Trip to Newport

The afternoon before Jason and Reve's wedding, we met Bill and Donna at Harry Records' farm in Exeter, Rhode Island, just north of Newport. Bill buys flint corn from Harry (more on this below). We loaded up Bill's truck and left it there. Then the five of us went to Newport in our car to do some sightseeing. (Beth and Jerry didn't come to Newport until the day of the wedding.)

We walked and drove around Newport. Here we are at the bottom of the Forty Steps on the Cliff Walk near Salve Regina University:

We walked around The Breakers, a Vanderbilt mansion on the Cliff Walk. And we drove by many other mansions on Bellevue Avenue. We also drove the 10 mile Ocean Drive loop. The Cliff Walk is on Newport's eastern shore. The wedding was at the OceanCliff Hotel, on Ocean Drive southwest of Newport.

We ate dinner that evening at the LaForge Casino Restaurant in Newport, overlooking a grass court at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Both are located in the Newport Casino complex. A wedding reception was going on nearby.

I was puzzled by an item on the menu—a cheeseburger featuring Crowley Cheese. Why would a restaurant in Rhode Island feature cheese from a small Vermont cheesemaker? On the way out I learned the answer. The restaurant has been owned for many years by the Crowley family.

After the wedding the following day we returned to Harry Records' farm, called Harry Here Farm. Harry and Bill:

Bill picked up over a half ton of white, red and yellow flint corn on this trip. Flint corn is not common in the U.S. anymore, but Pager remembered growing it when he was young. Some years ago he obtained seed, and Bill started growing it on his farm. Pager ground it into corn meal. We called it Pager's Grist Mill. Now Bill and Jason grind the corn, instead of Pager. And Bill now buys his flint corn from Harry Records, instead of growing it. It makes good corn meal!