Joe and Jamie’s Blog

Tuesday was a very hot day. Jamie and I decided to check out the famous Cliff Walk that was located only a few blocks down the road from our hotel. We had no idea that it was 3 1/2 miles long, but fortunately there were stopping points where we can pick up the trail another day. We weren’t very prepared for a 7 mile walk, we had just woken up and didn’t eat yet.

The scenes from the cliff are amazing. My pictures and words truly cannot define the beauty of the seaside and the fresh ocean smell in the air. If I were in better shape I would jog here everyday. We went 1 1/2 miles down the Cliff Walk and then headed back to Easton’s Beach to cool off in the water. Since it was cloudy the water was much cooler today, but it was perfect after such a long walk.

After eating at Ninety Nine, a popular North Eastern restaurant chain like Applebees, we went for a sunset cruise on the Amazing Grace around Narragansett Bay. The guide was very knowledgeable, he spent his whole life in Newport. Later in the week we want to go on a long cruise that visits all the lighthouses and goes into further depth of the whole bay. We are also planning on going kyacking in the bay when the weather is nice out.

On one of the stops along the Cliff Walk there was the famous Forty Steps. During Newport’s Golden Age, the Forty Steps were a gathering place for the servants and workers from the nearby mansions. Here they would hold weekend dances and play the Irish songs and music that reminded them of home.

This is the last part of the Cliff Walk that we have not done yet. We plan on finishing this before the vacation is over.

After diner we went for a sunset cruise around the bay on the Amazing Grace boat tour. We saw all the sites from the bay’s view, which is so much better because at the time everything was built there was no road, everyone traveled in via the bay.

This is the Newport-Pel Bridge. It was built in 1962 to allow more traffic between the islands. Before the bridge the only way to get back and forth was the ferry, which couldn’t hold as many cars as the bridge and took over an hour round trip.

This is part of the old Fort Adams that was used back in the 1700’s and 1800’s to protect the bay. Throughout the past it was used as various training facilities and stations for the Navy. It currently isn’t active but a museum.

Sorry of the delay in the posting. I have had major issues with my hosting company in the past few days that didn’t allow me to post this. I will have day four and five up tonight.

We woke up a bit too late today, so we made it a beach day. The sun was out and it was very hot, so perfect weather for the beach, not a cloud in the sky. We took the long trek across the street to the beach after spending the morning deciding what to do for the week.

We decided to eat at the Red Parrot Restaurant tonight. They had a very good selection of local seafood and Caribbean dishes. Jamie and I both chose the surf and turf.

Jamie and I posing at Brown Howard Warf.

Look at the size of some of these yachts. Everyone around here is loaded. That big one to the right is well over a million dollars.

Hustle and bussle down Bannister’s Warf.

Sites from the main road, America’s Cup Ave.

This is Trinity Church which I thought was pretty cool because of the huge clock on the side of it.

We completed our night with a stoll on Easton’s Beach taking in the nice sunset…

but not before ice cream at Roba Dolce.

Yesterday Jamie and I made the trip out to Newport, Rhode Island. It isn’t a bad ride at all, about 3 1/2 hours from Poughkeepsie. We hit no traffic and it was a beautiful day. We arrived at the Newport Beach Hotel and Suites around check in time. We walked around to see what was near by while we waited for the room to be ready.

The beach is litteraly right across the street which is just awesome. Unfortunately our room doesn’t have a view of the beach, but that is only because their new hotel the built next to ours blocked our view; one year ago we would have had a view. :/

So far we like Newport. We walked all last night down by the warfs and had some food at one of the restaurants on Bowen’s Warf called the Landing Restaurant and Tavern. We tried some of the native quahog clams. We actually have never heard of them before but they were delicious. Apparently clams are the big fare around here. Jamie enjoyed her salmon dish and I tried some of their fried clams, along with clams casino for an appetizer.

We ended the night by picking out spots where to eat tonight and at the arcade. I kicked butt on one game and won over 1,000 tickets!

Shot of the hotel from the beach.

Views of the beach and surrounding area.

This little gull was determined to keep that clam. It was funny watching him trying to keep it in his mouth and play keep away from the other gulls. It’s a full clam, so I’de like to know how they were going to get it open.

This is where we had dinner.

Picture of Bowen’s warf, one of several warfs in Newport.

Here’s the arcade where I won all of those tickets. Jamie beat me in the other games. :)

My goal is to post pictures from each day, so check back each day to see what we did!

This past Tuesday was my mother’s birthday. We celebrated most of it on Sunday since everyone would be home and another celebration on the actual day. Basically I guess we like it when everyone’s home so we do it as much as possible, plus the cake is always good.

Jamie and I got her a gift certificate to one of her clothing stores and a reed difusser from Yankee Candle to put in the bathroom. She liked her gifts very much.

Here’s some of the pictures from the day.

Here’s the ice cream cake from the actual day. No one was at the store to put the word “mom” under Happy Birthday so I made it in the candles.

As it gets warmer out the days just seem to fly by. I have been incredibly busy this summer with extra tasks at work and the web business getting busier. I find myself in front of a computer for 20 hours a day sometimes. I have started on some new ventures that will later be announced, hopefully these will bring in some cash a bit faster than the rest.

Other than driving myself nuts lately, I actually have accomplished a few personal things that needed to be take care of around the house. Jamie painted more in the attic (yes thats is still going on, since March), I finished up the electric, patched the new wallboard area, mounted hooks, took down shelves, removed the spoiler from my car which was broken and falling apart.
You can view the past articles here:
2008/03/23/a-little-housework-remodling-the-attic
2008/03/24/continued-house-work-in-the-attic
2008/04/14/progress-on-the-attic-project

On the brighter side, we still aren’t smoking, been since May 12th, so thats like almost 2 month cold turkey for both of us. Luckily we did, only way we can afford gas now! Check it out: 2008/05/12/no-more-smoking

One more thing before I go. I have just have to get this out and rant a bit here. We are saving to go away on vacation in about 2 1/2 weeks (can’t wait). Saturday I brought Jamie’s car to get inspected since it expired come today (Yeah I know way to wait for the last minute). I figured okay it’s just $21 and that’s nothing. ERRR WRONG. With my luck the tires were worn on the inside tread where I couldn’t see it so I had to get new ones, and then an alignment because that is what caused the issue. So my $21 day went to $600. Needless to say, that’s less money for vacation now. FUUUUUN. This kind of stuff always happens.

This past Saturday was very nice. It wasn’t scortching hot or raining. Everyone pitched in and did some stuff outside. It always looks so nice when it is done so I figured I would share it with everyone.

Here’s some bears we got a few years back in Lake George. My father made the stand they are on.

Here’s a wooden turtle.

There is a story to the next two photos. Jamie found this really cute turtle figure with a straw hat and one paw in the air waving at you at Rite-Aid. I accidentally broke it when playing soccer, so we buried his head in the flower bed. The big guy is the replacement turtle, he’s just a cute with his flower.

And here is me if I was a frog in the backyard.

The neighbors are extending the second story on the back of their house. Going pretty well, just need better weather to finish it up.