Tuesday - Wow, A Sunny Day!

After completing our normal morning routines, we had an omelette breakfast and then Ken had a nice phone conversation with Lanie while I did my devotions!  He also had a chat with one of his Celebrate Recovery buddies.

By the time we left the CG around 10 there was this amazing yellow ball in the sky.  What could it be?  Wow, it was the sun and we were thrilled to see it.  We decided to go into Newport and tour our 1st mansion, The Elms.  It was built by the coal baron, Edward Berwind, completed in 1901 at the cost of 1.4 million.  It is approximately 60,000 SF and had a grand ballroom that comfortably held 400 people! They give you a headset and you tour the home room by room listening to a wonderful narrator tell you all about the home.  The amount of intricate sculptures and details on walls and ceilings is breathtaking!  The grounds are amazing too.  It is hard to imagine that all of the mansions were called summer cottages and most of them were only lived in about 6 or 8 weeks per year.  During that time there were lavish parties with hundreds of guests and they said about $350,000. was spent on the parties during the short time they were there!.  The Elms is considered on of the 5 best Newport Mansions and the best one not built or owned by a Vanderbilt!  

Hard to appreciate how large this mansion really is!

This is the entrance!

Gorgeous gardens that required a head gardner and 12
other gardners!

What an ornate table!

The dining room was amazing with the huge tapestries
and the gold leaf ceiling!

Maybe this is where the term "throne" comes from!

Hard to believe how many guests could be served at one meal/
party from this kitchen!

This is the stable with a beautiful fountain in the front!

The back of The Elms!

From there we went to the Chateau-sur-Mer where we had a wonderful tour guide who offered a wealth of information in such an interesting way.  It was one of the 1st grand mansions that was part of the gilded age in Newport.  It was completed in 1852 and the most palatial residences in Newport until the appearance of the Vanderbilt houses in the 1890's.  They had an elaborate picnic with over 2,000 guests in 1857.  It was home to 3 generations of the Wetmore family and the 2nd generation Wetmore was the governor and senator for Rhode Island. 

The Chateau-sur-Mer

A amazing DR!

This gorgeous carving was made from 1 solid piece of wood!

The 1st bathroom in Newport where the toilet, sink, and tub
were all in the same room!

We had planned to tour all 5 mansions today, but soon realized that was a hefty goal!  We decided to go to The Breakers, the most famous of all the mansions and eat our packed lunch sitting on a blanket along the Cliff Walk.  What a beautiful setting! 

Great views for eating our packed picnic lunch!

This is along the Cliff Walk!

 After we finished eating, I started to fold the blanket which goes back to a pillow shape with handles and Ken got his foot caught in the strap.  Down he went, but fortunately he was not hurt, but his glasses were broken.  He has frameless ones and the cord that holds the lens in had separated and his lens had fallen out, but it wasn't broken or scratched.  Now what?? I did not want to even consider my driving Wilbur back home.  He did have a pair of prescription sunglasses back at the CG and we also knew our prescriptions are very similar.  So, I drove back to the CG and he tried using my glasses.  It could work, but they weren't perfect.  We also realized our class reunion is this weekend and he didn't want to go there wearing my glasses!

Long story short!  I looked up glass repair places nearby and there was one only 6 miles away that had a 5 star rating.  One of the reviews was from a gentleman who broke his glasses exactly the same way and they fixed them in less than 10 minutes -wow!  So, off we went to find this optical office and just like the man had said, they repaired Ken's glasses as soon as we got there and there was no charge!  They were amazing!  So, now I am "off the hook" for driving Wilbur - that's a hallelujah!

We continued our drive back to Newport to tour The Breakers, which was built by the Vanderbilts as a summer home.  The 5 floor mansion has 70 rooms and was built in 1892, taking 2 years to complete.  The largest room is the Dining Room which has 2,400 SF.  The entire house has a total of 125,000 SF of living area and is one of the most visited house museums in the country.  It was filled with marble, tapestries, and gold leaf everywhere, as well as amazing sculptures.  It was totally fascinating!

The beautiful and huge Breakers!

This is the back overlooking the water!

What a beautiful "foyer" area!

The ceiling in the foyer!

A fountain under the stairway!

The enormous Dining Room with so much gold leaf!  There
were chairs all around the room!  The chandeliers were amazing
and even had a place to fill them with gas if there was no
electric!

Looking from the foyer out the back windows!

This cherub sculpture is unique because there is a train behind
the one on the left and a tugboat on the right side, that reflects
Mr. Vanderbilt's enterprises!

Rather fancy doors complete with cherubs!

The "family room"!

And of course, no home would be complete without a
music room!

The library!

Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom and it actually was a dark red!

A very interesting tub carved out of 1 solid piece of marble.
They would have to fill it 3 or 4 times before the marble
would get warm enough to take a comfortable bath.  The extra
2 spigots were for salt water, which was considered healthy!

A rather interesting chair!

A view of the foyer from the second floor!

What a view from their "sunroom"!

Unique stairways!

The kitchen!

The Butler's Pantry!

Back to Wilbur by 5:30 and we worked together to make salads for tonight and the next two days.  We also spent time getting information on the mansions we had seen.  Ken spent time on his I-Pad, I downloaded the photos and worked on the blog while watching The Voice, This Is Us, and New Amsterdam. 

It has been quite a day but we continue to Celebrate Life Daily!