# United States & Canada Vacations Forums > Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod Travel Forum >  >  Newport RI, unplanned

## katva

I thought I would start a new thread....

As many of you know from the Runaway saga, I am in Newport, RI tending to my mother who had a terrible fall aboard the Runaway last week, and is in the hospital here until ???  She is in fairly good spirits; her lung has healed, but the morphine is zonking her out most of the time.  My son came along with me as 1st mate and chief navigator, and has been a tremendous help all around (keeping Mom and Grandma in good spirits too!)  It is looking like my mother will be in the hospital for several more days.  I found us a nice hotel apartment/ suite in Newport for the rest of the week---It will be great to be close to the Hospital (we have been in Coventry at a Fairfield Inn---my son calls it the Fairfailed Inn.....story too long to go in to).  I wish Tom could be here too!  It is such a beautiful part of the country----my first real trip to New England.  Not a vacation, certainly, but we have been able to do a few things:

 

Delicious gelatto on the waterfront.....



Climbing around the rocks on the bay......

 

snoozing in the topiary gardens.....

Plus, a 2 hour swim in the ocean at 'Second Beach"--no photos (the last thing I need is a broken 'Droid on this trip, from water and sand!!!)

So...My mom is OK, not great, but OK, and we hope to be getting her home later this week.  Haven't even thought about food, but I bet there's some good restos here!  What a charming place....Thanks for all of the well-wishes!

Cheers!

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## MIke R

sounds good!!


go to the Moorings and get a Bloody Mary and Lobster Beignets.....Black Pearl is also good...

you are not going to see good weather now til Wednesday..but we cant complain...its been a spectacular summer weather wise up here so far

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## KevinS

I agree, the Bag o' Donuts - Lobster fritters, shrimp fritters, and clam fritters served in a paper bag - holds down a Bloody Mary quite nicely.

The Black Pearl on Bannister's Wharf has great clam chowder.  You can eat in the restaurant, or you can get chowder and/or hotdogs outside at the Hotdog Annex.

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## katva

OK, as of tomorrow I will be staying in "downtown" Newport----I'm on it!!---Lobster beignets, fritters and Bloody Mary---yum! I'll look for both places (actually think I've seen them while "cruising the streets").  :)

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## Rosemary

Hope your mom is better every day.  The Hotel Viking, on Bellevue Avenue, is right between the hospital and where you are probably staying.  They have a rooftop bar area with lovely sunset views toward the bridge.  Not sure about food, but a nice spot for a hospital break.

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## katva

Thanks Rosemary!  I've been eyeing that hotel, (and the prices), and I think that may just do the pick-me-up trick I'm looking for!  I drive by it every a.m., on my way to CVS....seems to be something each morning I need to get.  My new hotel is on Thames St.-- so, yes, it would be 1/2 way  :) I actually plan to walk from the hotel to the hospital from tomorrow on, just to get my legs moving.

Such a weird thing---I feel I must be super frugal...somehow caught between crisis and paradise is bizarre.  Practical is the word of the week.  My mom keeps handing me her credit card....so strange.

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## KevinS

Ah, I think I know that hotel.  I used to get great rates there.  Very convenient, although the parking can sometimes be a PITA.  

The nearby Christie's used to be a decent place for dinner, but it has been through big changes since I was there last.

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## andynap

Glad you are with your mom. Mike and Kevin are right on with their eats
 If you have a chance take a nice stroll and do the Cliff Walk and see all the Newport Mansions by the sea

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## katva

Andy---yes, I have scoped that out.  If the weather dries up, we plan to do it tomorrow, along with a little beach time.

I mentioned to my mom that you all recommend the Mooring Resto---and she said that she and my dad and their friends had a fabulous lunch there last Sunday---and that the lobster beignet is out of this world!   They also had oysters from somewhere in Canada---she couldn't remember the name of them, but my dad insists on oysters from water as cold as possible (after some bad ones from the Chesepeake Bay).

