Newport and the Gilded Age

Tender required to access Newport

The town of Newport in Rhode Island is the turf of the "summer cottages" (actually mansions) of the extremely wealthy, and we were going to see some of these behemoth remnants of the famous gilded age! Our cruise ship's tender took us onto Aquidneck Island and into town to begin our excursion with Newport Heritage Tours.

Our trolley transportation around the island

Our tour guide & driver Nate, was an affable 20-something year old, who lives in Massachusetts but commutes to work here in Rhode Island because he loves Newport. This kid could talk at the speed of lightening and was a continuous fountain of historical information. Frank was impressed, but remarked that it was difficult for us slo-mo old farts to catch every speedy word that was emanating from Nate's mouth!

Ocean Drive along Narragansett Bay

Nate informed us that there were three things that used to keep the economy thriving here in Newport: (1) fishing, (2) the America's Cup, and (3) the Navy Base. (Frank was reminded that he had been to that Navy Base several times as a young engineer while working for the Navy back in the 1970's). When these big three died out (the Navy base closed, they lost the America's Cup, and the fishing diminished), the townspeople banded together to preserve these great "mansions of the past," hoping to draw tourists and create a resurgence of their local economy. The plan worked and Newport is now a thriving tourist town with lots of refurbished mansions to visit.

In front of Vanderbilt's summer cottage
  "The Breakers"

Our driver took us past the many mansions which were actually summer-only residences occupied for just a few months of each year. The main purpose of the mansions was to show off money (my mansion is bigger than your mansion) and to host extravagant parties. These rich folks held legendary parties, and each one was required to outdo the last. With so much time/money on their hands, they came up with some crazy ideas. One mansion even had a "Monkey Bell." They had a trained chimpanzee who sat over the entranceway to the mansion and rang a bell whenever a guest arrived.  Now that's crazy unnecessary affluence!

Sparkling chandeliers welcome us inside
 "The Breakers"

Nate dropped us off at the most famous Newport mansion called "The Breakers," originally owned by the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt in the late 1800's. The elder Vanderbilt made his money in shipping, railroads, tobacco, and coal and was touted to make more money in 10 seconds than even reasonably wealthy men of the time made in an entire year! However, by the time his fortune passed down to the grandchildren, they were more interested in spending money rather than making it.

Elegant stairway to the upper floors

The Breakers was opulence in the extreme. The colorful main hall sparkled with gold leaf, huge chandeliers, and a curved double stairway. Children (and even adults at some of those wild parties) used to slide down the staircase on big serving trays!

One piece marble sarcophagus bath tub 

The whole house was decadent with a decorated bath tub carved from a single block of marble that looked like a Roman sarcophagus (requiring multiple fillings until the marble warmed up enough for the elite asses to be totally comfy) and narrow servant corridors so the servants could do their jobs without being seen.  Frank referred to this extreme spending and coddling of these rich as "useless opulence" better spent in hundreds of different, more practical ways.

Nate shared an interesting theory about these conspicuous consumers. He told us that as absurdly extravagant as these Gilded Age folks were, their spending habits actually created the middle class, which up until that time had been practically non-existent. By the end of the Gilded Age, 79% of Americans had raised themselves into the middle class. (Today, the middle class represents only about 39%.)

Blazing New England foliage

Here's an interesting tidbit about this trip: we have met an unusual number of Californians on our cruise and on our tours.  Why, we thought, would such a large group of Californians come 3000 miles to the east coast for a short, low-key cruise like this one?  As we rode around Newport on the bumpy uncomfortable trolley car, we listened to the various conversations and outbursts of our West Coast co-travelers. It did not take long to realize that they were here to see the leaves in New England change color! When we asked some of them, they confirmed our suspicions, saying that the leaves never change color in California. At one point on our tour, a lady from southern California jumped out of her seat, pointed to a red maple that was partially reddened, and said to her friend, "Rachel, look at the beautiful color of those leaves!" as they both swooned heartfelt sighs of exhilaration about something most easterners take for granted.

I guess it never really occurred to us that life-long west coasters have never seen leaves change color. Our leaf changeover is a genuine anomaly to them since they don't have any real autumn. Most of us folks from the east coast never think about it too much since we've seen it happen so many times over the years. And we certainly wouldn't travel thousands of miles to see it happen. Haaa!  Never realized we take this simple natural phenomenon for granted.  Mostly, I just think of the work these #&$@% leaves represent when they fall and you have to get out there in the yard and rake them up!

More pics:

Ocean Drive around Aquidneck Island

More Breakers opulence

Gleaming copper pots in The Breakers kitchen

Classic Roman cherub over a doorway in The Breakers
(look closely and you'll see a locomotive on the left --
added because Vanderbilt made his money from the railroads!)