Newport...the real one.

Sorry Californians... THIS is the real Newport Beach.

After saying goodbye to most of the wedding attendees after breakfast this morning at the NYLO, we headed east to Newport Beach for the day. We'll catch up to the family at the cottage tomorrow. It's my sister Linda's 65th birthday and we plan to be very nice to her all day. It's only a number- right Lin? The men are going out fishing with Fred, tide charts and choppy waters permitting. I don't get seasick generally- but I do turn a nice shade of green when the water is rough. Alonzo is already trying to bow out gracefully- seeing that he was green the last time in calm waters. He'd love to spend the day with Dana's boys and my sisters anyway. The weather has been incredible these four days- not usual for this year. If we can make it through on more day- we'll be thankful.

Newport was better than expected. Hundreds of shops and restaurants in the tourist zone including one of our favorite stores 'The Black Dog", which got the Alonzo one man economic stimulus package. Lots of goodies and black dog things for back home. Then we took the scenic drive along the coast to enjoy the mansions. A lot of them are museums now, but many are still family estates. After more oysters, cherry stones, fried clams and calamari (once again Rhode Island style with the hot peppers)- we headed back to the NYLO- our base. The drive to the cottage is about an hour and half- so we have to be up early to make the morning tide.

(We were excited to see this wind turbine in Newport. Baja is just beginning to harness the power generated by wind. This one is huge. You can make out a spec of white below it and to the right- a house. I don't think you ever get used to the whooop-whooop-whooop sound it makes that close to your home. IMHO they don't belong close to residential areas unless you are totally off the power grid- that's what power lines are for.)