Visiting #Newport #RI ~ #CliffWalk Mansions #Travel #RhodeIsland

My best friend and I have many adventures (or misadventures?) together, and this past weekend was no different.  Although we live 8 states apart, we manage to see each other several times a year.  We've been friends since freshman year of high school, and we've had countless crazy adventures together...seems there's always some sort of bizarre mishap when we're together, too (see the Zip Line fiasco), and our mini-vacation in Newport was no exception.

My friend used some airline miles to book a ticket into Providence, Rhode Island, and I used some of our Marriott points to get us an overnight stay at their Newport hotel right on the water.  Since it was a Thursday night, we asked for--and were given--an upgrade to a harbor view, and it was so breathtakingly beautiful from our balcony, we set an alarm to ensure we actually left the room to experience some of the Newport restaurants and bars!

The view of the marina from our balcony...we could have sat there all night!

It was Restaurant Week, too, but instead of taking advantage of one large meal at one location, we instead ate small plates and had a drink at several places so we could see more.  We went to The Mooring, The Speakeasy, and Buskers before calling it a night.

Even more stunning in the daylight!

The view was no less beautiful in the morning.  But we had things to do before a cold front came in, so we started our day walking over to the popular breakfast spot, The Corner Cafe, before heading over to the famous Cliff Walk.  If you've never been, it's truly something to see...as its name suggests, it is in fact a walk along a cliff, but it's so much more. 

The back of The Breakers, Italian Renaissance style, built 1895 for
Central Railroad President Cornelius Vanderbilt.  138,00 square feet. 

This 3.5 mile National Recreation Trail winds its way along the eastern shore of Newport, offering breathtaking views of the ocean.  But along the other side, built to take advantage of these stunning views, are the backs of mansions built for extremely wealthy families during America's Gilded Age (late 19th century), for use during the summer months.  They were actually referred to as "cottages", but they are anything but...one of the mansions, The Breakers, built for the Vanderbilt family, boasts 70 rooms, 27 fireplaces, and bathtubs with fresh and salt water faucets.  Another mansion, Rosecliff, built for a silver heiress, has been used to film a number of movies, including The Great Gatsby, True Lies, and Amistad.

The start of the walk...I have the map!  ^^

All of this information came from a map I'd purchased in the past, and I was extremely proud I'd remembered it, as it had an informational blurb on each mansion along the walk.  I not only remembered to bring the map on the trip itself, I also remembered to bring it along with us that morning.  I was all set to educate us on each magnificent property along the way.

But, of course, we stopped to take a picture, and I set the map down on the stone wall preventing people from tumbling down into the ocean.  And then the wind blew the map off the wall and into the brush below.  It was somewhat funny, but also disappointing...we'd just started the walk!

The mysterious broken ladder that leads
nowhere...maybe inspiration for a new novel?

As we leaned over the wall to see if there was any way to retrieve it, we noticed a broken wooden ladder, propped up against the ocean side of the wall.  Why was it there?  There was absolutely nothing down there but a small shelf off rocks and brush that quickly dissolved to cliffs and water.  

But...it was there.  It seemed like a sign, even though one side was broken at the top and it looked a bit weathered and worse for the wear.  So, after some discussion about what we would do if it did not hold my weight and I couldn't get back up (not sure if we came to a conclusion on that), I hung off the top of the wall until my feet found the first rung, climbed down successfully, secured the map, and made it back up without breaking any rungs or bones.  Victory!  Was it a good idea?  Definitely not.  But I often do things that are ill-advised (see Exploring an Abandoned TB Hospital for example).  Anyway, it made a good story and we were able to continue our walk with our trusty map.  

I got a few looks from passersby...

Got it!

It was only later that we noticed a new installation...plaques with those square bar codes had been placed along the way, so walkers can scan it with their phone to get more information.  Oh well.  We had a lot of laughs both during and after the great map retrieval event, so there's that!

After completing the cliff walk, we walked around the front of the mansions and then back to the hotel, then ventured back out for lunch and shopping.  Overall, we logged in an incredible amount of steps--over 11 miles--in just a few hours, and we had a blast doing it.  We had to leave around 3:00 for the nearly 2 hour drive back to the Cape, because I don't like to drive in the dark.  When it comes to risky behavior, I only like to climb down cliff walls via mysterious rickety ladders to retrieve $3.00 maps, apparently ;)

Have you ever been to Newport?  Share your stories!  And if you haven't, it's a must-see!

The Forty Steps, one of the major landmarks along the Cliff Walk...
Originally built in 1830 out of wood and used by the Irish staff from
the mansions as a gathering spot
to play music and dance during their time off.

Blizzards, Blackouts, and Broken Legs...Good Riddance, February

I've had so much stress jammed into the shortest month of the year that it feels almost strange to take the time to blog.  But writing is my therapy, and thankfully, all of the bad stuff has or will eventually fade into memories.  In the meantime, I'm trying to stay positive, especially in the face of the unknown challenges ahead.

For the first half of the month, I was trying to get everything done for our trip to Disney.  Exciting, yes...but almost every school in New England has the same February break, and the Orlando parks reach alarming levels of crowds.  Since I'm a planner, I spent a great deal of time online, figuring out how to best avoid lines--and my efforts were successful, thankfully (see Disney Tips for more info).  But of course in addition to planning, there's laundry, packing, taking off work, getting the animals taken care of, finding our summer clothes in the middle of winter, etc., etc.

I'm a nervous flyer, so I was already feeling apprehensive by Saturday night before our trip.  Then the blizzard started.  We've had so many this year, I don't know if this one had a name.  All night long the winds howled and the house shook and my husband and I tossed and turned, unsure if our trip would be cancelled (and all my carefully made--and paid for in advance, of course--plans would be messed up).

