Day 3, Newport, Rhode Island and Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

On the third day we went to Newport, Rhode Island, the sailing capital of the world, Where Gary's aunt Peg met us and drove us around Newport a bit as we visited with her. We were able to get out and take a picture of the St. Mary's Church where Pres. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier were married. It had been opened but by the time we got there it was closed so we couldn't go inside.
We also went to Mystic Seaport, Conn. to the nation's leading maritime museum. We enjoyed walking through the town and seeing the ships. Gary's cousin, Chris and his wife Candy and his other cousin Matt, met us at out hotel and we went to dinner together. The restaurant was very expensive. We each got a small bowl of chowder and I had scallops which consisted of 3 small scallops and a little rice under it. Gary had Tuna and it was very small as well. Our part of the dinner was almost $80. The company was great and we enjoyed getting to know them better. This was the first time I had met them and Gary's Aunt Peg. Later they took us to downtown Mystic.
Earlier in the day we were able to tour "The Breakers", the Vanderbilt's summer cottage. This Italian Renaissance style palace has 70 rooms and is the grandest of all the Newport estates. It's amazing to see the amount of money that was invested in building this home. Since the Vanderbilt's were the wealthest family there no one could build a castle that was more impressive than theirs or they would have been shunned by the "400 club." We couldn't take pictures so we bought a few postcards to show how beautiful it was. Most of these mansions are no longer being used because they are so expensive to keep up. Some are being maintained by the Historical Society.