Newport cottages

I ventured to Newport today, one last time to visit the historic mansions since my membership expires next week. I can't believe I have been in the northeast for over a year. My mother gifted this membership to me, as our trip together to the mansions last year was the first. I have visited about seven times since then, especially when I have other out-of-towners with me. The beauty and craftsmanship of these homes is not something you see every day, and it leaves me in awe every time.

Today, I finished out the guided tour my mother and I bailed on last year (Chateau-sur-mer), and it was good. (My mother prefers to go at her own pace, hence our early departure.) I think the beginnings of tours are usually slow and dry, but as the docent got going, she really had a sense of humor, and she knew everything about every single thing in that house. Down to the tight white gloves the butlers loathed to wear in the 1960s, and to the different types of wood used for carving. Her knowledge on this topic stemmed from her father having been in the building business, and it was especially interesting to me. She has been working there for 26 years (she was about 80 years old). 

After that, I drove the "scenic route" down Bellevue Avenue, home to many of the grandiose mansions in Newport, and I kept going. I circled all the way around the coastline, and suddenly became aware of all the modern-day estates dotting the waterline, overlooking the cliffs, or trying their best to be obscured by the enormous glacial boulders scattered along the coast. I was amazed.

Even with so many mansions razed after the end of the Gilded Age era, seemingly in admonishment for the duality of extreme lavishness that existed alongside insufficiency for so many, the size of these built structures that stand today are symbolic of a certain eminence. I began to wonder, a century down the road, will these abodes be the next added to the list of historically preserved Newport homes?

Acadia National Park in April

Last week was National Park Week. I got a jump on this with my trip to Acadia National Park the week before. Even though all national parks were free for the weekend, Acadia is free until the start of May. It's still essentially winter up there. In fact, the park opened for the season the second day we were there, and we got there 40 minutes after they opened the gate. I think I was the first person to put a donation in the box, too!

We were in luck the first day they opened because the weather was decent enough that they were also able to open the Park Loop Road, about 27 miles of paved road that circles the largest portion of land, popular with cyclists in the summer. We had planned to ride it as well, but it rained... a lot. We still decided to hike through it, until we got to the top of Cadillac Mountain, 1528 ft, the highest point in the park.

boyfriend searching out cairns/bright colors are a good choice

 It was windy, and getting foggier as we ascended. Luckily, there were cairns to follow, otherwise we might have gone around in circles. We reached what we thought was the top. All we know is we launched ourselves up over large flat boulder, and immediately felt gale-force wind from the other direction that nearly knocked us over, and we both automatically went into a crouching position. We stayed up there maybe 10 seconds before deciding to head back down. (The only other time I felt wind that strong was when I was clinging to the side of an abandoned house while experiencing near-tornadic conditions while on a bike ride.)

Around the Park Loop Road, we came across a beautiful architectural example of a European hunting lodge. It must be mentioned that John D. Rockefeller was one of the key individuals responsible for the creation of Acadia National Park. He donated 11,000 acres of his property and this gatehouse (1932), as it actually is, was commissioned by him to serve as a barrier to automobiles entering the park. Encouraging non-motor traffic, he developed a vast system of carriage roads during the first part of the 20th century that are well-maintained even today. This foresight, and the preservation measures that have come since that time, are factors that make this park easily accessible without a car, across the whole island.

So, back to our adventure. The day after we toured the Loop, it snowed. We were thinking, "But, it was 60 degrees and sunny when we got here!"

Then, by mid-morning, it started clearing. I love to watch this over the ocean, because it's completely blue on one side, and just grey as the clouds on the other. Here is where we drove down to Northeast Harbor, a very quintessential coastal Maine town. After reading that Martha Stewart lived somewhere around here, I was joking that we should be able to find her house. Even though we weren't far from it, it turns out she lives on 63 acres, assuredly hidden away from any curious tourists.

Despite the weather, we enjoyed the seaside cliffs I had always seen in photos, the forests of evergreen, aspen, and birch, and the lack of tourists. It was almost as if we had the park to ourselves. The park staff even told us this is the best time of year to come. However, I would still love the chance to be there at peak season!

day trip to Newport

Last year, one of the first sure signs of spring on Cape Cod was the crocus blooms. This year, I found the same. They are everywhere, much like the daffodils will be in a few weeks. I discovered a nice little patch of them out by the wood pile this afternoon.

The pup apparently found these springtime blooms before I had, as I noticed one of her many holes-to-China was nearby. Her humans are about to make their way back to the Cape in a few days, just in time for the tolerable weather. They have still requested the heat be turned up to 70 in their part of the house.

Being with the dog for the past three months has been very enjoyable, although I will sure be glad to be able to get away for a few days and not have to worry about what to do with her. The other day I realized I had been on the Cape for nearly all of winter, save for a few trips up to Boston. That was quite a hibernation by my standards-- almost as if I had turned into one of these homebody New Englanders! So to celebrate the start of spring, I took a day trip to Newport, RI to visit the mansions. I never tire of visiting these lovely historic homes with their formidable architecture.

It was busier than I expected (tour groups already??) although it was a beautiful Saturday. I know some people may not enjoy listening to a "guided" audio tour, but the stories told are fascinating to me. Life at that time in these houses was so different from what we know today, and it's just fun to imagine what it would have been like.

The beach was hopping as well with dry suit-clad surfers and stand-up paddle boarders.

I stopped for lunch at the same restaurant shown to me by the hostel owner I had stayed with back in November, Anthony's, and enjoyed a salmon burger. The restaurant was actually featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives a few years ago. It's definitely a local place, and I do love to escape the tourists...

