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Rhode Trip 2021

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before we set out for Rhode Island in the morning, Catherine took me out to a popular sushi restaurant the night I arrived in Brooklyn. After some rolls and white wine, we met some monsoon-like rains when we were ready to walk home. Unsure how to get a mile down the road back to her apartment without shelling out $20 for a ride-share, we waited by the front door. On an impatient whim, I decided to walk outside and feel out the rain. In that immediate moment, the rain completely stopped. I couldn’t feel a drop. We galloped home through the damp city streets before our dry opportunity ended.

The next morning, we set out to Providence around 10am, stopping for burgers in the small town of Rye outside the city and trudged through some New England traffic to arrive at our high-rise hotel before dinner time. After settling-in to our double queen bedroom, we walked across the river to a flashy Thai restaurant that served some heavy, but delectable portions.

On Sunday, my long time friend and I drove to the main attraction of our trip: Newport, Rhode Island - the Versailles of America’s eastern seaboard. Transported into the old world of nobility, our day was spent wandering two mansions originally inhabited by the Vanderbilt family. Dripping with decadence, these waterfront palaces known as Breakers & the Marble house overload the eyes with a glaring realization of what humans are capable of creating: meticulously embroidered curtains draped over two-story windows, imperial red velvet runners adorned to every staircase, ornately-carved marble fireplaces showcasing precious stones between symmetrical gold candelabras & every wall an exhibit for classical fine art framed in gold-crusted sculptures (including the ceiling).

Deserving of a meal adequate to our extravagant afternoon, we found a seafood restaurant in town for an early dinner. I introduced Cat to the taste & texture of oysters as we reflected back on fond adventures from when we first met nearly ten years ago. After our casual slow-paced meal, our server left us without warning before we could close our bill. Between her unexplained extended absence and the bar patrons’ distracting jeers from a championship soccer game, we graciously exited the restaurant with our heads held high as one last taste of the noble life before returning to our respective hermit holes.