Too Quiet Now, or, We Had Great Houseguests

Friends of ours came in for a visit from Sunday afternoon to late this morning. They live in the San Francisco area, but were here to wrap up the sale and packing up of his dad's house, go to a family wedding and see us...as usual, they weren't around long enough.

They're also vintage fiends. T is a terrifically talented dressmaker and designer, and J always looks like the perfectly turned out banker in a 1930s screwball comedy. Having them around is a delight.

We started off by absorbing almost too many Manhattans, and gossiping, and showing off the house. (Finished up with a bottle of champagne!)

Monday we drove down to Newport. It was the most perfect weather; mid 70s, sunny, and a slight breeze. No yachting voyage, I'm sorry to say, but we did drive around and take a good look at many of the mansions and take the Cliff Walk for a while. We began, though, with lunch at the White Horse Tavern.

It's been in continuous operation since 1673, and we had great fun lunching there. Everyone else had seafood, and although I started with oysters, I had goat cheese and dried fruit compote (called a salad on the menu). We had cocktails, and my husband and I split a small piece of cheesecake; very good New York style, with a port wine sauce.

I also managed to find a knitting / needlework shop, at 555 Thames Street, called Knitting Needles.

It's a small place, and friendly. I picked up a kit and some Persian wool. We also found a couple of thrift shops. There was a needlepoint kit for a pillow, which I will make to give to my mother-in-law for Christmas, and some crochet thread.

We came back and had a good dinner and then watched a James Cagney film on DVD, called Picture Snatcher. It's a good pre-Code film. Ralph Bellamy is the second lead, and he gets to play a non-Bellamy role, for a change--a newspaper editor who's on the booze. The DVD had some nice extras. A cartoon, a fabulously bad short, and a newsreel.

Late this morning we sent them off (in the rain!) to PA. They'll be flying back to the West Coast from there. But they had French toast, bacon, and coffee under their belts and a boxed lunch (including dachshund cookies).