If There's a Bench There's a View

So starting from last Sunday morning, we decided to spend the day in Newport, RI.  To get there from Providence, we took 95 to 4 to 138.

First thing we did on arrival was stop in at the visitor’s center, our favorite place to visit.  They told us about the Volvo Ocean Race, an international sailing race, which happened to be leaving Newport that same day.  We decided to opt out of the closing ceremony, which was bound to be crowded, and instead try to see them on their way out along the cliff walk.

We drove over to the free parking by the beach, and left the car for the day.

We walked along the cliff walk, which went right by the graduation ceremony for Salve Regina University .  Despite missing all our friends’ graduations, we managed to crash one neither of us cared about, just in time for the students to get their diplomas.  

We continued along, seeing lots of beautiful mansions, and then stopped by The Breakers, which is apparently the mansion most worth seeing if you can only make it to one.  

Meital had given us a pass to get in, so we went on the self-guided audio tour.  The Breakers was the Vanderbilt’s summer home.  Personally, I thought the décor was a bit over the top, and I wished the tour would explain a bit more about the ceilings and artwork choices.  It did, however, have interesting personal stories from both some of the Vanderbilts and some of their servants.  Turns out the Vanderbilt daughter started the Whitney museum in NY, their servants were often immigrants who used this as an entry way into US society (some things don’t change), and there are over 250 doorknobs in the mansion.

My favorite room was the porch, overlooking the amazing view of the ocean.

Fun fact, if you need to pee, you can run through the rest of the tour, hand in your headsets, tell them you’ll be back, run down the stairs and then come back up them even though it says an alarm will sound.

We then continued on our cliff walk, over rocks, through cool tunnels, and found a nice shady niche to picnic by the water (passersby were pretty jealous).  

Meir discovered that black bean juice mixed with dirt creates mud (I know, you’re shocked too even though the juice mostly consists of water).  We also managed to see the 6 racing sailboats (there are supposed to be 7 but one couldn’t make the cut) leaving for Lisbon.

We finished the hike, the end significantly rockier, and then wanted to get back to town, but our car was at the other end.  The “Israeli’s” in us decided to hitchhike.  At first no one really responded, but we saw a jeep and knew it was meant to be.  They were two nice Asians from Connecticut, and the passenger and I talked about her film camera and where to develop these days.

We directed them to where we’d started the cliff walk, and jumped out to walk into town.  Unfortunately, Touro Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the U.S., was closed, but don’t worry, we took pictures out front!

 From there we went to the oldest pub, the White Horse Tavern, where we met Mark!  While we were looking for it, Meir saw a cool flag and asked what I thought it was.  I decided it was probably Newport’s flag.  Turns out it was actually White Horse.

We decided to sit at the bar, since outside didn’t seem quite as historic, and met Mark, the bartender who has been working there since May 1989 (before we heard the year we thought for a second that he’d been working there only a few weeks).

We took a scenic route to walk back to the car, through residential areas that actually looked like locals could live there.  Meir then stuck his feet into the Atlantic Ocean for what he thinks was his first time.

From there we took a different route back to Providence, which brought us through Massachusetts (Meir didn’t trust that LeeAnn was navigating correctly).  We drove 138 to 24 to 195.  We spent the rest of the night back at Meital’s preparing for the week.

Monday morning we drove from Providence, RI to Cape Cod, MA.  We took the 195 to the 25 to the 6 to the 6a into the cape.  We passed by a visitor’s center as usual, and the woman there gave us ideas of where to go, and the best place to camp.  We started by going to Nickerson State Park to reserve a campground and set up camp before exploring.  While we were checking in we found out that somehow, despite having camped at 2 other official grounds, we were not in whatever camping system exists.  Not sure why.  Anyway, a woman recommended a site that had a nice view of a pond, and the receptionist asked what kind of car we’re driving and confirmed that we’d be able to get over “the bump” to park in the camp site.  He thankfully made LeeAnn unsure enough that she made Meir take the wheel.  This was not just some bump, this was a very steep unpaved hill down to the camp site.

