Magnificent Newport - Take 2

Hello, dear friends.  It is a rainy, raw day here in the Northeast.  The Mister and I had a great weekend.  We had dinner with dear friends and also enjoyed a delicious lunch and caught a movie on Saturday.  We didn't get much planting done though because the nursery advised us it was still too early to tackle our window boxes and pots.  

This is the second part of my spectacular day in Newport with fellow bloggers.  If you missed Part 1 you can find it here. 

The next stop after The Breakers was another summer cottage called the Marble House.  A lovely lady from the Preservation Society met us and gave us a quick, entertaining tour.

  

The Marble House was built in 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt.  William was Cornelius' (The Breakers) older brother.

The moment you enter this palatial mansion, you can see where it gets its name. 

Marble House was inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles.  Over seven million buckaroos were spent solely on the marble.  

Someone should put together a coffee table book highlighting the ceilings of the Newport mansions.

If you decide to take my advice and make a lot of money, you owe me half.

Enough marble yet?

I'm not sure this house is ostentatious enough for me.

Yeah, definitely not fancy enough for me.

William gave the house to his wife, Alva for her 39th birthday.  They divorced a few years later and she married Oliver Belmont and moved down the street from Marble House.  After Belmont died, she moved back into the house. Alva was a major figure in the women's suffrage movement.

I don't think that Alva spent much time in the kitchen.

Obviously, Alva was committed to her cause because she had this china designed.

Replicas of the china is for sale in the gift shop.

Alva later had a Chinese Tea House built which sole purpose was to host rallies for women's right to vote.

Next stop was lunch at Midtown Oyster Bar.  I have been to Newport quite a bit.  Every time the Mister and I visit, we like to try a new restaurant.  I would say the Midtown Oyster Bar is one of my top three favorite restaurants in Newport.  The food was outstanding as well as the service.  I can't wait to take the Mister.

Dan and Caitlin, two very impressive young people from Dockwa joined us for lunch.  Dockwa is a start-up company that is a unified booking and marketing platform that connects boaters to marinas.  You can read all about it here.  Forbes wrote an interesting piece about Dockwa here.

After lunch, we had a tour of the International Yacht Restoration School.  It is a non-profit trade school.

IYRS is a world-class, post-secondary school focused on teaching the highly technical and deeply craft-oriented skills.     

The school is open to the public.  I was in awe of the beautiful workmanship involved in these vessels.  This is another place that I will bring the Mister when we come back to Newport.  I could leave him here for hours while I get some power shopping done.

There are 110 full-time students and a 90% job placement rate.  There is a 12:1 student/faculty rate.

This is the Coronet - a schooner yacht which was launched in 1885.  It was designed for crossing the ocean in style.  It is 131 feet and a symbol of the gilded age.

This is a photo of the Coronet before the restoration process began.  IYRS acquired it in 1995.  It should be ready to sail in all its glory in three years.

The perfect ending to a delightful day.

Planning any trips to Newport this summer?

Until next time...