Here's "the rest of the story" from a humorous post my brother made on FB (FYI, he is narrating tounge in cheek--his grammer is perfect, normally):

"Deep breath.....Just got back from RI to see mom in the hospital cuz she fell down the stairs on the boat and got hurt real bad then me and dad took the boat first around Block Island and the GPS wouldn't work but we fixed it then we ended up in Branford CT to spend the night ad we got up at 5:30 and motored 190 miles down Long Island Sound and the East River and NYC is realy cool to see from the water when you are motoring by on a boat at 25 knots and then we saw Atlantic City NJ and that was really cool too but then the port motor broke down at Cape May but I fixed it so we got up at 5:30 on Sat and motored up Delware bay and the starbord outdrive blew up so we motored at 7 knots for hours and hours till we got to the Bohemia River but it was Saturday and the mechanic couldn't do anything till Monday so Mike picked us up and drove us to Leesburg and we had pizza and beer at Giovannis and then I got up at 5:30 to drive dad back to Mill Creek and fixed the Cadillac so he can drive back to RI to so he can drive mom back home when she is discharged from the hospital on Tuesday.....So.....How was your weekend?"

I shopped for a few groceries to have here at the apartment, and found a bottle of Whispering Angel at Vicker's Liquors  :) 

.

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## MIke R

sounds like that boat needs some preventative maintenance..... :laugh:

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## Rosemary

What a cruise!  I hope some rehab for your mom and Runaway will do the trick for each.  Do I understand that your dad is going to make a return trip in the newly repaired Cadillac to bring your mother home?  When do we get to meet them?  I can picture that Whispering Angel at Vickers!  Such a small world.  I shopped there last Sunday, probably as your folks were lunching at the Mooring.

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## katva

Yep----my dad has just decided to come up. The car had a dead battery so an easy fix!  But----my mom is having a really tough time. Very hard to breathe.  They are doing chest xrays right now. I may stay the night here with her.

Mike---funny thing is my dad is a freak about maintenance!   Boat and cars.....this is all just such a fiasco!

This is a genuine Murphy's Law case.......

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## Rosemary

Katva-
Big hug to you and a gentle one to your mom.  Oh dear.  
This is a terrible Murphy's Law case-sometimes all the preventative maintenance in the world ends up with a result we don't want. Safe trip for your dad.

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## bto

Hope all goes well for your family.  

At least you found the Whispering Angel!!!

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## sbhlvr

Katva,
sorry to hear about all this. All the best to your mom. I was in your shoes last summer, same time frame but with my dad.He still isn't totally recovered from the Lyme and infections.
Glad you are finding time to enjoy our piece of the east coast.

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## Toni

Katva- just catching up here and I'm very sorry to hear about your mom.. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers...
Glad to see down below that you made it to the Moorings... We went there on Kevin's recommendation last fall and loved it.

Take care,
Toni

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## katva

All--thanks so much for all your kindness!  It has certainly been a tough week here.  This is an absolutely beautiful place, and I have been able to do a bit----for an hour or two between hospital visits.  It's wonderful to have my dad back up here now---a huge smile on my mom's face, and I saw a visible "straghtening of the shoulders" of the nurses-----who have been wonderful---when he came into the hospital yesterday.  He's just that kinda guy...
Unfortunately, my mom landed in ICU last night, and has pneumonia.  They will perform a surgery tomorrow.  NOT what we were hoping for.  My dad called all his physician friends, and their own GP, and got the thumbs up on everything the staff has been doing here--so that is a huge relief to us.

I will post some photos later on this week, when I catch my breath.  My wireless here at the hotel is spotty at best, and I am stealing this time to say a huge THANKS for the well-wishes!  

