Dawn Princess World Cruise 2010 - Saturday July 24, 2010

Day 64 Newport, Rhode Island
We were told that as we travelled from Boston to Newport we would pass a large number of lighthouses. I woke last night with lights flashing through our window at frequent intervals and at first thought it was the lighthouses we were passing,however, on closer inspection I realized it was sheet  lightning. We had quite a severe storm with thunder and lots of lightning. We anchored in Newport harbour this morning and had to use the tenders to get to shore. There was a problem with the tenders, not sure exactly what, and this meant there was quite a delay in getting to shore. Bill and I did not get to land until 1.30 p.m. We had lunch in a cute little restaurant called the Candy Shop on the waterfront. After this we had a self-guided tour of The Breakers which is one of the Newport mansions on the ocean front. The Breakers was owned by the Vanderbilts. Here we saw the dining room with seating for forty people. The billiard room had enormous lights over the table. These lights were so heavy that they were bolted into the ceiling. The house had 20 bathrooms. Mr. Vanderbilt’s bathroom had a marble bath. The marble was so cold that the bath had to be filled and emptied three times to get the water hot enough. Not a good example of conservation of resources. There were four taps, two for sea water which was thought to have healing properties and two for town water. The walls in one room were made of pewter, in another of Swiss marble, in another of leather and in another gold leaf. The main hall was where the parties were held in the summer when the group of four hundred came from New York and Pittsburg to enjoy a cooler climate. After our tour of this mansion we were meant to have a guided cliff walk. This is a walk along the path in front of all the mansions with the sea at the base of the cliff. We had only just begun this when the heavens burst with an extraordinarily heavy downpour. When the lightning and thunder started again, our guide became concerned and called the walk off. He took us on a bus tour of Newport instead of the walk, so we could only view the sights through the heavy deluge. (Barbara) Newport in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century was conspicuous consumption in the extreme. The mansions that survive bear witness to this. Portsea and Double Bay eat your heart out. (Bill)