london1967 | Oct. 8th, 2008

On Sunday morning we left carefree Frog Meadow

and Vermont behind.

We drove down to Massachusetts where we stopped at the Old Sturbridge Village, a ’working’ period village made of buildings moved there from many corners of New England. It was interesting and fun as the different buildings were staffed by guides in costumes. I even trod on an authentic cow pat!

It wasn’t for that reason that when we got to Newport, Rhode Island the innkeeper made us take our shoes off as soon as we stepped in.
Well there was no reason, just inn policy to preserve the wooden floor (which really wasn’t anything special - it wasn’t even polished!).
We knew that we were somewhere rather special (and feel free to interpret that as you wish) when, at the time of booking the room in April, we were asked for two mobile nos., about what we drank for breakfast, if we had ever been to a B&B or guesthouse before, etc.

The surprise was that the innkeeper (one half of the gay couple who owns that and another inn) was in his late 20s. And as mad as a hatter! He had the strangest and loudest laugh I’ve ever heard!
Said that, he was very helpful as he suggested visiting a mansion that was open that evening for a candlelit tour with champagne. The tour was very interesting. Mrs. Tinney - the current owner of Belcourt Castle - gave the introductory speech and we raised our glasses to world peace!

The lady that conducted the tour was really good at her job and had a wonderful sense of humour.
After that, we felt that we didn’t need to visit any other mansions the following day.

In the morning we had breakfast with the other (straight) couple that were staying at the inn. They were probably the quietest Americans we have ever met.
I don’t know if it was because no-one was talking at the table or simply because it was standard practice, that the innkeeper sat in the corner of the room watching us eat and asking us questions.
Then he started talking about the history of Rhode Island and Newport; his long story (more than 20 minutes) was often interrupted by his mad laughter.
When we left, Adrian got a rather jovial slap on his arse!

We had a look around the Washington Square area in Newport and the many old buildings.

Newport is a city of ‘firsts’ in America (the first synagogue, the first Quakers’ meeting house, etc.) and it was rather intriguing to explore. Said that, downtown felt a bit edgy and Adrian said he just ’didn’t get it’.

We then drove down to Fort Adams along Ocean Drive and enjoyed the terrific views.

We left Newport and after driving for about 2 and half hours, we got to Provincetown, MA.
It was love at first sight for Adrian (with the town, not a man as far as I know).
Climbing the Pilgrim Monument just before closing time was fun!

Adrian loved the place so much that we might come back one day, maybe for the bear week!
The guesthouse we stayed at is gay owned/run (the guy that checked us in yesterday was gorgeous and rather flirty) but it turned out we were the only gay couple there. Well it’s out of season I guess.
The steam room and Finnish sauna suddenly lost most of their appeal to me! LOL!

After a walk along Commercial Street, a look around some shops and down on the waterfront

it was almost sunset

and time for cheese and wine at the guesthouse

We had a nice dinner and decided to go for a drink at the Atlantic House…. It was nice but almost empty (no surprise as the town was dead); we drank to the good health of