Rhode Island Adventures

At the end of June, Andy and I headed to Rhode Island for a his college friend's wedding. As many have heard already, Andy actually performed the wedding, which require ordainment. He is now an official clergy member of the Church of Spiritual Humanism, qualified through a process of giving his name and address, to perform any number of religious ceremonies.

First, we headed to Newport for a few days of relaxing walk on the seashore, also known as the Cliff Walk.

Now, you may say that it looks a little gray for a beach vacation. Look people, it's HOT in Alabama. 60 and overcast was like heaven for us.

Rocky seashores of New England...gotta love it.

Seashore wildflowers...


Cute couple by the seashore....oh wait, I know those folks.

Andy's favorite, moss on rock:

Newport is also known for itss opulent mansions from its heyday in the early part of this century....

guarded well.

Just as we got to the mansions though, the sun came out and we decided to continue our seashore adventures, including learning to use our automatic feature...

Well, we got it on the second try!

Then we found our Newport dream home.

And then we finally found the beach!

Ahhhh.....cool water between the toes.

We, of course, had to visit what is called the Newport Tower, which is bathed in mystery. Historically it was thought to be built by Benedict Arnold, who was a colonial governor, as a windmill. However, other theories exist, including that it was built by the Norse. Andy thinks that the tower was built by the Chisese, based on his reading of 1421: The Year the China Discovered America which claims China was here long before Columbus. Curiouser and curiouser.

But beer on the front porch of the hotel still pretty interesting too.

All the flowers were gorgeous...(any idea what this is Susan?)

Sunset with lobster dinner...yum.


Then we were off across the bay to Naragansett, RI, the site of the wedding, and luckily, another beach.

The groom and his groomsmen at the rehearsal at the YMCA camp....

L to R: Joe (best man), Scott (photographer), Craig (groom)
In front: Andy (clergymember)

Wedding day arrives and Andy stands it for Becky for a little last minute practice.

Clergy looks good on him, don't you think?

The happy couple, Becky and Craig.

The groomsmen with the groom in their finest

Us, in our finest.

Standard wedding at a summer camp entertainment
Finally, we headed to the Boston area, where we spent some time with Andy's family and got to drop in on my friends, Michelle and Ian, in Somerville. So nice to see them!