48stateroadtrip.com » shorlines http://48stateroadtrip.com 114 days, 48 states, 1 roadtrip Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:45:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Three Hours in Newport, R.I. (Day 76, Part 2) http://48stateroadtrip.com/2009/10/three-hours-in-newport-r-i-day-76-part-2/ http://48stateroadtrip.com/2009/10/three-hours-in-newport-r-i-day-76-part-2/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:04:17 +0000 bkdunn http://48stateroadtrip.com/?p=1169 It took me a while to figure out where the mansions were. On my way to that discovery, I found the yacht club, yacht museum, and some fort that you had to take a tour to get into and that I therefore stayed outside of. Here’s a picture commemorating the yacht experience:

newport_bridgeA lighthouse protects ships from hitting the right-side stanchion.

And because I don’t think either of them are that great, here’s another photo. I imagine if you take the decent aspects of both of these photos, they might add up to one all-right picture.

newport_three-mastsI like how everything other than the truck on the bridge is leading the viewer’s eye *away* from the frame.

Then I found the mansions. It was about 4:30 and they close up at 5, so I just stopped at the first one I came to on Bellevue Avenue, which turned out to be the Marble House and to look like this:

newport_marble-houseYou’re not allowed to take photos inside.

It was designed and lived in by an ex-wife of some Vanderbilt. She was into women’s suffrage (that was the story they told about her inside the mansion) as well as inflicting suffering on women (she was apparently pretty awful to her daughter). She was also very, very tacky about her decorating decisions — basically like Hearst, but without *quite* the means. Versailles is so over-done. IMHO.

I imagine the other mansions are sort of similar. If they’re not, nobody tell me, otherwise I’ll feel like I have to go back some time. (Thx.)

bkd

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