July 5-July 12                      North Kingstown, Rhode Island

Monday was sunny and the boats emerged from everywhere.  We had a great view as they cruised through the channel to the bay.  Everyone was celebrating the holiday and the lovely weather!  Our neighbors on the adjacent Hatteras, John and Maria joined us for Happy Hour.  They live in Connecticut in a home with five fireplaces built in 1812.  John owns a molding business and a tooling business.  Maria is the administrator of a small private school with primarily international students.  They come to the boat on weekends and are busy repairing and redecorating.  They have three handsome sons with lovely families who are often present on their boat.

Our hallway, covered in wallpaper after we bought the boat 11 years ago,  had been sorely mistreated by workmen who left black smudges and dark stains. After considerable internet research, we determined we could paint over the wallpaper (which was not torn).  Rupe, an excellent painter, applied two coats of Behr Scuff Resistant enamel which is guaranteed to be impervious to stains.  The results were amazing and the hallway is once again pristine.

Tropical storm Elsa brought two more days of rain as it advanced along the East Coast.  On Thursday, we were told to expect more rain and considerable wind.  We had both for several hours and then the storm continued northward.  Although we have been subjected to tropical storms or hurricanes each year since owning the boat, we NEVER learned to properly prepare.  Last year, we lost a large cushion from the bow and this year we lost our dock cart which apparently blew into the water and disappeared.  Both were expensive and inconvenient mistakes.  We are definitely slow learners!

The weekend was busy.  Maria and I attended the Wickford Arts Festival, which was similar in every way to the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth.  Many talented artists presented a variety of paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc.  Maria and I both bought treasures to bring back to the boat.

Saturday, we went to Providence to the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, part of Brown University.  Housed in an amazing combination of contemporary and traditional buildings, the museum’s collection is large, varied, impressive and definitely of the finest quality.  With installations of Egyptian artifacts, furniture, paintings, glassware, silverware, porcelains, textiles and much more, the museum easily kept me fascinated for almost three hours.(David sees more quicker than I do and checks information on his phone).  The RISD has benefited considerably from generous gifts of art from notable patrons such as the Rockefeller family.

The FIRST First Baptist Church in America, established in 1638 by RogerWilliams, is adjacent to the museum.  High on a hill, it is housed in a magnificent four story cream structure with Doric columns and Paladin windows and has obviously benefited from considerable care through the centuries.

Dinner was at a recommended Italian restaurant, Capricio’s, near the museum. Located in the basement of a century old building, it has brick walls that rest upon huge boulders of granite.  Once used for storage, it is now an elegant restaurant with exceptional cuisine.