Chart a course for 149 degrees True. I will meet you there.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain

Start Newport to Bermuda Race, yachtpals.com

Chart a course for 149 degrees True, 635 miles nautical miles southeast of Newport. That is where you will find the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in Hamilton Harbor when racing from the Castle Hill Light at Newport in the bi-annual Newport-Bermuda Race; straightforward - if you did not have Gulf Stream winds with which to contend.

Looking at this you must surely understand why it is the goal of so many sailors, professional and amateur alike, to compete in this race. It is thrilling, grueling, and singular. As are the festivities - that's where I come in.

2010. June 18, 2010. Mark that down. That is when the several-day ocean race will once again be contested. If you are like me and dream big dreams to race or spectate at either end, reserve rooms early - the entries number 250+. The crews and families alone could take up a small city worth of hotel rooms.

It is an old dream of mine to check into this room at Castle Hill.

And have drinks and dinner with my Husband and the sailing community at Zelda's the night before.


Watch the five divisions start...

from the sweeping lawn below Castle Hill at Newport while clinking and tipping good champagne.
Then fly to Bermuda to greet the first sails arriving at Hamilton Harbor and attend the trophy ceremony at RBYC.
picasaweb.com

To see the Dan A.Kimball trophy awarded, among notable others.

No, I do not have any desire to sail it myself. Look at the notes below, a person could end up dead three times on the way there:

Nirvana map, seracfilms.com

No. I am the Hostess, not the Skipper for a reason: I get my kicks entertaining from lovely rooms on shore, others get a face-ful of surf and chafe from foul weather gear while hanging from the deck. It's all in what you love...

We each have our roles to play in this racing thing and it is important, for safety reasons, we should not be tempted to muddle them: I dress up. Can you just imagine the Hostess teetering around on a wood deck in her kitten heels and nifty nautical striped headbands? Oh, stop, Dahlings. You can't be fooling with nautical fashion while embarked upon one of these vessels, Pals.

No, I would sooner invite friends to join us. I might pick an invite like this as I don't like to be too theme-y or overt:
SanLori Invitations

As you well know, the outfit considerations are a serious concern for the Hostess...

Ralph Lauren. With a wide leg navy trouser...


and a couple of pretty pairs of shoes...
Kate Spade. For events held on pavement.There is a lot of spectating from grassy hilltops, attempt that in heels in Newport and they will talk of you for decades to come. Kate Spade.

Or these. Tough choice. Kate Spade.


Love this clutch from Kate Spade also.


Lilly Pulitzer, Tamara. I don't step outside without serious, big league eye protection - for my eyes, and the skin around my eyes... to see the whole line of new Lilly sunglasses, click here.

Moving on, then. In setting a table to watch this event, the Hostess would choose a blue and white service that is not too overtly cheesy, er, I mean nautically themed:

J. Seignolles, Arborescence, but without the tacky gold flatware: I die. And not in a good way.

Centerpieces which pick up the yellow and white of the nautical tradition would be lovely, once again, not being to obvious about it...

Martha Stewart

Over a (real) ivory damask table cloth:

Yves Delorme.

Or possibly a blue to ground the no-theme-theme:

Southern Accents

What a lovely Newport afternoon...

To remember it by, or if you cannot be there, this book is a tremendous work on the race, worth owning:

A Berth to Bermuda: One Hundred Years of the World's Classic Ocean Race

See you there, winds willing.

Newport musings: Part 1

Researching a recent post on my pal Chandler in Newport, I took a moment to revisit some of my favorite things about Castle Hill and why, if I were hosting an event in Newport, Castle Hill Inn would be my first choice: As it also is for drinks on the hill, Sunday brunch, lunch and dinner; or for a place to celebrate the start of the moving and magnificent bi-annual Newport Bermuda Race as the regatta vessels arrive at the starting line at Castle Hill lighthouse (stay tuned for a Part 2 where I tell professional sporting spectators like myself everything you need to know on that topic), and for virtually every reason I can think of to be out of the house, frankly.

If you are visiting, even if you do not plan to stay at the Inn, I suggest making certain you get a chance to enjoy a cocktail or lunch on the hill. And if you are considering staying or marrying there, below is a bit of what you have to look forward to while enjoying the same views Jackie Kennedy did while spending summers at Hammersmith Farm, just a couple of steps away...

Now, admittedly, I am a Northeastern baby and I am partial to a tradtional nautical style and summery spots where you still need a sweater to protect you from the occasionally chilly ocean breezes. This is my Newport... every time I see these rooms and I imagine the summer breeze on hill through the windows it seems a room could not get any more perfect than these.