A BUSY TIME IN RHODE ISLAND

May 27 and 28, 2006

We arrived at Don’s cousin, Wanda and Paul Yelle’s lovely home in North Kingston, RI in the afternoon, just in time to clean up and be whisked off to their bi-monthly gourmet dinner club. 

Friends, Gary and GiGi, arrived to catch a ride with us and then we picked up another couple along the way.  We drove to Somerset, MA to the home of lovely Paula and her friend Ed for a wonderful Portuguese meal of bean soup, curry chicken, and a seafood dish.  Yummy.

The next day we went to visit another couple that live in the quaint village of Newport.  We all strolled over to the dock for a tasty breakfast.  Next we went off to drive by the New York Yacht club, home of the America’s Cup for many years, which is not in New York at all, but in Rhode Island.  Following the road we drove through an area of elegant estates belonging to Eisenhowers, Kennedys, Vanderbilts, Astors.  We finished up the morning with a quick visit to the boat dock and a tour of the boat Wanda’s friends were preparing for a trip.

In the afternoon we returned to Paula’s house to polish off the leftovers of the previous evening’s gourmet dinner and then off we went to see the play, Cyrano de Bergerac.  What a busy, busy day.

The next morning Don and I jumped up and returned to the Belle View area for a bike ride and more thorough study of the fancy mansions.  Then we returned to the Yelle’s home for a shower and breakfast.  Wanda and Paul were heading out for a few weeks in Vermont, so all four of us packed up, Wanda made us lunches and away we went.

Don and I scooted north through Rhode Island, crossed a little corner of Connecticut, and made a short stop in Springfield, Massachusetts to visit Jan Rossow, a Rhoda cousin.  Then we traveled west, stopping for the night in Palatine Bridge before continuing the following day past Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo before finishing up the day in Niagara Falls.