fabulous 4th: part one

i'm back from a perfect weekend in new england with the beau.  outside of the fact that i spent almost all of the actual 4th stuck in airports on the east coast, it was a fabulous holiday.

i landed in providence bright and early on saturday and headed straight to the hotel.  {color me impressed! for a very reasonable price, we got a big, comfy bed, a spacious room, and a gorgeous bathroom.  bonus points for incredibly friendly hotel staff.} after i got settled in, the beau picked me up and we had lunch at bravo brasserie.  color me impressed again.  we went halvsies on the croque madame and lobster club.  both were delish, but i preferred the lobster club.  the beau voted for the croque madame.  he had a cup o' chowda {a recurring theme over the weekend} and i had a glass of bubbly.  we sat at one of the outdoor seats and people watched.  all in all, an ideal way to start the weekend. 

chowda + bubbly = tres bien

the beau dropped me off at the mall next to the hotel and i picked up some hostess gifts for my upcoming showers and napped while he worked.  i didn't make it to the RISD museum {sad face}, but i got to wonder around brown's campus and thayer street for awhile.  we grabbed dinner at shark {really good steamed shumai} and then headed out for a late night of drinking with the beau's colleagues at the english cellar alehouse.  i couldn't help but get a bit nostalgic.  five years ago this weekend i started my oxford study abroad, and the bar reminded be of the pubs we used to frequent there.  le sigh.

i slept in sunday morning and watched wimbledon {i was so excited for djokovic!} while the beau worked.  then it was off to newport! i fell madly in love with the darling towns we passed through on the way.  barrington and bristol were both decked out for the fourth and every house featured the most GORGEOUS hydrangea bushes.  i was squealing the entire drive.  bristol has the country's oldest continuing 4th of july celebration.  they even paint the traffic lines red, white, and blue!

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traffic was a cruel mistress, so by the time we arrived and checked in, we were starving.  we stopped at the first shack we saw, longwharf seafood, and had some amazing freshly prepared fried clam strips, fries, coleslaw, and, yep, clam chowder.

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back tomorrow with a recap of our time in newport, complete with sailboats, kennedy overload, and glitter!