July 15-25                North Kingstown, Rhode Island

We welcomed an invitation for lunch on John and Maria’s beautiful Hatteras boat.  Donna, Maria’s aunt and godmother, was their guest and we spent considerable time discussing her interesting life (she was for thirty plus years an ER nurse in Alexandria, Virginia) and books we liked or did not.  She is a voracious reader and had many recommendations.  Lunch was a casual affair with an assortment of snacks and pizza. 

David spends hours each month making food for Pretzel.  She is a very spoiled dog and eats better food than is available to many children.  He usually mixes six pounds of ground turkey, six cans each of cut green beans and cut carrots with four cups of cooked rice.  The cooked mixture is then divided into plastic containers and frozen for convenient use.  Pretzel loves it and will seldom eat anything else

We attended an outdoor concert at the beach only a few blocks from our marina.  We had new canvas folding chairs for seating comfort and enjoyed a picnic dinner before the performance.  The show was deightful with a Rhode Isloand version of country music.  It was fun watching small chidren (and some eager elderly couples) dancing in front of the stage.  The weather was cool and pleasant.  A delightful evening.

We were pleased to greet Greg and Julie Galier, cousins from Dallas, at Providence airport.  Greg immediately mentioned his longing for lobster, oysters and blueberry pie.  We anticipated this and had all of it ready for dinner on the aft deck.  The following day they took our car to Newport to follow the Cliff Walk (more strenuous than expected) and tour the expansive Marble House, one of the renowned mansions.  As fans of the series The Gilded Age, they were eager to locate sites and know about persons portrayed in the show. 

We spent the following day touring the Narraganset beach area followed by a farewell dinner at Blu on the Water in East Greenwich.  Julie and Greg enjoyed large lobster rolls.  Greg photographed them to show envious friends at home.  On Saturday morning, we drove to Kingston train station for their departure to New York.   They would meet Tripp, their son on summer break from studies at Seton Hall University in Orange, New Jersey.  Unfortunately, there was a ticket mishap and we learned they had to wait several hours to take another train.  We later had a video from them showing they were celebrating at the revolving rooftop bar at the Hyatt Times Square.