ESB

I'm 2 for 2 in planning vacations during hurricanes on the East Coast this year. First Alberto in July, now Ernesto during this past Labor Day weekend. I guess technically speaking they were both Tropical Storms when they passed through New England, but "hurricane" sounds more impressive.

We visited the little ocean town of Newport, RI this weekend. This was the summer hot spot back in the late 1800's/early 1900's for the New York elite. We got to visit these "cottages" as part of the Newport Mansion Tour. In reality, they were castles.

The biggest was the Vanderbilt family home called "The Breakers". It was 138,000 square feet! My 500 sq ft apartment doesn't feel as cozy anymore. We couldn't take any pictures inside the homes due to copyright restrictions. But gold ceilings, diamond chandeliars & famous paintings get boring after awhile anyways... It's amazing to think they only spent 8 weeks a year in this castle.

The rest of the town was gorgeous, but we didn't spend too much time outside with the 60 mph hurricane winds pounding the beaches.