The lady was right about the view though, we hiked down a bit and picnicked on a rock overlooking the pond.  

We then pitched our tent and left it so we could enjoy the Cape.  Now here’s where the real issue came in.  Thankfully, again, LeeAnn asked Meir to drive, since she was scared to go back up that “bump”.  Good thing, since she had her eyes closed, her ears covered, and barely breathed the whole time.  On the first try, the tires didn’t pick up traction while trying to climb the hill, and instead we got stuck as they made a hole.  The guy in the camp site across from us came over to help, and Meir backed up “to get a running start” and just revved it.  This time we thankfully got out.  Our neighbor was shocked we had even thought to park down there, since he said it was supposed to rain that night and any sort of mud would make it impossible to get out (in case anyone thought it was possible even without rain?).  We’re not sure why the receptionist let us go down there to begin with.  You’d think he of all people would know better.  Later we parked in an empty spot next to our site.

Just a small example of the marks and holes we left

Sorry for the rant.  We made it out alive somehow, and started on our Cape Cod to do list.  We had heard that there are seals that follow the fishing boats in to Lewis Bay at the end of the day, so we headed out there to see if we could see any.  We were a bit late, but we did see a few seals.  Apparently it’s one of three places on the East coast that has these white seals, and the great white sharks know that and come here too (though not this early – Meir was disappointed we didn’t see any sharks).

 From there we went to a place called Salt Pond and walked around the pond where we saw some disgusting and interesting looking skeletons of birds laying on the ground. Birds ye be warned. 

Where this post's name was created

We tried to go on a coastal drive from there, but couldn’t find it.  We drove to a few different beaches and one (Sunken Meadow) had a very low tide to the point where we could not see where the water truly began.  There were people out in the middle of the water because the tide was so low. 

Then we drove by a drive in movie theater, but it wasn’t open yet.  Then we remembered that when we went to find the seals, we had met two men who told us about a “herring run”.  They had told us to go to a store in Brewster and ask what time the herring would be coming through.  We weren’t sure what store they had said, but instead we just stopped in a convenience store, where the woman thankfully knew about the herring run and gave us directions.  Apparently you can only see them at certain times depending on the time of year and weather, but the woman told us it was beautiful regardless.  We found our way and she was right, it was beautiful.  

It was just on the side of a road, somewhere we would never think to stop if we hadn’t been told.  As we pulled up we saw seagulls everywhere, the first hint.  We started walking along the stream and realized there were tons of fish swimming against the current.  As we walked down, at each drop in the stream there were herring trying to jump up, and seagulls trying to catch and eat them.  We stood watching them for a long time.  It was crazy how the seagulls hunted, swooping in, stalking the herring.  Every once in a while two gulls fought over the same fish.  Sometimes the herring got free.  When the seagulls really caught them, they swallowed them whole, but we could see the fish still wiggling around in their throats.  Despite LeeAnn not being a fan of seagulls, it was definitely worth seeing. 

We went back to the camp site where we made rice and mixed minestrone soup with carrots and put it on top.  Dinner was tasty!  We hit the sleeping bag early because we were going to wake up early in order to maximize our one day at Martha’s Vinyard.

We woke up and took down the tent and began driving by 7am because we were told the drive to the ferry was no more than 45 minutes and we had an old ferry schedule list where we saw a ferry left at 8am. Apparently it was the local election day, and we saw two guys standing on the corner, one of whom was waving like he was famous.  They were holding vote for Doug Jones signs, so we decided he must be Doug Jones.  We’d vote for him.

Unfortunately, we hit some Cape Cod morning traffic and got to the ferry at about 8:30 only to be told we need to drive a few miles away to park and then take a shuttle back to the ferry.  Luckily there was a 9:30 ferry which we could make and still give us a full day on the island.  The 45 minutes ferry ride was pleasant and comfortable. When we anchored down we were in Oak Bluffs where we found a tourist center and spoke to a man who told us what spots were the highlights.  First we went to The Flying Horses which is the oldest continuously operated carousel… it was closed HA! 

