Going to Newport was a wonderful adventure, albeit a somewhat difficult one.
The Ivy League Connection Brown gang got together after breakfast to catch a bus to Ms. Cruzat's hotel. It took a while for the bus to arrive, and one of our Brown IDs wouldn't work! Everything turned out okay, however, and we were reunited with our lovely chaperone.
The bus ride to Newport, Rhode Island was most definitely a long one: it took about an hour to reach the area, and the seats were too uncomfortable to relax in, on top of which the air conditioning was much too cold for comfort.
When we finally arrived, we spent a while in the gift shop getting souvenirs and then took a trolley to The Breakers summer "cottage." The residence was owned by the Vanderbilts, who are famous due to
their affluence from involvement in the steamship industry and the New York Central Railroad. When we entered, we were given a listening device and headphones that would guide us throughout the tour.
The place was truly glamorous. Even the bedrooms, which were meant to be much more downplayed in style that the living and dining spaces, were far more elegant than anything I had ever seen. It was fascinating to see that the Vanderbilts had hired so many architects for stylistic purposes, and a loud reminder that they were bursting at the seams with money.
It was fun to envision what life was like for the Vanderbilts living it what would become a historical site. Did they know they were going to be in history textbooks? Did they know strangers would eventually come from all over the world to visit their residence? This speculation and attempt to see into the past is one of my favorite things to do when I travel to another place. I wonder what it would have been like to exist within that geographic area and time, and what the historical figures would have changed if they had caught a glimpse into the future.
After we were done with the tour, we went to grab lunch at a very vintage-looking dinner. I had lobster macaroni and cheese and fried ice cream for dessert. Talk about indulgent!
We decided to catch a bus back to Providence to meet up with our friends at the mall. There were sales upon sales upon sales and we had lots of fun seizing the opportunity to save money whilst shopping. The whole affair was good fun, and our next adventure will be equally enjoyable.
The Ivy League Connection Brown gang got together after breakfast to catch a bus to Ms. Cruzat's hotel. It took a while for the bus to arrive, and one of our Brown IDs wouldn't work! Everything turned out okay, however, and we were reunited with our lovely chaperone.
The bus ride to Newport, Rhode Island was most definitely a long one: it took about an hour to reach the area, and the seats were too uncomfortable to relax in, on top of which the air conditioning was much too cold for comfort.
When we finally arrived, we spent a while in the gift shop getting souvenirs and then took a trolley to The Breakers summer "cottage." The residence was owned by the Vanderbilts, who are famous due to
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| In front of The Breakers! |
The place was truly glamorous. Even the bedrooms, which were meant to be much more downplayed in style that the living and dining spaces, were far more elegant than anything I had ever seen. It was fascinating to see that the Vanderbilts had hired so many architects for stylistic purposes, and a loud reminder that they were bursting at the seams with money.
It was fun to envision what life was like for the Vanderbilts living it what would become a historical site. Did they know they were going to be in history textbooks? Did they know strangers would eventually come from all over the world to visit their residence? This speculation and attempt to see into the past is one of my favorite things to do when I travel to another place. I wonder what it would have been like to exist within that geographic area and time, and what the historical figures would have changed if they had caught a glimpse into the future.
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| A portrait of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. |
We decided to catch a bus back to Providence to meet up with our friends at the mall. There were sales upon sales upon sales and we had lots of fun seizing the opportunity to save money whilst shopping. The whole affair was good fun, and our next adventure will be equally enjoyable.
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