This is how almost every day went. We slept in, watched the morning shows in our jammies, eating breakfast at some point. We'd eventually get dressed and move out to the picnic table, where we played Boggle until lunch, after which we'd go somewhere. This included Wakefield in search of Scrabble (failed), the farm stand to buy sweet corn, the liquor store for Crabbies Hard Ginger Beer... you get the drift. Total relaxation by 2 long-time friends. John did go on bike rides twice, during which I sat on my butt and knitted. Nirvana!
We did get to the actual beach twice. Monday was a holiday in Rhode Island, which is the only state in the nation that still celebrates VJ Day (now called Victory Day) so we avoided the beach until Tuesday morning. While it would have been only a 5-10 minute walk, we opted to drive rather than schlep the chairs, blankets and umbrella. Despite it being a weekday, there were lots of people on the beach so we walked to the end where the beach transitions from sand to shingle (rocks) and put our blanket down there. Unfortunately that meant that we couldn't dig a hole for the umbrella, which left my pale skin exposed to the sun. I covered as best I could and when it got too hot, John and I went swimming. The waves were great and shortly after getting out, we headed back to the cottage. I was pink but not burned.
Did I mention our outdoor shower? We did have one inside but I only used it the first night. After that, I enjoyed showering in the great outdoors. It was especially nice at twilight. Just another bonus to beach living.
My friend Deanne, who was willing to brave a visit, came for dinner that night. John cooked chicken on the grill, which was yet another delicious meal he made. Because John did ALL the cooking and served up something delicious every time - filet with a shallot and red wine sauce, fresh swordfish and hamburgers. I made the sweet corn and sandwiches for lunch once so was Princess Merry all week. We did eat out a few times, always at outside tables except for once inside a restaurant and that was at far apart tables with every window open. I ate all my seafood faves, which is always a goal on RI trips but just a bit harder during Covid.
We had one other visit. John's aunt and uncle came for drinks at the picnic table one afternoon. We'd planned an alfresco dinner on Thursday at his cousin's but the weather didn't cooperate. It was only supposed to rain in the morning so we headed to Newport after lunch, thinking we'd get out and walk on the shore. Nope. We had time to hit The Christmas Tree Shop and Job Lot (both must shops on RI trips) but it was still raining as dinnertime approached so we just dropped in for stand up visit in their kitchen, masks all around, of course. At least John got to see his family. I hadn't even told mine that I was in town because I wasn't going to chance visiting them. My aunt is 98 so I wasn't taking the chance, much as I missed her and my cousins.
We hit the beach one last time on Friday, this time driving 20 miles to East Beach. It's always been my favorite beach but this year it hadn't been groomed so there was an abrupt drop off at the water's edge. I went swimming alone and we didn't stay long. John had bought fresh swordfish for our final dinner so we went home to enjoy our last night at the cottage.
I packed that night lest worry would keep me from sleeping and I had no trouble getting everything into my big suitcase and slept great the last night. We had to be out of the cottage by 10:00 but still managed to relax a bit between packing things up. Vivian, the woman in the next cottage, had befriended us so we gave her all our extra food. We packed the car and left right at 10:00. It had been a perfect week and I felt fully recovered from year end.
John was all over logistics and the plan was to drive his mom's car to the Kingston train station, where John parks it when he heads back to the city. He had scheduled a Lyft from there to the airport, where he'd rent a car to drive home and Deanne would pick me up to spend the day before my evening flight home. But when we got to the station, John saw that Lyft wasn't coming and there was no one available from Uber either. In desperation, he called his uncle and he came and got us. As we were waiting for him, a bus arrived that was going to the airport. Oops! Tommy dropped us off at the car rental garage, where Deanne was waiting for me and John could pick up his car. I was sad to say goodbye but it was back to reality.
Deanne and I went to lunch at Plant City, which is a vegan restaurant in Providence. The outside tables were packed cheek by jowl so we opted to eat inside. The tables were far apart and there were plexi-glass shields around each one. The server had a mask on every time she approached and we put ours on too. It felt perfectly safe and the food was delicious. I count Deanne as my oldest friend (we became friends in 6th grade) so we had no problem chatting the day away over tea at her hoplace use. She dropped me at the airport at 5:30 and I headed home.
Remember me saying I had no problems packing? Well my suitcase was 8 pounds over the limit so I stepped aside and repacked, pulling out the tote bag I'd packed for just this eventuality. Gotta love Southwest with their 2 free bags. Empty middle seats during Covid works too. Both of my flights were mostly empty with about 100 empty seats so I could sit far apart and I wiped everything down too. Again, I never felt unsafe at all. I had less than an hour layover in Chicago so it was quick and I walked into my house at midnight.
It was good to be home and I spent Sunday unpacking and getting ready for my work week. What a wonderful trip it had been! I'm so glad I overcame my worries and went. With Christmas in RI already cancelled, I think it'll be a long time before I travel again.
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