Brief Respite

by Liz Dowling

It has been a very busy month for us. Lots of big events and some even bigger changes coming up for our family.


One of my dear friends from college passed away in March, so Tim and I spent part of last weekend at her beautiful memorial service in Orleans, MA. It was a perfect spring day – warm with clear blue skies. Sarah would have loved it.


On the drive home, we were completely wiped out and decided to detour for the night in Newport, Rhode Island. I found a Relais & Chateaux on “Hotel Tonight” for $200 that looked pretty good.


We checked into the Vanderbilt at 4:00, showered and headed off to Castle Hill for a much needed cocktail.


April weather in Rhode Island is somewhat unreliable, so this was our view at Castle Hill.  No drinks on the lawn for us!


The bar was incredibly warm and inviting. Our bartender recommended the house specialty, gin with lemongrass infused tonic. Amazing.


Olives with blue cheese and warm nuts came with it. Already feeling relaxed…


Homemade guacamole and pita chips rounded out this lovely cocktail hour.


We opted for a brasserie around the corner from our hotel and were not disappointed.  Got back to our room in time to kick off season two of Killing Eve. I fell asleep immediately, so still need to see it. Highly recommend this BBC series if you haven’t watched it yet.


Our plan for the next morning was to walk around Newport and see the incredible architecture. But, it was POURING and neither of us were prepared for that, so we drove around and I took some snaps out the passenger window of the car.


Newport is stunning, although my photos are not so stunning in the rain. We were sorry we couldn’t explore it on foot.


We did our own little driving tour of the mansions.


Such a gorgeous place.  We want to come back when it is a little warmer and hoof it all around town.  Bittersweet ride home thinking about my friend. We will miss you sweet Sarah – so many wonderful memories.


the wry home

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5 comments

Paula Fung April 11, 2019 - 7:33 am

I’m so sorry about your friend, Liz. Let’s make a trip back to Castle Hill, the lawn is a special place for a drink and the view is stunning.

Elizabeth Dowling April 11, 2019 - 7:39 am

Thank you Paula. I am up for that anytime!

Lynne Arizmendi April 11, 2019 - 7:38 am

Ohhhh Liz….heartbroken to hear about Sarah! I’m so sorry you lost such a close friend! Thinking about you and Tim. Hope our paths cross….sending our love! ❤️
Lynne

Elizabeth Dowling April 11, 2019 - 7:40 am

You are so sweet Lynne, thank you so much. Would love to see you and Mark soon ~ xo

amy harden April 11, 2019 - 3:00 pm

so glad newport could provide a brief respite… so sorry about your friend who grew up just blocks away from where i live now. next time in newport hope to catch a glimpse! we love castle hill and are there too often and glad you found stoneacre brasserie – they also have a tapas place on thames street for next time! xx… big changes?!

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