Showing posts with label Newport RI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newport RI. Show all posts

August 8, 2013

spending a day with the queens

Dubbed "the four queens" in elementary school- Kim, Monica, Kristen and I have been lifelong friends. We met at the age of six -that's thirty years ago for those of you who are pretending you don't know our real age. (Nice try). Monica moved out to Colorado years ago and when she comes home for a visit we try to get in as much time together as possible. We finally introduced our children the other day during a festive play date that included our mothers. Sadly, Kristen wasn't feeling well and didn't bring her little sweeties. We also missed her dearly during our visit to Newport yesterday.

Kim and I picked up Monica and headed to the Newport Vineyards for a wine tasting and tour. The ridiculousness pretty much started the moment we stepped out of the car. As we were heading toward the entrance Kim said, "Mmmm something smells good"... (meaning food) and a dorky guy in short shorts and a Hawaiian shirt turned back with a flattered, creepy smile. Clearly thinking she meant HE smelled good - he said "Hi" ( oh FYI he looked like that sleazy guy from Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead). Kim, simply being polite, said "Hi" back and we walked into our building laughing like fifth graders. Dorko went into another building. We started our wine tasting.

Our host/bartender/tour guide guy was super corny but very nice and let us have several tastings - as he was having plenty of tastings himself. We chose wine after wine, sipping and chatting at the outdoor bar where the breeze was phenomenal. Then the tour started. Snooze fest times eleven. Listening to a tour guide is always brutal for me, I don't know what my problem is. I definitely couldn't have cared less about the grapes, the seasons, the barrels, the birds, etc. I focused more on the wet spot on the guide's shorts - wondering if he had spilled chardonnay or pissed himself. Kept me occupied for the better part of the tour.


Inside the room that held those vats was as humid as an armpit. We were so warm and bored. Kim kept making me laugh - it was just like we were those little girls back in St. Timothy's Church getting kicked out by the priest.

Post tour (and bonus tasting session) we stepped out for some pictures. After ten minutes of trying to do it ourselves we asked a young couple to snap a couple of pics of us... while we laughed hysterically. Kim's hair was stuck on Monica's face, someone was tripping on rocks that had fallen off the stone wall, there was laughter-induced snorting and a few tears  - it was quite a scene. We gave that couple a good show. Here is the one picture that is remotely okay for public viewing...


We bought a few bottles of wine (I finally settled on Landot Noir) and hit the road. But what did we find tucked into Kim's driver-side window?

 Driver, I think you are cute - text me,
guy you said hello to

... Yup. That is a note from Dorko McShortshorts who apparently has never had anyone say hello to him before. We laaaaaaaaaughed and laaaaaaaaaughed.

Then we headed to Bowen's Wharf to pick up tickets for our sunset sail. We tried to get a bite to eat but by the time the food came we had just four minutes to catch the boat. The girls packed up their sandwiches, I took five sips of boiling - but delicious - chowder and we grabbed our drinks to go. We managed to get the three worst seats on the boat - natch. Got some semi-decent pictures though...






This last one is really crappy quality but still so pretty; I love seeing the lights on the water. The picture definitely doesn't do it any justice. I wish I could recall all of the things that we laughed about but I know they wouldn't seem nearly as funny to you - (like Kim nearly going blind on the boat due to her tearing eyes and the driving wind). We made lots of great memories and had a really good day and night. But we really missed our fourth "queen" - Kristen, you weren't forgotten!

Cheers to old forever friends. I love my fours.

April 12, 2012

The Scenic Route

Gregg is on vacation this week so I packed up Scarlett June for an afternoon with Grammie so that her daddy and I could run around town. Well, we didn't really run anywhere, in fact I couldn't run from here to my bedroom without collapsing I'm quite sure. (My bedroom isn't very far you should note). We decided to take a ride down to Newport. I had wanted to take the tour of Belcourt Castle for the nineteenth time. We both really love the place and kind of know the history by heart. One day we are going to just "lose the group" and wander rebelliously throughout the halls on our own having sword fights and peeking in the cabinets. I should have known that the iron gates would be closed upon our arrival. Way to check the website before leaving the house, Sheri. Stoop. That's okay, Gregg wanted to check out a huge consignment shop that he'd found one day while working. Naturally that would be closed as well. So we traveled on, taking the scenic route.

The scenic route is awesome. Bellevue Avenue is a tree and mansion-lined stretch of road with a mixture of camera-clad tourists and everyday running residents. Not too far down the road is Ocean Drive. This drive opens up to beautiful Brenton Point. My favorite place in the state. Well, it's a toss-up between there and Beavertail Park in Jamestown actually. Brenton Point is a state park with a big, green field, mainly used for kite-flying in the summer and a gorgeous, rocky ocean view. I could sit there all day. Here are some shots from today, don't mind the awkward angles - I couldn't see a thing as I was staring into the sun...

 
 ^ That's Gregg!
^ Not my finest
^ We look like creeps
^ From the bridge on the ride home

We stopped at a consignment shop and I was so hungry I began to feel dizzy so we went to find something for lunch. We ended up at Besos Tea House. Not bad. Not great. The atmosphere was awesome though. I don't know who decorated that place but KUDOS. 


^ Sangria


We also stopped at HomeGoods and bought some new pillows, white sheets and a big, fluffy, white plush blanket for the bed which I promptly washed upon entering our home. I cannot WAIT to hit the sack! I do wish the castle had been open for viewing but it's only a thirty minute drive so it's not like we can't go next weekend... or tomorrow for that matter. We had a nice day together. We really are a couple of goofballs who break into inappropriate laughter no matter the setting. It happened several times today - that's what makes our days awesome.

May 27, 2010

... my favorite days...

Boy do I love vacation time. Normally we try to take the same two weeks each year... but being unemployed really takes the stress-work out of it for me. Vacation? WHY NOT?? Go ahead, Sheri, you certainly deserve it. Ugh. Anyway, I am getting side-tracked here, ahhh May vacation. We don't do anything fancy or exciting. We are still strapped with bills and living expenses - you know the drill. But we enjoy every single second of the week. We go to our favorite places, watch our favorite movies, cook our favorite dinners and enjoy our favorite "vacation moods" together. It is just really nice to see Gregg relaxed and not dead tired for a change... getting decent amounts of sleep and being able to enjoy life daily rather than having to squeeze in a few hours of fun on the weekend in between errands and yard work. 
Man, vacation is rad. 

Here are some pictures that don't exactly depict 'vacation' ... but they are like a little walk through our days ... 

... my favorite shade of sky

... hehehe

... a little treat for me

... can't leave Mystic without fudge I suppose

... nothing to say about this one, I just liked it


... in that napkin lies pieces of a horribly mean spider - he left my husband no choice 
but to pull over on the highway so I didn't throw myself out of the Jeep. 
I hate that spider and all his filthy pieces -and I am sorry that he made me litter.

... over the Jamestown Bridge

... and the Newport Bridge. 
It was 96 degrees that day but once we passed the center of this bridge 
the temp dropped about 15 degrees. Unreal. 

... classic shot

... I'd love to have a house down here (or a castle)

... beautiful Brenton Point - a favorite spot

... I love the face he's givin me. I think we named him Barnaby.

 ... we enjoyed these days immensely. I only wish there were more of them.

Cheers!

Happy Vacation to you, Gregg. You deserve 52 weeks. 
xo