I was very fortunate and enjoyed two fun weekends in a row with friends last November. The first was New Hampshire with my high school friends, which I wrote about yesterday, and the second was the following weekend when two of my friends from church, Meredith and Marjorie, and our book club friend Beth did a day trip to Newport, Rhode Island to tour two of the mansions, The Elms and The Breakers. I'd been there less than a year before with my mom and sister, but it was nice to be back. I love Newport. And we got to do the Servant Life Tour at The Elms, which I'd never done before and had been wanting to do for awhile.
We got to The Elms early before it opened so we walked around the grounds and took pictures.
We got to The Elms early before it opened so we walked around the grounds and took pictures.
Finally inside! I love this ballroom and its pretty ceiling.
Another pretty ceiling, this one a little more ornate!
White lights galore on this elegant Christmas tree.
For the Servant Life Tour, we got to go to the off-limits upper floor where the servants lived. It was so cool to see! Servants at The Elms were lucky (relatively speaking); their quarters were actually quite nice!
There were skylights and glass-bottomed floors in their top-floor hallway so that they had nice natural light.
They also had access to the spacious flat rooftop that was hidden from view to the outside. How refreshing that must have been on hot summer nights! Look at that view!
We also got to go down to the depths of the mansion and see things like this coal tunnel. There was a weird sound that came from down there while the tour guide was talking and she didn't know what it was and seemed genuinely puzzled. Even before that happened, I had a feeling about this tunnel, and it turned out that Meredith did too. We believe that this is a haunted tunnel.
More cool things from the Servant Life tour, like this Louis Vuitton trunk that belonged to the owner of the house.
I thought this stocking-drying contraption was so funny.
Here's Meredith with the pastry chef, which is very apt since Meredith pretty much is a pastry chef.
Then we had a delicious lunch at possibly the oldest tavern in the whole country, The White Horse Tavern.
"In 1780, George Washington famously stayed at an inn just two blocks from the tavern and rumor has it that he and some of his soldiers planned part of the Battle of Yorktown in one of the tavern’s dining rooms." (from the restaurant's website)
I got clam chowder and roast chicken. I'm not kidding when I say that it was all sooo good. I ate up just about every single morsel of my meal.
And then I ate up every last bit of this fantastic creme brulee. I pretty much had to roll myself out of The White Horse Tavern.
After lunch we went to The Breakers. It's my favorite Newport mansion.
The dining room gets me every time! 😮😍
This skylight window at the top of the main staircase is so beautiful!
The library, one of my favorite rooms here.
Pretty in pink
This is partly a vanity shot even though I look kind of dorky--look how clear my skin is! 😄
Down in the kitchen there was an amazing gingerbread house mansion of The Breakers. It smelled so good!
We went out to the back at the end but didn't spend a lot of time there because the grass had a lot of goose poop on it and we had to get back to The Elms before it closed to finish our tour there.
The side of The Breakers. In the summer that arbor is full of greenery and it's so pretty.
Back at The Elms, there was a nice gingerbread replica of it, too.
A cute little mouse in the kitchen. Cute because it's not real!
I really liked this wreath in the gift shop. Now I wish I'd bought it. It's the wreath that got away.
It was a lovely day in a lovely place with lovely friends!
