It is important to practice any endeavor in which you desire success. This holds for football teams and chefs, among others. It is also why we reserved this weekend for our annual yachting practice, held this year in Newport RI. Gram played host and cruise director, lining up both a downtown place to stay (his) and a steady stream of top shelf events at the Panerai Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta. As such, we enjoyed a ride around Narragansett Bay with new friends aboard Pluck, watching classic yachts with full sail move nowhere in the rainy dead calm of a useless day. We motored under the bow of Carribean Princess and through a fleet of classic 12s which was impressive even without the strain of full sails, then on to Jamestown for ice cream with jimmys. In the evening, when AP over A signaled mercy - apparently - we met the crew of Alana for cocktails and dinner under the tents at Fort Adams. Sunday the weather was beautiful and we watched from shore, after regatta breakfast and Land Rover off-road course(!), as the fleet headed out under bright blue skies into a stiff breeze. We also toured Newport in toto: Ocean Drive, tidal pools, coastal inlets, mansions, shops, the works. Cocktails at MOY for awards and a great dinner at Pasta Beach would have wrapped things nicely, but we went whole hog for an authentic yachting weekend and went to Ravers.
Somewhere along CT 15 Merritt Parkway on Friday night the Vibe rolled past 100,000 miles. On our way back under Labor Day sun we realized what makes this NYC bypass so awesome: every bridge is different. The parkway is about 40 miles and must have almost that many overpasses, each unique in terms of decoration and aesthetic. I lobbied the LMT Parks & Rec board on Wednesday night that finding the cheapest bridge might not make the best park, and I concluded Monday that the cheapest bridges do not a scenic byway make.
But enough about that... we spent the weekend in Newport. Even Google's directions refer to it as 'Scenic Newport' (seriously) and I concur. We dug the old houses at the point, the incredible five-stayed mast of Virgin money and the destroyer-like bow of an Izanami look-a-like. Out on Ocean Drive we watched a happy lab swim across an inlet while his owner paddle-boarded. There were starfish aplenty clinging to the Elm Street pier, and in town there was people-watching beyond compare. Even traffic was cooperative on the way there and back - it was a great, great weekend.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