We continued walking to the ginger bread cottages which is a cute area where all of the houses are extremely colorful and petite.  On the way, we walked by a store called The Lazy Frog, and met the owner as he was getting there to open up.  Since it was drizzling, we went in and talked to him a bit as a break from the rain.

We continued on and walked by a lot of the gingerbread houses and then went into the museum which was in one of the small houses.  

There were many interesting things to see in there including a few organs and a chair which Ulysses S. Grant sat on.  The woman who kept the place up, Nancy, told us some of the history and showed us some of what she thought was most interesting, including a still partially full spice box.

Nancy playing an organ

We wandered around to see a few more of the sites in Oak Bluffs, and then we had lunch in the building where you buy tickets for the ferry (rain and cold).  

We are pros now with canned vegetables but this canned corn was different, which came as a surprise.  Instead of getting regular canned corn we managed to get creamed sweet corn.  It was edible at best with tuna but not desirable.  We will be more careful next time we purchase canned corn, who knew there was more than one kind?  

We decided if we were going to travel to other parts of the island it was best to get a one day bus pass so we did that and got on the #9 to the Alpaca farm.  We were there for about an hour looking at and petting the alpaca and speaking to the woman working at the gift shop about the alpaca.  

The shop was full of clothing made from Alpaca sheering and seemed extremely warm (but sadly too expensive).  We learned that alpacas are supposed to be some of the best pets, being natural lawn mowers and fertilizer makers.  On our way back to the bus stop the rain began coming down slowly and when we got to the stop we waited and waited and waited for the bus.  Finally it came and we were wet and cold. 

We took the #1 bus to Edgartown where the woman in the visitor center yet again gave us some suggestions.  We started out at the Martha Vineyard’s Museum, but just walked around the outside part.  It seemed partially closed, until a woman told us that most of the museum was inside.  

By then, though, we were ready to leave so we didn’t end up going inside.  We continued on and passed The Pagoda Tree which is the oldest tree of its kind on the continent. 

From there we walked along the beach to get to the Edgartown (pronounced Ed-gar-town) Lighthouse.  We got there and found out it was a children’s memorial but it is a mystery to us what happened at that site.  It seemed weird that there was a memorial there because we also learned that weddings take place at the lighthouse base as well.  It was a beautiful area on the beach regardless of occasion. 

On our walk back to the bus we walked by the main street with shops and did some sign reading and window shopping.

We wanted to see the lighthouse and cliffs in Aquinnah so we took the #6 bus in hope of transferring to the #5.  The bus driver told us that she actually turns into the #5 which would take us right to the view of the cliffs.  While on the bus someone honked at the bus to speed up, and the driver responded, “Where are you trying to go?  You are on an island!”  At the transfer station Meir asked the bus driver to wait for a minute so he could go to the bathroom and she was more than happy to wait.  People on the island seem so relaxed!  Also, bus drivers stop anywhere on their route not only at the bus stops, so every day riders get dropped off at the doors to their houses (if it is on the route).  When we were almost at the cliffs the rain began coming down hard and the fog set in so visibility was extremely limited.  

The plan was to go to the cliffs and see the view for a few minutes and snap some pictures because the bus had an 8 minutes wait time at the stop.  As it began pouring hard we decided to stay on the bus because we could not see anything and the bus turned around towards the transfer stop we were at before.  The same bus turned into the #3 which was the exact bus we wanted! We basically got an entire bus tour of the island with one bus driver (the warmth and dry climate in the bus was a plus).  Meir decided flip flops were a good idea for the day.  We continued on this bus to Vineyard Haven where we were going to catch the ferry back to Cape Cod and to our car.  We took a freight ferry back which was mostly cars and trucks and little bench room for people to sit on.  This was not nearly as comfortable as the ride to the island but worked out with our timing.  When we got back to the Cape and took the shuttle to our car we began driving to Connecticut where we planned on spending the night at Meir’s friend’s house Shimona.  We took the 28 north to the 195 south through Providence, RI to the 95 south which went right into New London, CT.  When we got there Shimona had made a delicious late dinner where we pigged out.

