drink the size of my head.  H got Cajun Shrimp.  After a few drinks at a neighborhood bar, we headed back to the Inn to watch Casablanca, part of the video library.