PS:  did do the cliff walk this a.m. (sunburned!!!), and had lobster sandwich at Mooring resto, plus a great meal tonight at a local place---Rosemary---you may know it:  the Melville Grill----right next to the Ted Hood---now Hinckley--- yacht builder yard (where the Runaway was built, custom, for my parents. Hinckley bought Hood some years ago.  The yard and the resto are sentimental to my parents, who spent much time up here when she was being built  :) Clam chowder & crab cakes.....deelish!

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## MIke R

wow....best of luck...dont forget,.....holler if you need anything....many of us are very close by

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## katva

Thanks!!!  I feel the support---I really do! :)

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## julianne

Kat, Thoughts & prayers for your Mom. She is fortunate to have such a close, supportive family. We, too, are sailors & have followed your tale of _Runaway_with keen interest. Glad  your brother and Dad got her back home without too many travails. Hope your Mom recovers soon & that you continue to savor the delights of Newport while you are being a wonderful daughter.

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## tim

Kat,

Please give us an update on your Mom.  We're all routing for her speedy recovery.

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## sbhlvr

Glad to hear your dad has made up to R.I. and that their dr's have reassured them she's getting good treatment.
Carol

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## Rosemary

Kathy-we are thinking of all of you and hoping things are better every day.

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## katva

Hi all----sorry to leave you hanging!  My mom had surgery yesterday, and it was successful!  She is doing OK, better, but not great.  Still in the ICU.  The doctors think she should be feeling better each day, and have thrown out Monday as a possible date for her to go home.  My dad is at her side....

In the meantime, I am now back in VA, and making tentative arrangements to get my mom and dad home----most likely flying, and then one of us will go up and get the car later.  Plan A was for me to fly back up there on Monday and drive with them back to their home on the Chesepeake Bay.  But, it's a 12-14 hour drive, and that drive is NOT fun, even if you are at 100%.  So, I'm looking at various direct flights (none to Richmond---but a good one to IAD).  I would then meet them there and drive them to Mill Creek.

My dad sent out an email to all of us "kids".  He said that the Robert Frost poem "The Silken Tent" was probably written about our mom.  It's beautiful, and perfect....

The Silken Tent  

She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To every thing on earth the compass round,
And only by one's going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightlest bondage made aware. 

 :)

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## Rosemary

And the man can also, gently, get the nurses to stand straight?  Thank you for sharing this love story.

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## katva

:) 

an amazing love story, to be sure.

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## katva

Well, tomorrow is the big day---I fly out in the early a.m., back up to RI.  My dad will meet me at the airport, and we will go get my mom, who will finally be released from the hospital at noon---after almost 2 weeks in there!  She and I then will fly back to IAD in the evening (I have wheelchair and escort service already reserved on both ends), and then drive to their house.

I'm so glad this is finally coming to an end, and hope she's OK with the travel!  My dad will drive back, and get home Tuesday night.  I will have shopped, and have the house "opened" back up....

Sheesh.  Newport is such a wonderful place, but I want to go back in vacation mode!

Thanks for all the support!

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## amyb

Safe travels and glad to hear Mom is getting sprung!

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## Rosemary

Safe travels, indeed. Best to all.

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## tim

Kat,

I wish you and your mom a blessedly uneventful journey home.

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## Peter NJ

Good luck to Kat and Mom..Safe easy travels.

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## GramChop

Hopefully, you are well on your way to having Mom home safe and sound.

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## Jeanette

Kathy and her mom are safely home... What an epic adventure!

Kathy, I was so disappointed to miss you, Tom and the boys for your weekend in Philly. When you are able to select new dates, a chilled bottle of rose' awaits you on the top shelf of my fridge... Lord knows you can use a case or two after the last week!

See you in DC very soon...

xoxo

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## katva

Thanks everyone for all the support!  It was EPIC, to be sure.  And yes, everyone is safely and comfortably at home.

I have to give major bonus points to United Airlines (!!!) for the excellent customer service and help they gave me with my mom on the flight from RI back to Dulles.

So, that ends this adventure.....boy, do I need a vacation!  The Labor Day weekend will be fun  :) 

Over and Out  :crazy:

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