My husband finally got out of bed at 4:30 a.m. and began shoveling us out.  We have a snow blower, but he thought the neighbors might not want that kind of wake up call before sunrise on a Sunday morning. 

Our cable was out, but a check on my phone told me our flight was still on.  We were dubious, but determined to try.  As we were getting ready, though, the power went out.  Super.  We had no idea what was on and what was off, and we were leaving for a week.  We had to unhook the garage door to get it down and turn off the water in the event the heat didn't come back on for a while.  More stress.  (The power did come back, 10 minutes before we had to leave...we ran around shutting things off at that point).

The flight took off as planned, and we had a great time.  Monday morning was back to school and work.  My oldest son, 15, had his first spring soccer practice that night.

A half hour into practice, I get a call that he's injured and I need to come get him.  By the time I arrived, his knee had swollen to the size of a large melon and he could not walk at all.  His friends carried him to my car and I went directly to the ER.

The x-ray films showed a very scary break of the proximal tibia and growth plate at the knee.  The orthopedist couldn't believe a healthy bone could break that way from just a slip and fall, but it did.  He said a surgical repair was needed, and a Children's Hospital was the best place for him.  By 11:00 p.m., my son and I were in an ambulance for an hour and a half as we were transported to Children's.

My husband met us, after dropping our younger son off, and we all waited in the Children's ER the rest of the night as doctors came and went and decisions were made.  At 5:45 a.m. we were moved to a room, at 6:45, my son was in surgery.  He had several screws placed in his leg and a giant brace put on to hold the bones in place.

Thankfully, the surgery was a success...but he'll miss at least a week of school.  He'll miss all of soccer.  He will be in a brace for 4-6 weeks and require PT after that.  All this is temporary, and I'm profoundly grateful for that.  But to see my son in pain, and struggling to move, is so difficult.

Recovery will be a long road, but he will recover.  In the meantime, I'd like to put this month behind us...except for maybe the 5 days we spent in Disney, with 80 degree temperatures and lots of family laughs (believe me, we have had some hilariously disastrous vacations--see Skiing Disaster and Shutting Down the Zip Line Course--so a great one was appreciated).  This new ordeal will be a memory soon too, and the big scar will be an interesting story one day.

Adventures in #ZipLining - #HarpersFerry #WVA #Travel

I love being scared when the actual risk of danger is relatively small: riding roller coasters, visiting haunted houses, reading (and writing) ghost stories, watching scary movies, etc.  So when my best friend suggested we take our families on a 3-hour zip line “Canopy Tour” in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, I agreed enthusiastically. 

My two boys have inherited this adrenaline-rush-seeking gene from me, and my husband is usually game for anything athletic.  My friend’s husband and her two daughters were on board as well.  After all, the 8 of us had visited the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas together and all tackled the steepest, longest waterslide I’ve ever seen.  If we could do that, we could do this.

We did ask our 19-year-old lead guide if anyone had ever died on the course.  He assured us that had never happened; if it had, the park would no longer exist.  The safety measures they had in place were very impressive.  But once you started that course, you were up in the treetops for the duration—there is no way to get up or down.  So we were told that everyone needed to use the bathroom before hand, because if they have to rappel you down, you are done. 

He and our other guide went through all the possible scenarios and procedures with us, and he probably thought he’d covered any situation.  He said he’d seen it all…but we ended up proving him wrong in the first 15 minutes!

The view from the treetops - 3 states visible: MD on the left, VA in the middle, WVA on the right

Throughout the course, each group has 2 guides with them, one who goes first to help catch you and unclip you as you land, and one who is at the start platform before you go, hooking you onto the line.  In the meantime, you are ALWAYS hooked to a tether on the platform.  So you are always hooked to something, either the center of the platform or the line.  There are 8 tethers plus 2 for guides and that’s the max that can go together.

There I go!

Our group got through the first 2 stations, and then there was a wooden suspension bridge you have to cross, since you’re headed up to a higher platform and a zip line alone won’t work.  So it’s shaky footing but your zip lines are attached to a cable above.

They space you out as you cross.  My friend was well ahead of me when she lost her footing.  She started flying backwards because she was so far uphill at that point.  She could have grabbed any of the stationary ropes along the sides of the bridge, but instead she grabbed her zip line, which of course was moving backwards with her.  Not helpful.  So she was yelling, “I can’t stop” and dragging her heels across the boards to try.

BOTH her shoes came off in this process and fell about 50 feet to the ground.  I had to catch her with my legs to stop us both from continuing backwards.  When we managed to finally get over, the guide asked, “Where are your shoes?”  My friend, who now had only socks and torn up heels, was worried she would hold the group behind us up.  So she said, “Forget it, I don’t need shoes.  I’m fine.”

They never told us we weren't allowed to lose our shoes along the way

But the lead guide said he could not let her continue without shoes.  Since this had never happened, he had to figure out what to do.  In the end, he opened a trap door and rappelled down to the forest floor.  He found her shoes, then had to run back to the start of the course, since there’s no other way up.  He had to zip though (literally), going ahead of others to get back to us.

Meanwhile, we were stuck.  You need 2 guides to move forward (and shoes).  The second guide said the next group might pass us, but I pointed out there were only so many tethers on the platform.  No way could another group of 8 come onto our platform and fit, let alone be tied safely to the platform.  They were stuck too, as was anyone behind them.  So, we held up the entire course for nearly 30 minutes.  Slightly embarrassing.  

Let’s just say we had a lot of laughs, finished the course, and made sure we got out of there before the group behind us made it to the ground.  And our guide got a huge tip.