Tuesday 9 September 2008

Driving in Newport


Naseeb may disagree but I was happy that the 4-day trip to Virginia was cancelled. It gave us an opportunity to drive around on our own. It was a first time for me, also for Naseeb. We wrote down the directions and thought a GPS would help but were unable to rent it out. So, it was now upto me to check the directions and navigate. We were careful in the beginning not to miss any route or exit, but became a tad over-confident and missed getting on to the correct lane. Luckily for us, we could get back onto the right track again without losing much time, thanks to Google Maps on her phone. Needless to say, we were very careful from then on. We reached our hotel, owned and run by an Indian. Surprising! as this was one far corner of USA and a really old port city with minimal population.

Within minutes, we set out again, armed with a local map and mutual trust between me and Naseeb; I had confidence in her driving and she trusted my navigation skills :). There was no other option anyway. Part of the route was driving past huge mansions, which is what Newport is famous for, apart from the port itself and various lighthouses. The mansions seemed like they were coming straight out of fairy tales and story books.

We had got onto the 'Scenic Ocean Drive' part of the route and scenic it was, true to its name.
Now, I had to drive here, couldn't wait any longer. We stopped at a really beautiful spot with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a state park on the other side. It made for nice pictures of blue and green background. We switched places here and I finally got to drive which I enjoyed thoroughly.

A couple of miles later, we got to a place called Fort Adams. As we approached the coast, a picture perfect view appeared out of nowhere. Hundreds of sail boats in still water and a beautiful mansion atop a hillock. It looked like a painting.

The pictures are from my new SLR, limited by a 18-55mm lens. Nevertheless, I thought most of the pictures have come out well. We drove back along the same scenic ocean drive to catch the sunset which was not bad considering the weather change due to Hurricane Hanna.

The next morning was a damp start due to rain and mist but it did not prevent us from checking out the mansions. We saw one of them in detail and were struck by the luxuries.

I don't think I will ever live in them even if someone gifted it to me ;).
A really stupid thing happened or had already happened when we were about to exit out of the mansion. We had left the car keys inside and locked it (and that was the first time, we were to repeat the act again in the evening. The next time Naseeb calls them, they know what to do :) ). Thankfully, the AAA guys came and opened the car quite skillfully. It was an impressive show.
We saw another mansion right next to the ocean. The rains in the morning and the fog had not detered surfing enthusiasts. There were quite a few of them providing entertaiment for curious tourists. The ocean looked really vast and scary, especially with the mist making the horizon invisible.



We headed for home earlier than planned, due to the expected thunder showers. We got lost yet again, but came on track after going around in circles at one place. At the end of the day, it was a great experience for both of us.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That picture of boats taken from inside the car is awesome.

Lavanya K said...

Thanks to Naseeb's sis for taking that snap. That place was really amazing.

sunithaudaykiran said...

Which SLR have you bought ? Nikon D80 ? Just a guess..

Lavanya K said...

No, D40

sunithaudaykiran said...

Good ! I have D50 with 2 lens ranging from 18 to 200 mm