The next morning we drove to see our senior class from Solomon Schechter (we just finished staffing a two month trip).  We drove on the 95 south to the 15 south to get to their school.  We made the mistake of following Google maps and ended up at the lower school first before driving 20 minutes to get to the upper school.  On the way to the upper school we were pulled over for speeding in a school zone.  We had not seen any school signs or slow down signs until the street after we were pulled over.  Although this was an aggravating disruption to our day, we continued to the upper school.  It was very exciting to see their school and to see them after having been apart for 2 months.  We walked in and Meir got tackled to the ground and there were hugs all around.  

Sophia and LeeAnn

Meir, Michael, Alex, and LeeAnn

Justin, Gabby, Nikki, Jonah, Brittany, Jordan, David, Alex, Phil

Meir and Noam

We spent a few hours there talking to many of the students and teachers who were on the trip with us, and ate a delicious lunch in the cafeteria (it’s free!).  

After running into some traffic on the way back to New London we got back to Shimona’s house before sunset.  We drove to Harkness Memorial state park which was a very nice place right on the beach to hang out on the grass and sit by the beach on the rock or sand.  

Meir, LeeAnn, and Shimona

Childhood friends

Modeling

After sunset the park closes so we drove back to Shimona’s and picked up her mother Barbara and went out to dinner.  We went to a delicious place where we ate gigantic salads and pizza and sweet potato ravioli. 

Thursday morning we went with Shimona and Barbara.  We stopped by the "Whaling wall" in downtown New London

then continued on to the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT, where we got to go on the Nautilus, which was the first to travel to the North Pole (they traveled under it).  

It was cool seeing what life was like down in the submarine.  They get the best food in the army (there’s even an ice cream machine), and there were pictures of women everywhere (some looked like wives, others for sure not).  

We also wondered if there was a maximum height allowed, so we asked one of the marines who worked there who was incredibly tall, and he said the old boats were less spacious, so there used to be a maximum height, but the newer boats are bigger.

Barbara, Shimona, Meir

By the time we were done there it was a bit later than we’d anticipated, so we skipped Mystic Village (the location of the movie Mystic Pizza), had lunch back at Shimona’s, packed up all her canned food since she was moving (we now have over 12 cans of corn in addition to two packs of potatoes (not canned) and much more), and drove on to New Haven.  On the way LeeAnn called her dad, since he went to Yale, and asked for recommendations there.  We got in, figured out metered parking, and started on our way.  

Quickly we realized we were there for graduation.  

Only a bit stalkerish

Despite having to cut through some crowds, we saw the beautiful law school from the outside, and tried to go to the Rare Books Library and the British Art Museum, both of which were closed.  

We then went on to look at the Quadrangle, which was gated, and wandered around the Old Campus, which had signs for reunions.  It was incredibly beautiful, and still had the dorm that Nathan Hale lived in.  

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"

It was crazy seeing that he died only a few years after he graduated college.

From there we drove to East Rock Park, where we took a beautiful drive to the top for a picnic dinner.  

It was pretty windy, so we got right back in the car when we finished eating, and we headed to Stamford, Connecticut, to meet back up with Ezra, one of our Westchester kids.  On our way we saw a sign for the Pez Center, and got excited to go see it.  It was also closed, but at least we got photos!

It was fun seeing where Ezra lives and meeting his mom, and we walked out to a park nearby to catch up.   

Meir and Ezra

Ezra and LeeAnn

We couldn’t stay too late, since we had to get back to LeeAnn’s house in NJ, where we spent the weekend.  As we were leaving the driveway, we saw a raccoon trying to sneak into the garage…hope he didn’t get in!

Sorry for such a long post! This seems like a good stopping point, so we’ll start the next post from here.