Gilded Day

Still can't get over the beautiful weather we've been having lately, especially this past Memorial Day weekend. Sunday, I spent the better part of the day at my aunt's house for a family BBQ. Although I missed seeing my father, I still had a fabulous time. Monday, instead of hanging around my mother's house, we picked up my cousin and headed to Newport, Rhode Island to tour some of the historic summer homes of the Gilded Age. My cousins had given me the heads up on which houses to visit, which was great because up until then, I could only think of The Breakers as being the highlight of the area.

Given that we had a late start (if you know my mother you'd understand), there was only enough time to tour a few of the homes. We chose the "Breakers Plus" package which consisted of a tour of The Breakers and one other house. On my cousin H's advice, I had wanted to tour Marble House, but we decided to use our other ticket to visit the Green Animals Topiary Garden instead. To our surprise, we weren't asked for our tickets, so we could then go back to Marble House and take the tour.

The Breakers was, in a word, lavish. What I learned later was that the Vanderbilt family still visit the home, but stay on the third floor, away from the tour groups. The grounds of the home are gorgeous with an incredible ocean view. This structure is considered the epitome of the Gilded era and anyone visiting can see why. It's one of those places where you can't imagine anyone living there, even in the bedrooms (which tend to be plain in most of these types of homes).

Marble House came as a complete a shock because unbeknownst to me, it was the home of the infamous Alva Vanderbilt. Anyone with an deep interest in New York City history (like myself) knows about her and the cultural structures she brought to the city; namely the Metropolitan Opera House (created as an alternative and a snub to the stuffy, long gone Academy of Music). Marble House was sad due to the history of the family who dwelled there. What was also disappointing to learn was that unlike The Breakers, this home was only used for a short time and served the purpose of storage for many years. An ostentatious waste.

Our "free" visit consisted of a trip to the Green Animals Topiary Garden. We didn't enter the home on the grounds, but wandered the garden marvelling at the topiaries. There were an assortment of animals (tame and wild) and other goofy sculptures. My favorite probably had to be the elephant. I would have loved the giraffe but he/she was looking a little on the sickly side.

To top this wonderful day off, we had dinner at the Red Parrot. I'd like to go back again to do a proper tour of all the homes. However, this was a wonderful excursion and a fantastic way to spend such a beautiful day.

Photos of our day are here.