Today I tell you about my last full day (Monday) of vacation in the North East area of the United States. First, I will share a little about the Rosecliff Mansion I visited. Second, A little bit about my brush with the Atlantic Ocean. Third, everything else I did this day.

A little background on this property. It was around 1855 a spacious wooden cottage was built and the property became known as Rosecliff. It's located at 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1891, Teresa (Tesse) Fair Oelrichs and her sister Virginia Fair bought the cottage from George Bancroft. Mr.Bancroft was a noted historian, an ambassador and the former Secretary of the Navy. He was locally famous for his gardens, particularly for the many species of roses he grown. It took her nearly a decade to convince Tesse's husband (Hermann Oelrich) to build a mansion there so she could compete with her society peer neighbors. Both of them inherited wealth. Her father, James Fair and some partners were part of one of the first major silver mining operations in the United States. He accumulated a fortune in excess of 50 million dollars. Hermann was the heir to a steamship fortune here in Newport.

The mansion construction started in 1899 and wasn't completely finished until 1902 and according to accounts it came with a cost of 2 1/2 million dollars (close to 100 million in today's money). The artitect was Stanford White. This mansion is 28,800 sq. feet with around 30 rooms on 21 acres of land. There is a huge back yard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Oh btw its main purpose was to entertain guests as it was a summer retreat. Afterall it was the Gilded Age period for the lifestyle of the richest of rich. This is just one of over dozen mansions on this street. In 1899, her sister, Virginia married William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. which resided in the nearby Marble house mansion. Tesse did not wait to move in, it was 1900 when she did. Incomplete interior work was just hidden with arrangements of flowers. I defintely get the feeling she was starving for this high society lifestyle.

Two things I really liked about the place were the winding staircase and its large ball room. I can just imagine the parties and the number of people in attendance at them. Today it can be rented and even marriages can be done here. It won't be me because depending on area rented it can cost between $15,000 to $30,000 or more and that's just strictly for rental fees. The ceiling in the ball room is well decorated and has quite a bit of subject matter. Now if your a fan of the HBO series The Gilded Age you will notice this ceiling in the opening credits. The mansion and other amneties of it have been in the following Hollywood films: The Great Gatsby (1974),True Lies (1994), Amistad (1997), Evening with Meryl Streep (2007) and 27 Dresses (2008)

The first picture was kind of a living room I'm assuming, there were several rooms similiar to this. The second photo is of the dining room. It was much larger than it appears I just got fixed on the table. The first owner once hosted 200 for dinner at once in this area. The third photo is a library room. This came into play with the last owners,the Monroe family. They lived in the house from 1947 to 1971. They generously donated the property and a lot of the furnishings to Rhode Island Preservation Society. The fourth photo I'm not sure what this good sized room was for. It was close to the ballroom so maybe it was a socializing room or greeting room for guests. The lifestyle of the rich and famous! Rooms for every purpose imaginable. The mansion changed hands a few times. Tesse's son was the next owner but after that it was sold from there on until its last owner. Interesting stories of the happenings here along with crazy amounts of fortune used to entertain and compete within the society. Hope you enjoyed!

After the mansion tour we headed to the beach. Not a hot day around 70° F and the water was somewhere around that temperature. This was at East Matunuck State beach in Kingstown, Rhode Island. The Atlantic Ocean I've seen before but never to just solely visit it. First time for me on an ocean beach it took 51 years to say that! Upon arriving we had some left over pulled pork sandwiches from the party the day before. Some drinks and chips to go along with it. We then talked about our Ocean experiences. Now I did a lot of listening, haha.

Well a proud moment here. It might sound silly but this is actually a thing crossed off my bucket list. I have never swam in the ocean. I'm feeling good about not having to say that ever again. Well let me share my experiences on it. I got some pointers from my sister-in-law who is pictured with me in this shot. I walked gingerly up to the water, so many rocks and shells. Once initially in the water more shells and rocks. I nearly fell over due to the rocks and waves coming in as I took a moment to adjust to the water temperature. I took baby steps getting a little deeper each step. The water felt very cold. Once fully emerged I quickly realized one is very buoyant in the ocean. Every wave that came in pushed me closer to shore. If I was standing I felt the power of the waves lifting me up. It didn't take me long to realize if I wanted to stay put I had to swim into those incoming waves. I probably stayed in for a good 30 minutes. It was comfortable and the water no longer felt cold but I won't lie my mind was thinking about sharks, haha. After my swim and successfully avoiding any dangerous marine life 🤣, I noticed some very different things swimming in salt water vs fresh water. The ocean is kind healing to the body. I felt like the salt water kind of clears your pours out. I had a couple of bug bites on my legs that were itchy prior to swimming. Maybe it had nothing to do with it but they weren't itchy and sort of got smaller. Another thing I noticed was my hands and skin were sticky. I learned a little bit of baby powder cures that right up. After a quick shower I headed back out the beach.

We all hung out in the beach for a little longer. Than my sisters and I collected some unique stones and shells on the shoreline for momentos. After that some talk about a quick bite to eat somewhere. Right before we left Peggy took a picture of us all.

Yes I got another Lobster roll. They twisted my arm and told me it was different than the one I had in Boston. What to do I had to try to see the differences right? The main differences was this was tastier and bigger than the other. They did tell me they had some really good clam cakes but the mouth was already watering for Lobster. Maybe a good thing this isn't readily available where I'm from because I would be broke, haha. Afterwards we stopped for some Gelato it was super tasty and I forgot what flavor I got but it had a good mix of coconut in it. We all got the mini size and I didn't bother taking a picture it was a rather small sized portion. A great day and unfortunately the last full day of my trip. I hope you enjoyed and sorry I got a little long. I could have included so much more but decided not too. Maybe I can fill you in more in the comments 😉 Take care, be safe and enjoy the weekend. Until next time!