This started as one of those inevitable vacation days that involve running lots of errands. Here’s the run-down: Walgreens, laundromat, diner-style breakfast at Green Eggs, Stop & Shop, liquor store, laundromat, Stop & Shop. Not exciting, but productive. Returned to the cottage in time to do a little reading and relaxing.

J and Dusty arrived in town at lunchtime, so we met them at the Beehive Cafe for lunch. Yummy black bean burger! Then ice cream at the Daily Scoop — such great homemade peppermint ice cream (with apologies to Moxley’s, RIP), and the biggest single scoops I’ve ever seen. Wandered along the harbor eating our cones (all but Dusty, because he ordered a cabinet, which is a crazy Rhode Island way of saying milkshake).

J and I spent a little time shopping at a boutique while Pres & Dusty returned to the cottage. Then J & I headed to Blithewold, a 1908 Gilded Age mansion on the wealthy southern part of the penninsula. We wandered briefly through the house, declared it much more contemporary-feeling and liveable than a lot of Gilded Age homes, and spent a lot of time in the gardens. Really impressive: a beautifully maintained bamboo grove, flowerbeds galore, and a giant sequoia (J’s in the picture for size comparison). Nice weather for a garden stroll: warm, but not humid, under bright blue skies.

Returned to the cottage for a little bit of lazing around and reading. Drove to the Back Eddy for dinner, where we met Wendy. It was so much fun to see her! Also randomly ran into Gerry Brown, the college counselor at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. Dinner had ups and downs — long wait, very loud room, stunning sunset over the water, mixed reviews on people’s food — but the conversation was great (even though we had to yell to make it happen).

Back home to the cottage for a brief sit out on the porch before bedtime.