Vacation 2010: Newport, Rhode Island

the life: Newport had never been on my list of cities i really wanted to see and i admit that my first impression of it wasn’t exactly positive. i’m not sure if it was the lack of diversity or the abundance of adirondack chairs, but i felt as though i had entered a country club where everyone but me owned a yacht. it was big pimpin, whereas i was only pimpling, and the first day i spent in town filled me with feelings of inadequacy.



good friends to the rescue! John, Karen and i go way back. eleven years, to be precise, when all of us lived in san francisco during our collective salad years of job jumping, paradigm shifting and partying like rock stars. i know i’ve said it before but i’ll say it again: thank god this blog did not exist back then!



the legendary John John: we were virtually inseparable during those early SF days and at one point even worked for the same company. ours was not a romantic partnership, but we still acted like an old married couple who bickered, explored, whined, dined and watched movies together. Karen entered the picture during my last year in SF to become John John’s proper other half. years later they were married and living in Newport, not far from where Karen grew up.



fast forward to my visit: and we’re all getting hammered together, just like we did in SF as if no time had passed. this time, however, we didn’t need to ditch the bill when the waiter wasn’t looking because we were too broke to pay. we are all growed up now!



the foods: when we weren’t drinking, we were doing a whole lot of eating — with drinks nearby. meals were decadent affairs, usually set in fancy restaurants, where we sampled fine seafood and premium steaks like yuppie assholes. it was awesome.



speaking of shameless: this yacht is named Cocktails and likely belongs to some liquor scion who summers in Newport. did i mention i paid for this trip with my credit card?



trivia: Newport is mighty historical given that Rhode Island — the biggest little state in the union! — was one of the original 13 colonies. signs detailing a building’s history are ubiquitous here, appearing on nearly every block.





more history: Newport is also home to the nation’s first synagogue, Touro Synagogue, founded in 1658. rosh hashanah celebrations coincided with the day of my visit and i tried to take my jewish ass inside to photograph the interior but was shooed away at the door for wearing jeans and a sleeveless shirt. i argued with the doorman, swore to him that i was part of the tribe and even showed him my hamsa but he had none of it. damn nazi.



i want to live here: after the synagogue debacle, i walked around town alone, camera in hand, taking shots of cute colonial buildings until my camera battery died. this is when i really began to understand the charm of Newport — the cuteness, the quaintness, and the familiar and relaxed nature that seems to characterize everything in this sleepy seaside town. life in Newport is good because the people who live here seem to really love it, my friends included. and after spending three days in town, i began to love it, too.







what should i name my yacht? i’m thinking Big Pimpling.



anchors away: it’s no exaggeration to say that my trip to Newport was one of my most favorite vacations EVER, largely in part to my two fantastic hosts, who share my sadistic sense of humor, which meant we spent three days laughing nonstop by one-upping each other with offensive jokes. but alas, i had friends awaiting my arrival in Maine, New Jersey and New York, so i jumped on the Amtrak, gathered my anchor and set sail.