Giant hedges and "bad dog" signs: lifestyles of the rich and anonymous - by Robin

"The Breakers" - a Vanderbilt summer home built in 1893 (I think)

That's all it takes to live like the wealthy along the coast of Newport, apparently, so Alex has proposed we put in giant hedges in our front yard and hang signs about threatening dogs.  That way the commoners would know we were financially superior.  Rather than riding bikes, we hoofed it today along the Cliff Walk in Newport and checked out both the private residences and museum mansions along the way.  Actually, we were too cheap to buy tickets to tour the mansions, even if one of them had 500, 000 cubic feet of marble in it, so we walked around and snapped some photos, some of which I'll share. 

Before the trip to Newport, we took a campus tour of Brown University.  Although the visit was for Emily, David, Alex, and I have all decided we would also like to attend Brown.  Maybe we could just purchase one of those Newport mansions and all move out here to go back to school.  They did say they preferred a diverse student body.  They didn't say the diverse student body couldn't be related.

We ended the day with one of the most amazing Italian dinners I've ever had in the Little Italy section of Providence (good thing we saved money on those tour tickets so we could enjoy an incredible meal).  It seemed wrong that we didn't first earn the calories we consumed with a nice, long bike ride.  But I've decided not to dwell on that fact.

Tomorrow morning we have 29 miles of biking along the East Bay Trail planned. I wish it were a longer ride, but so far David and I have not been able to convince the kids that it would be a great idea to ride this trail twice and put in 58 miles.  They have bad attitudes. 

Alex on the rocks along the Cliff Walk



It's just a cottage, obviously



They don't even care about the mansions on the cliffs above them.  It's what separates humans from animals.