Next week's adventure: Acadia National Park in Maine. It's been on my list of places to see for quite a while!

another year!

Recap of my 27th birthday, because it's been a long, but happy, day:

Blizzard. All night. All morning.

No electricity.

Dog with cabin fever. I had to get creative.

Work in the afternoon, followed by much appreciated birthday chats with my family.

An impromptu four-course meal at an Italian restaurant followed by a birthday cake, inspired by my love of cornbread:

Polenta pound cake. 

And now, let spring officially begin!

film festival and feijoada

Last week I spent an evening in Boston to see the  Banff Mountain Film Festival, which is an annual event for me. I had two favorites this year. The Last Ice Merchant is about a man in Ecuador who harvests ice daily from nearby glaciers-- well worth watching. The film that won best feature-length film was Ready to Fly, the story of Lindsey Van and how she worked toward getting women's ski jumping into the Olympics. It just amazes me that it took until this year to make it happen, and it made watching the event in this year's games that much more important. There were a number of other great films, so many that I didn't make it home finally until about 1 am. So tired.

The next day was an all-day work day, and since I hadn't had time to make food the night before as I usually do, during my lunch break I was dreading having to find something decent at Dunkin Donuts or some other fast food chain. Then I noticed a small cafe, sign out front that read "Now Open". I thought it was Mexican by the name (my least favorite), but I decided to give it a try anyway. I was the only one in there, but was greeted by a very friendly couple who own the restaurant. I looked at the menu: Brazilian! Feijoada! The woman gave me a sample and was amazed I knew how to pronounce the name. I explained that my mom often made the dish growing up, and she was surprised again. (Thanks mom!)

I ordered and ate, and then she and I started chatting again. She and her husband had opened the cafe only a few weeks ago, and it was going pretty slow. I assured her the food was excellent and it was only a matter of time, because really, they are making true homemade food. It was delicious. Her husband is a trained chef, and she worked various jobs including teaching English to Brazilian children near Boston. They seemed so proud having finally started their own business. Then she told me that because she knows what it's like, [retail] employees get a discount. Just pay what you can, because they may not have much, but they have food. Of course I will always pay the fair price, but having someone show that sort of generosity is uncommon. It's not something you'll find at Dunkin Donuts.

marine biology

Last week I picked up this on the beach:

 

I had no idea what it was, but I knew it wasn't a part of any inner skeletal structure, even though that's what it looks like at first glance. It was later made known to me that it's actually an egg case of the knobbed whelk, which I often see on the beach. I picked up this one too, for reference.

We've been having a snow about once a week lately, and this past week's snow day I spent dissecting this egg case. This is what I found.

Miniscule sea creatures! The top is the tiny whelk, which I was expecting to find. But also within a few of the other egg cases I found a tiny sand flea, and then what looks like a tiny quahog or some similar bivalve, separated. This was the highlight of my day, obviously. Growing up inland, we didn't often get the chance to explore this area of the natural world-- except for my high school marine biology class, which I loved. 

In addition to my growing shell collection, another find on the beach has been a snowy owl that I can invariably locate at the end of our run near the water each morning. It blends in beautifully with the snow.

 The beach we frequent is home to piping plovers that the dog seems to herd down to the end of the beach and back as we go. They are fun to watch, and the owl is watching them as well. It's amazing to see it swoop down over the water and back to its perch on the dunes.

Anyway, I don't understand the people who make the mass migration to Florida to stay with the 70 degree weather. Cape Cod in the winter is just beautiful.

the kindness of strangers

It was a foggy morning this morning, but much warmer than it had been, in the 40s. I had even opened my living room window to let some fresh air in. The pup and I went out for our morning run as we always do, although since I had to work, we had to make it a quick run, doing one loop instead of three. It was all going well until Shahna decided she wasn’t ready to go home yet. She refused to be caught, so I ended up chasing her about a quarter of a mile back down the trail. I bribed her with a stick to fetch and eventually got her on leash, but quickly realized I had lost my car keys in the process.

So back and forth that section of trail we went. I had my eyes on the ground, scanning, and the next thing I knew, there was a large barking dog on top of Shahna, who had been knocked to the ground. She had slipped out of her collar, and this dog was dragging her. I was terrified but had my pepper spray ready in seconds. Just before I was about to open it up, the other dog bolted back to its owner who had appeared over the hill. She assured me he was friendly, just an alpha male type. So he was, and off he and Shahna went down the trail again.

I was rather distraught at this point and explained to the woman that I needed to get to work soon but had lost my car keys. She went off after the dogs and I for my keys. Only the dogs were retrieved and the woman offered to drive me home. Also a runner, she and I ran our respective dogs to her car and piled them in the back, windows down to enjoy the mild air. Shahna loves car rides, but on a car ride with her new friend, she could hardly contain herself. The two dogs began roughhousing in the back, and the next thing we heard was clunk, clunk.  We both looked back to see only Shahna in the backseat. The other dog had somehow exited the car via the open window-- I kid you not. He was just standing roadside, oblivious to what had happened. We all made it home, with me thanking the heavens I hadn't closed my living room window yet. I climbed through, got my spare car keys, and a short bike ride later, I was back to my car.

Later at work today, a woman came up to me, and said “It’s me! From this morning!” We had been chatting in the car on the way home, and I told her where I worked and she had showed up just to let me know she and her husband had searched for my car keys but had not found them. Nevertheless, I was incredibly grateful for her kindness.