On Thursday, I got up crazy early to drop Kevin off at a golf course in Rhode Island, since that way I would have the car for the day.  It was still super early, so after saying hello to Amy and other Kevin, who came up from Maryland to play golf with my Kevin, I took a forty minute nap in the car before driving to Newport.  Becky and Arthur met up with me in Newport for our trolley tour, and it was super cool. 

The tour around the island to see all the mansions and hear all the history of the place.  Wow, the craziness of people with more money than most people could spend in a lifetime.  

It was very foggy on the island, and so we couldn’t any of the other islands and such, but it was being at the ocean.

Then the trolley dropped us off at The Breakers, the Vanderbilt mansion (“summer home”) for our tour.  Arthur’s favorite part, was finding the “secret passage ways” into the bedrooms. Good times! Becky and were especially impressed by the kitchen.

It was the epitome of Guilded Age opulence – wow!  The intricate details, the mosaics, guilding, stained glass, frescos, and so much more were truly astounding.

We got to to head upstairs to the bedrooms, although we could go up the servants’ quarters stairs.

Arthur’s favorite part, was finding the “secret passage ways” into the bedrooms. Although, I think he a tiny bit disappointed that they only led into bathrooms and closets.  Oh well – at least he he found the secret passage ways he was hoping to find. Good times! 

It if hadn’t been for the crazy fog, I can’t imagine how beautiful to view of this second story balcony would have been.

One thing I found sadly disappointing, was with all the fanciness of this library, there was a serious lack of  books.  Obviously it was only meant to impress, not for actual readers 😉.

Becky and I were especially impressed by the kitchen, that and the giant butler’s pantry with all the china.  Wow!

After we finished the tour, we had a late lunch (as everyone else seemed to want to eat as well, and the wait was crazy.  While we waited, we checked out a few shops, and I am still kicking myself for not buying the driftwood nativity I found.  Then it was time for us split ways, with Arthur and I headed north toward Maine (it then terrible traffic). Arthur had never been to Maine, so we past were we staying in New Hampshire, and we drove across the river.

To get there, we ended up crossing two really cool bridges.  Sadly though, we couldn’t anywhere to get dinner along the way, and I was to tired to hunt for anthing.

Luckily, I had made sure our hotel in New Hampshire had an indoor pool, of which Arthur full advantage.

Then we chilled in the hotel room watching Disney nature videos while waiting for Kevin to finish up his golf and come join us. It turned out to be another fabulous day (even if I had to drive through crazy traffic through Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire 😉)!!