This was a day in Newport and we were off to see how the rich and famous summer holidayed!! So first off a bit more of a drive around Newport: we drove out past the former Bouviere mansion where JFK and Jackie had their wedding reception. We saw dozens of other mansions on our way out to Fort Adams which affords a great view back to the port of Newport. Then we followed a coastal drive out to Brenton Point State Park where the views to the Atlantic are uninterrupted in all directions. On the point there is an interesting monument to the Portuguese explorers and early settlers. It looks a little like a modern Stonehenge and is apparently a symbolic representation of the cardinal points. It had been closed for some time because the material that it had been made from was starting to weather in the extreme weather on the Atlantic coast.
Then it was on to The Breakers. This is a summer house that was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jnr in 1893 on the site of a previous wooden summer house that shared the same name... but this is NO wooden house but is part of the gilt society finery of the late 19th century. The house is huge. Ballroom, sitting rooms, dining, library, conservatory,music rooms downstairs and bedrooms, each with their own ensuites on the second level for the family. The two upper levels contain servants quarters for the in excess of 40 full time serving staff that maintained the house at the height of its opulence. There are hidden walkways for the staff to move around without being seen as they performed their duties. Walking into it was a bit like walking into Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich... totally over the top in French and Italian art style. One of the bedrooms even had a 6 foot tall fully functional carved marble fire place that was suspended above the fire grill. The kitchen downstairs had a 20 foot long cast iron stove where the entire top heated like a griddle plate so as to eliminate the risk of fire from open flame. And then there were the grounds which were just enormous. We wandered for a bit and then were surprised how quickly we got back into Newport.
Mike offered the opportunity to get off the bus at the top of the hill to go sight seeing but we missed the holler out, given that we were in the back seat today. But the first available stop was near Panera. So we hopped off, grabbed a sandwich before it got to be too busy. Great lunch. Thanks Sarah for the recommendation, or should that be Panera obsession... Lunch over it was off in search of the oldest Jewish synagogue in the United States ... yep right here in Newport. We found the Edward Loebb Centre, the information centre where we were able to get our tickets and we just got there in time for the last tour of the day at 1.30pm. We saw the introductory film and then went for a wander around the centre to learn a little about early life in Newport. Then it was time for the tour and so we went up to the actual synagogue building, an unassuming weatherboard building that fitted in quite well with the general architecture in Newport. Judith conducted our tour and she was a member of the community and she was a wealth of information.
It turns out that there had been Jews in Newport since the mid 1600's and they would have gathered together for prayer in homes. Many of the Jews who came to Newport were either Jews fleeing the Puritan oppression of Philadelphia or alternatively Jewish families and merchants who had moved form Spain and Portugal to escape the Inquisition. As Portuguese colonial expansion was now extending into the West Indies, religious freedom was not guaranteed and so merchants looked to this place in Rhode Island where religious freedom was enshrined and so they settled in Newport. With the growing community, there was a need for both a rabbi and a synagogue. A young Portuguese rabbinic student Isaac Turo came from Portugal to lead the community and got local Christian merchant Harrison who had an interest in architecture to design the synagogue, even though in reality he had never been inside one. It is elegant and simple inside, very reminiscent of the colonial style, originally painted in rich red to suggest rosewood it was repainted in the more pastel French inspired shades by the turn of the 1800's and those colours were chosen by the current congregation to return to when renovations took place about 10 years ago.
More amazing stories were told... of the loss of the congregation during the revolutionary war when the port of Newport was blockaded by the British and many of the Jewish merchants left, leaving Rabbi Turo without a congregation. The British garrison during occupation sacked many of the buildings in Newport to burn then for firewood because without trade in the port there was not enough timber. Rabbi Turo was shrewd and encouraged the use of the synagogue as a military hospital and this meant that it escaped an awful fate. Another famous moment in the life of the synagogue was when, following the revolutionary war when Washington was made first president of the United States, he came to Newport and wrote to the congregation some inspiring words about religious freedom.
"It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."
Fairly powerful words in any age, but rather pertinent for our present situation. Powerful stuff.
During the 1800s Jews started to arrive in the US via Ellis Island from persecution in Eastern Europe and they settled in Newport. Today the congregation numbers about 100 families and it sounds like a very involved and dynamic place to worship. Tour over we were very grateful to the guide and went back to the information centre to collect our coffee and then were given an info map of the Jewish cemetery area at the top of the hill. What an interesting place.
Then it was more walking around the narrow streets, looking at the beautiful opulence of the Viking hotel and several of the houses and other buildings. We came across the library and went in search of St Mary's Catholic Church where Kennedy and Jackie were married, but being Catholic and a Monday it was unwelcoming and bolted closed. Not impressed. Then back to the hotel via a bit more shop mooching for a rest before our farewell dinner.
Dinner was at a restaurant on the pier just a short walk along from the hotel. We sat with Howard and Christine from York area England, Richard and Shirley from Prospect Sydney, Anne and Joe from Southern Texas and Dennis and Pat from Wisconsin. The meal and the company were both lovely and a great last night to the tour.. but then it was back to the hotel to rationalise the baggage and pack for out flight to Toronto tomorrow.
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