Newport: The Surpise Visit

Kyle and his roommate Tommy did a little scheming, and they managed to find a way to get Jessica and I out to Newport for a week! Jess's mom is a flight attendant so we were on standby for our flights which was a just a bit stressful but the time in Rhode Island was more than worth it!

Our flight out of Seattle left at 11 pm, we arrived in Boston at 7 am and the boys picked us up. We grabbed food, napped a ton, and then our host mom took Jess and I to the Newport Gulls game at Cardine's field. We were so pumped because not only were Kyle and Tommy playing but Derek Jones, Spencer Jackson and JD Leckenby were also at the field on the opposing team. GO COUGS! Our host mom took us to a neighboring pub, Mudville, where we could sit ON the field, watch the game, and work on Blue Moons and bacon cheeseburgers. Amazing!

My chatty boy!

Big hits

After we hit the town! Brick Alley, the Landing, the Black Pearl and every other pub in Newport. We had a blast, and decided 1 am is way to early to call it a night (bars close at 1 am in Rhode Island, they also do not have drink specials).

We checked out about every bar in Newport, it was a lot!

We still look like 2 am even though it was 1 am, so I guess calling it a night early wasn't too bad

The next day our host mama dropped us off at Second beach for some tanning and relaxation.

We called it a night pretty early because on Friday we had the famous team boat cruise and lobster feast! The cruise was amazing, absolutely gorgeous!

 Lots of lobster! Fortunately, one of the team supporters and my so strong boyfriend cracked all the shells for me. I guess pretty smiles do pay off!

The cruise, on the Aurora

Our well stocked cooler, courtesy of our host fam

Saturday morning Kyle and I went for a jog, and then we were off to join our host mom at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where she has box seats. Kyle made sure to mention how much I love tennis, and our host mama was on it! We saw John Isner, ranked 18th recently and just returning from the Wimbeldon, along with Nicolas Mahut, ranked 94. It was great to see them together, considering their three day battle at the Wimbeldon last year in which games went into the high 60's before the set was won. AWESOME, well for a fanatic like myself. We also met Grigor Dimitrov, who asked his publicist to stop Jess and myself so he could have a photo with us, he's currently ranked 62.

Handmade tennis balls for the court game, they are made of felt and wine cork!

 Court for the old court tennis game

Jess and I with Grigor Dimitrov

Our host parents took us to the draw party, where the opponents are randomly drawn from a hat. The food was incredible, and the two above pictures were our view from the patio. The open bar wasn't too shabby either. After we went to the host families private beach for another party with great food and another bar (these people sure know how to live it up!)

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for the double header at Cardines! Jess and I sat through more than 6 hours of baseball but we did manage to fit in Mudville, Panera and shopping! It was a busy day and we were definitely ready for bed when we got home. 

Monday was the 4th of July, and we all went to watch some more tennis. We saw some great matches, and had a nice chat with Dimitrov about baseball (he was attempting to play catch on the practice courts after winning his match). We also saw Tommy Haas (ranked 2 in the world at one point). We made it to the game just in time! Kyle played incredibly well, and as the game finished the fireworks were lighting up over Cardine's. It was the perfect last night together.

Our incredible box seat view at the International Tennis Hall of Fame

 Kyle

Sky before fireworks

 

So Newport was incredible. The shopping was incredible, the people were helpful and the ocean was gorgeous. The only downside, drink specials are illegal. But we had such an amazing time, and I tend to think saying goodbye will get easier every time we do...but it hasn't. Thank goodness I'll be back in two and half weeks.