Vacay Recap: Newport!

For the second leg of the journey (read about the first here), Ginger and I headed up to Newport, RI for a music fest. The sweet thing that he is, he gave me the tickets for my birthday back in April (!). I'd been excited about this jaunt for months.

One of the coolest parts was the house we got to stay in:

It belongs to a member of his family and was an amazing and impeccably maintained (and free) 1940's time machine. Semi-creepy at times, but mostly awesome.

Newport Folk Festival

Once we were all settled in, it was on to the festival. It was a really cool venue. It was held of a peninsula across the bay from the main part of town so we had to take a boat to get to it! So fun. Here's some shots from the fest...

1 - Water taxi to the fest. WTF?

2 - New delicious beer discovery: Newport Storm's Rhode Island Blueberry

3 - Standing in the back of the crowd with the ocean super close.

4 - At times the weather sucked. Bad weather = license to get totally silly and weird.

5 - The boats parked in the bay listening to the music. Totally the way to do it.

Cliff Walk

Just steps from our little house was the awesome Newport Cliff Walk. It's a 3-mile walking trail that goes around, you guessed it, the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It was stinking breathtaking:

If we lived there, the Prince and I would go every day.

The Mansions
The big nerd in me had to do at least one historical thing while we were there. We toured two of the historic mansions in Newport - Rosecliff and The Breakers. It was RIDICULOUSLY beautiful and even more interesting. It's pretty mindblowing how old they are. Also, you automatically feel like you're really fancy and in Downton Abbey the second you walk in...

I loved every single second of the trip. Can't wait to take another one!

Vacay Recap: NYC!

Last week I had a FABULOUS vacation up to New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. The trip was originally planned to see a music festival in Newport, but we tacked on a few days in the big city just for fun. Some highlights:

Sightseeing in NYC
Here are a few favorite stops. I apparently have a thing for parks/outdoor spaces. Wonder why NYC didn't turn out to be for me...?

1 - Peaches at Union Square Park Farmers' Market. I love this spot. It's so close to where I lived briefly in the city. Such a strange little farmy oasis. Tasty peaches, too.

2 - Grand Central Station. It never gets old to me. 

3 - The arc in Washington Square Park. When taking this picture I over heard some people speaking French who were all excited about this little didy. Don't they have this kind of crap everywhere over there? I like the pic.

4 - Mid afternoon snacks in Bryant Park. We fancy.

5 - Central Park. Heaven.

Baby Mason Theis

One of my best buddies (and one of the first in our little group) just had a beautiful baby boy. I was lucky enough to pay that little dude a visit and snap some photos....

I can't even talk about how swoon city that third one is.

Favorite friends in the City

Ginger and I both had some great buds to visit. One of my college besties hosted us all week and showed us around Williamsburg. We tried out fabulous bars and restaurants. Miss her lots. Brooklyn > Manhattan.

Travels to Rhode Island

I love train travel. I really do. It feels so romantic and old world. I was just waiting to see someone on the platform sprinting after the train to profess their love to someone. Our experience was truthfully a little stressful and early in the morning, but wonderful no less.

Once we got to Providence, we had to rent a car to get to Newport. Two Texans with iPhones do not experienced New England navigators make. That's all you need to know about that drive.

Stay tuned for lots more soon on the Newport leg of the trip!