Old Westbury Gardens

Day 4 (Part 2) - Monday - September 12

EC/NE Camping Adventure 2022

The second part of our adventure day on Long Island included checking out some of the Gold Coast Mansions on the Long Island Sound shore.

Unfortunately, most were closed on a Monday. ☹️ But, we did drive by several and tried our best to get on property. 🤣 We did make it on to the Old Westbury Gardens property for a look-around!

Old Westbury Gardens is the former estate of businessman John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958), an heir to the Phipps family fortune (partner of Andrew Carnegie in steel). The property was converted into a museum home in 1959. It is open for tours from April through October.

Work on the estate began in 1903, when John Shaffer Phipps promised his fiancée, Margarita Grace (a daughter of businessman Michael P. Grace), that he would build her a home in the United States that resembled her family's British residence at Battle Abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The house was ready in 1906 for Phipps, his wife and their young children.

Westbury House, the Carolean Revival (Charles II) mansion designed by British designer George A. Crawley with assistance from American architect Grosvenor Atterbury,contains 23 rooms. The grounds cover 160 acres.

There are several sculptures by Seward Johnson that are currently on display throughout the property. He specialized in bronze statues that are painted to look lifelike. They have such great coloring and expressions!

OH!!! And does anyone recognize the front of this home?? Think Hitchcock. Think Carey Grant. Think…”mother, they poured a whole bottle of bourbon in me! No, they didn’t give me a chaser.”

If you guessed North By Northwest and that this home is where Cary Grant’s character, Roger Thornhill, was taken and treated to a lot of bourbon, you’re right?! 🤣 They filmed that segment of the movie at this estate! 🥰❤️

The trip back from Long Island to Bridgeport on the ferry was beautiful as well. 🥰

K

Mystic, CT

Day 5 - Tuesday - September 13

EC/NE Camping Adventure 2022

Today on our drive up the CT coastline we stopped by one of our favorite coastal villages, - Mystic! Many are familiar with the name because of the 1988 movie, Mystic Pizza, that starred a young Julia Roberts. It was also the acting debut for a very young Matt Damon. 😁

The Zelepo family opened the pizza parlor in 1973, and it became so famous after the movie that for years patrons would line the street waiting for a chance to buy their “slice of heaven!” I gotta say, this is some of the best pizza we have ever eaten. We have visited the pizza parlor on three trips now and each time we leave wanting more. (I don’t know what “secret ingredient” Mr Zelepo first started using in his pizza, but it is special, for sure.)

After a visit to Mystic, we headed further up coast to visit Watch Hill. Jeff has done some research on the area and found out that a vintage “flying horse” carousel was located in this village in addition to another lighthouse. If you give me a chance to see a lighthouse AND a vintage carousel, we’re stopping! 😜

The lighthouse was awesome! It’s not a large or iconic looking light, but the grounds and coastline are beautiful. It’s a great place for a photo shoot, for sure! 🥰 We had a friendly crow that was determined to be a part of our shoot, so we just obliged him and put him in several shots! 🤣 The carousel was closed for the season, unfortunately. The horses were even covered, so we couldn’t see them at all. ☹️ So, we grabbed an ice cream to soothe our sorrows. 😂

We ended the day at Judith Point Lighthouse in Narragansett, RI, near our campground at Fisherman’s Memorial State Park. A little disappointed in the lighthouse because it is closed off to the public, but there is a gravel road nearby that you can take (fisherman’s road) that puts you behind the lighthouse and the coastline is really cool! We watched a cloud-filtered sunset from there. ❤️

Grey Gardens & the Long Island Ferry

Day 4 (Part 1) - Monday - September 12

EC/NE Camping Adventure 2022

Jeff totally surprised me this trip with a planned visit to Long Island via the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry!! He told me ahead of time so I could pack accordingly.

❤️ (Ask him sometime about his mistake of NOT telling me once on a surprise visit on an earlier trip.) 🤣

After crossing the Long Island Sound on our Monday morning, we headed straight for the Hamptons!

Dream come true!! I was finally able to visit Grey Gardens, the former home of the Beales! I first discovered The Beales and Grey Gardens when I happened upon a copy of Lois Wrights My Life at Grey Gardens and was hooked. I read and watched anything and everything I could find on the history of Grey Gardens and Big & Little Edie. The obsession with the Beales has grown over the years and I was unbelievably excited to portray Big Edie and Little Edie in the musical Grey Gardens last year in a Louisville production from The Chicken Coop Theatre Co.

I was able to use some of my collectibles that I’ve found over the years in the production like the true vintage swimsuit in the floral print Little Edie wore as well as her signature bow pendant. I packed both of these items with me as well as “the best costume of the day” in case we were able to really see Grey Gardens. Not only did we see it, but we headed out to the beach down the road where Little Edie used to swim. Absolute magical day! Just ask Jeff how excited I was. I think he was a little concerned. 😂

If you want to learn more about Grey Gardens and the downfall of the Beales, I encourage you watch the documentary that was produced in 1975 by David & Albert Maysles. ❤️