Vacation 2013: Coastal Rhode Island and Connecticut

The Elms

Mystic, CT

Today's post mercifully is short. I planned to describe my Yale visit here, but its late and Yale will require enough explanation to warrant breaking it up. So Yale will follow.

The last two days I finished my Newport visit, then drove into Connecticut and on to Yale University. In New Haven.

To conclude my Newport visit, I toured The Elms mansion, home of former coal industry tycoon Edward J. Berwind. Yeah, I'd never heard of him either, but the ticket seller at the Breakers suggested that I should visit it if I could see only one other mansion. So after an excellent Attwater Hotel breakfast, I was on to The Elms. Berwind built it in 1901, replacing an earlier "cottage" that occupied the property. Though less magnificent and ornate than the Breakers (which one could say about any Newport mansion), it no less reflects the Gilded Age ostentatious wealth displays in which the barons engaged. It stands at three stories, with large grounds to the mansion's rear façade, and houses an incredible art collection. The Elms displays the largest collection of 18th century Venetian paintings in America. a room decorated with elaborate Japanese gold leaf lacquer on black enamel, jade and onyx collections, marble and bronze statuary, and antique European furnishings (furniture, tapestries, etc.) throughout the home and grounds. It featured state of the art technology to keep the mansion and its elaborate lifestyle running, such as electricity, central heat, ice makers, elevators, and the latest automobiles. The first floor featured an incredible ballroom not unlike the one in the Sound of Music at Captain vonTrapp's house. When Berwind died in 1922, his sister Julia inherited the property and lived there (during the summers; she lived in the Savoy Hotel in Manhattan the rest of the year) until she died in 1961. Childless as well, her nephew inherited the place. He hated it and thought the mansion frivolous and an eyesore, and sold it to developers who planned to raze it for parking. He also sold most of the house's contents at auction. At the last minute, the Newport Mansions Society stepped in, bought the property, and has been retrieving or reclaiming its former contents. Its now a national landmark. How anyone could think of demolishing this place defies explanation. Though I suppose Houston would have demolished the house just on principle once the Miss Julia's funeral was over. (Yes, its 2013 and I'm still not over them tearing down the Shamrock Hotel 25 years ago. Ok. There, I said it. Are you happy?)

Rain fell pretty consistently the rest of the day, which just about washed out the day's plan to visit three towns: Watch Hill, RI, and Stonington and Mystic, CT. I drove through the rain and saw these towns anyway, but didn't get much chance to take pictures or enjoy the sights.

Watch Hill lies at the state's very southwestern tip and sits on a peninsula. It includes one very small "town" street along the waterfront (with an antique carousel), and several winding streets on which rest some large old homes. Each sits on a sizable lot with manicured lawns. They mostly appeared in excellent condition, with families living in them. The oddly-placed Ocean Lodge sits on some prime property overlooking one expanse down to the sea. The Lodge is a large, exclusive "resort" property better suited for somewhere like Pebble Beach than isolated Watch Hill. I'm not sure exactly what their guests do with the time. According to their web site, activities include croquet, yachting, squash, culinary education, and a spa. So you should probably find another spot to hold your bachelor party. Now that I read it that actually sounds like the worst place in the world to stay, besides, maybe Detroit. Or Ciudad Juarez. Watch Hill itself appeared very attractive. But for the thunderstorm.

From there I drove to Stonington, CT. Stonington resembles a more typical New England town (at least from what I can tell so far), with a courthouse square, laid out streets, a city hall, etc. It too juts into the sea, with the main street running all the way to the water. The town center contains numerous federal and early American style homes in good condition, and several blocks of shops, bars, and restaurants. I passed the strangely large Post Office building around 3:30, and saw many senior citizens walking into the building. Why would this happen? Do the social security checks all go out at one time? Or don't these people know about e-mail?

But the rain kept on coming down, so I pushed ahead to Mystic, CT. No I didn't look for the pizza place. In fact, I've never seen the movie. Yes, apparently, a "Mystic Pizza" does exist, but I didn't find (or look for) it. I did, however, find the optometrist's office, named "OptiMystic." Get it? Because its an optometry shop, in Mystic? They put the two words together...its a portmanteau. Like an optometrist in Mystic was going to use any other name. The 15 or so businesses with "Austintatious" in their names are very envious.

Mystic represents the largest of these three towns, and lies along the Mystic River (which is also a movie; these people must have the BEST booking agent in the world). A cool drawbridge links the two banks, and town lies on either side. The touristy shops lie on the west bank, and boats are docked along both banks. There's apparently an interesting seaport museum, which I didn't have time to visit. The rain had begun letting up by then, and people had resumed walking around the town. I didn't stay long though, as I was tired and wanted to reach New Haven by dark. As I drove out of town, I noticed extensive developments with much larger, newer homes just outside the town limits. I'm not sure what these people do; Mystic appears like a tourist town, along the lines of say Fredericksburg, Texas. They're not keeping that thing going with a fishing fleet. Unless they're all day traders.

Once I reached IH-95, the sun had come out and it began to dry off. I made it into New Haven, driving into the sunset, with the top down and the radio blasting, as it were.

NEXT-umm, Yale.