August 17- August 18                           Newport, Rhode Island

Entering the harbor at Newport was almost like coming home!  We had been here twice in 2011 and would once again stay at the venerable Newport Yacht Club.  The harbor was filled with boats of all sizes and descriptions.  David wove expertly through the maze of docks and moorings to our assigned slip, the same one we had on previous visits.  We love this dockage because it affords a great view of the nautical scene as well as the activity on busy America’s Cup Avenue.

A long walk re-acquainted us with the weekend celebratory scene in the area near the harbor.  Restaurants were packed and sidewalks were filled with strollers, dogs, family groups, and tourists.  Newport has some wonderful shops but we reminded ourselves once more that we don’t need “stuff.”  We ended the evening with a visit to the upstairs bar area of the Newport Yacht Club and enjoyed sitting on the balcony in the cool air and looking at the hundreds of lights in the harbor and on its adjacent shores.

On Saturday, there was rain, rain, and more rain.  It came in sprinkles and torrents but it came consistently all day. To our delight, we received a call from  Phil and Linda Hardberger, who were docked about a mile away, inviting us to join them for dinner.  Mama Luisa’s, their restaurant choice, was approximately two miles from the yacht club.  Since the weather was uncertain (the rain was now intermittent), we treated ourselves to a pedi-cab.  It was a fun experience to weave in and out of Newport traffic in the care of our experienced driver (who was a student at The University of Texas in Austin!) and we arrived early to greet Phil, Linda, and their guests from San Antonio, Eugene and Mary.

Mama Luisa’s is located in an old house that looks as if it were decorated fifty years ago by an Italian grandmother.  Its warren of rooms is filled with memorabilia, pictures, and knick knacks.  The food was traditional but excellent.  It was great to be with our friends again and we enjoyed meeting Eugene and Mary.  Eugene produces Alamo Beer (Motto:  A Beer Worth Fighting For!) and is currently working on a project to build his own brewery in San Antonio. Last week, he was granted a million dollar grant from that city and he is hopeful that this show of support and confidence will be an incentive for others to invest in his dream.

After dinner, David and I said goodbye to our friends and walked from the restaurant to the boat.  Such an effort would have been impossible for him before he received the shots in his knee prior to our departure from Texas.  It seems almost like a miracle and we are hopeful the great results will continue for several months.  The rain had finally ended and we made our way back to the balcony bar to enjoy the beautiful evening.

Sundays in port are ritually planned.  We awaken early, find a place to buy The New York Times, and return to the boat for breakfast, reading, and watching CBS Sunday Morning and Face the Nation.  Then we “discuss” politics and politicians for several hours.  On this Sunday in Newport, I went to the shop in the nearby Marriott Hotel to find the newspaper.  Sitting in the shop, surrounded by brightly colored children’s books was a delightful author and illustrator, Muriel Barkley de Tolly, who was signing copies of her books.  Muriel is eighty-two years old, mother of six children, a former restaurant owner in Newport, and became an author and an artist when she was past sixty-five. Her books feature her cat, her grandchildren, and notable sights in Newport. The illustrations are reminiscent of the style of Matisse with bright colors, a mixture of designs, and a flat perspective.  I bought two of the children’s books and could not resist a lovely cookbook she wrote with the help of Newport friends. All the bookstores in Newport display her books.

We left the boat shortly after noon to walk to Beverly Avenue, the main thoroughfare past the historic Newport mansions. Our destination was not the large homes but the Newport Art Museum.  Located in an enormous late nineteenth century arts and crafts wooden house, the museum displayed a small select collection of contemporary art.  In the Cushing annex, paintings and sculptures reflect more traditional styles with works by Robert Henri (a beautiful portrait of an Indian girl from his New Mexico series), George Bellows, and Childe Hassam.  The star of the collection is a three-quarter length portrait of one of the museum’s benefactors by Thomas Eakins.  Executed in Eakins’ limited palette of browns, grays, black, and white, it is a masterpiece of understatement. 

We enjoyed a late lunch at La Forge, the restaurant within the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Designed by McKim, Mead, and White for a Newport socialite who wanted to have his own private social and sporting club, the buildings are monuments to the Golden Age of Newport. The main court is surrounded by dark green painted porches and balconies hung with dozens of baskets filled with bright red impatiens.  Initially, they provided viewing for the wealthy spectators who came in the summers.   Courts are still available for play but the main facility is now for shopping, dining, and displaying tennis memorabilia from its glory days.  The precursor event to the U.S. Tennis Open was held here and tennis greats such as Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King have played matches on its grass courts.

Despite our delicious lunch, we were ready to enjoy two of the prime beef tenderloin steaks purchased at Costco.  With careful attention, David cooked them on the grill and we had a wonderful dinner on the aft deck.  Earlier in the day, I had read recipes in my new cookbook and discovered I had all the ingredients for a simple Blueberry Kuchen dessert.  While the steaks cooked, I made this delicious dish.  It was a great finale to our dinner.