Northern Exposure

Our weekend was jam-packed full of fun! In case you hadn't noticed (but, of course you did, didn't you?), we were a bit MIA over the last few days. The major reason for our absence was to attend Richie's wedding up in Newport, Rhode Island. (Liz went to Salve Regina University there, which explains why they chose to wed there rather than in NOVA where they are both from.) We left our computers at home and enjoyed 4 days free of internet access and full of cool weather and new sites!

Here's a breakdown of our trip:
Our trip didn't exactly start so well. First of all, I had to wake at 415. That's rough. Then, on the way to the airport, I threw up. Really rough. Thankfully, I slept the entire 4 hours to Boston, and once we got our rental car and were on our way, we didn't run into any more hiccups!

Newport is about 70 miles south of Boston, making it a very easy drive. We arrived and immediately saw a bunch of "the guys"--Brett's former roomies and their wives/girlfriend. It's such fun to catch up! That evening, Brett went off to the rehearsal while I got to shower and rest a bit before heading to the dinner. We dined under a tent set right on the dock, and ate our fill of lobster! It was delicious! I'd never had lobster before and I'm not a huge seafood person, but it was actually quite tasty! The bride and groom played a slideshow and introduced the wedding party, and then the guests got to tell their stories about the couple. Great fun!

On Friday, the day of the wedding, Brett had a bunch of groomsman activities to do, but I had time to do a little exploring of the island and town. I had lunch with two friends, Amanda and Lindsi, and then shopped in the quaint town with those two and Kyle and Tyler.

I became hero of the day when Richie's parents called me as I was drying my hair that afternoon, asking how soon I could be ready!
ME: "How soon? How soon do you need me to be ready?"
SUE: "Oh...I don't know....5, 10 minutes?"
ME: WHAT?! "Oh, sure! I can just finish getting ready at the site, right?"
SUE: "Yeah, that's fine!"
I scrambled to put on clothes and get my stuff together so I could get the groom's parents to the site for pictures, since they were doing those ahead of time. Somehow, they got left without a car, and I got to save the day!

The wedding was outside at the Ocean Cliff Hotel. And it's just what it sounds like. It was on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, though the wind was quite wretched. Even Richie and Liz told the pastor he could shorten his homily! They said "I do", kissed, and it was off to party for the rest of the nite!

Saturday morning, Brett and I woke fairly early to go visit some of Newport, since he hadn't had the opportunity. We headed to the Cliff Walk. It's a beautiful walkway that lines the shore of the island and takes you through the backyards of some of the most beautiful mansions! It's amazing! The Breakers is a famous Vanderbilt home along the walk that we saw. There are 11 mansions nearby that people can tour, but we were satisfied just seeing the outside.

We left Newport and drove back up to Boston. After dropping off our car, we figured out the T and made our way to downtown, where we stayed in a swanky hotel using points! That afternoon we met up with our friends Steve and Sarah. Steve and Brett became really good friends during law school.

They took us all around Boston, along the Freedom Trail. It's literally a red line throughout Bahstun that takes you by famous landmarks such as Paul Revere's gravesite, the Old State House, the King's Church, and the North Church, which is famous for the lanterns put in the tower at the start of the Revolutionary War. It was a great tour that gave us a glimpse into our amazing history. The Red Sox and Yankees were playing that afternoon, so we stopped in a pub to partake of beer and baseball! Such a perfect afternoon!

That nite we dined, said goodbye, and quickly fell asleep. During the middle of the nite, an alarm went off in the hotel, but we didn't get out of bed. We made it to the airport this morning, and now we are looking forward to sleeping in our own comfy bed! And for those keeping count, we knocked off 2 more of our 1000 places!