One of the things I love about my husband is that he loves history as much as I do. One of the things I hate about his job is that he travels so much. But one of the things I love about being empty nesters is that now when he has work in interesting places, I often get to tag along.
This past week, we spent four days in Rhode Island–not a place I’d ever been before or really had ever even considered traveling to. But when hubby accepted a speaking opportunity at a law school and he started looking at the area, he knew this was a trip I’d want to go on, too.
He took a couple of vacation days at the front end of the business part of his trip, partly because we knew there would be things we’d want to do and partly because after a crazy few months we just needed some time together. I happened to post on Facebook where we were and I got back a ton of comments. You have to visit Newport! was the general consensus. And since it was only about a 1/2 hour away, that’s where we went!
When hubby and I stumble on a bevy of historic homes, we tend to OD on them. In three days we toured 5 mansions, did the Servant’s life tour, walked the Cliff Walk and drove the Ocean Drive, all in Newport. We also took a walking tour of Bristol, where our hotel was right on the water harbor. We even ate a few times at a tavern housed in a building built in 1818 as a warehouse for the rum and slave trade.
We enjoyed each other’s company, enjoyed learning new things and seeing a different part of the county. I also loved soaking in the surroundings, thinking of the people that had walked those streets and lived in those homes and letting their lives and legacies fuel my imagination. We even reveled in one afternoon of complete down time, where we holed up in our rooms and read our books as rain lashed at the windows and colored the world gray. At the end of it all we enjoyed the “business” part of the trip, too, where hubby spoke to future lawyers about the current state of religious liberty in our country.
I’m so grateful for such a wonderful trip and wonderful memories. So for those of you who didn’t get to go, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.
What a great trip! Thank you so much for sharing this post and the beautiful pictures. It is wonderful that you are able to make these trips with your husband. Years ago, I did the same thing and we were able to see some fantastic places. I hope you both continue to take in the beautiful sights this world had to offer. God ‘s work is awesome.
Thanks, Melanie! It is a an amazing world out there. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to experience it with hubby on occasion!
Oh, I love trips like this – poking around old mansions and breathing in new sights and sounds. It’s definitely a perk to the empty nest life! Any stories percolating after this trip?
Stories always percolate in these kinds of places! 🙂 The question is, are any of them viable.