Yesterday’s journey was not what I had intended. I got sidetracked by the beach and a bizarre street sign. That’s always the way … isn’t it?? Life (in Newport, anyway) is one big mostly-wonderful distraction.
But, wait, before I stray again, and I can feel it happening (I really can), I'd like to touch upon actual journeys: New ones start every day, of course, for everyone/everywhere, but particularly for the folks headed South — in the truest sense — at this time of year.
There are some seriously big boats at the shipyard, though by now most of them have slipped out quietly in pursuit of warmer climes. Or jumped aboard that giant orange Dockwise vessel to Europe. At the moment, there’s even the Lightship Nantucket, in brilliant red, alongside Belle’s Café. I won’t pretend to know why it’s here — having work done, apparently. Or hanging out in Newport for the winter ...
And the mega-yacht you see there tied up at the dock is truly mega. One need notice only the itty-bitty flagpole or the teeny-weeny 12-meter on dry land beside it, for comparison, to know that mast is really tall.
As I stood gawking at it from the all-but-empty dock between the shipyard and the Goat Island causeway, I met a nice man whose name I’ve already forgotten — how awful (and how typical). We stood there trying to guess the length of the boat in question. 150 feet? 200? It’s big, in any case.
And heading South?? It’s not all bad …
