What a fantastic wedding event! Great couple and a good time. Enjoyable company, delicious chinese cuisine and karaoke to top off the evening. Photos were taken on 8/16/08.

Windswept beaches, sand dunes, blinking lighthouses and a charming pace of life await on this 50-square mile island. The world’s former top whaling port is now designated a National Historic District. Leave the car and take the shuttle or bike around. Seaside cottages, old whaling captains’ mansions and historic harbors contain quaint inns, boutique stores, chowder shacks and upscale dining delights. Swim, surf or load up the tackle for Nantucket’s excellent striper, bluefish and bonito fishing.

I look back on this day trip very fondly.  The weather was perfect and the company pleasant.  Nantucket is quite simply a beautiful destination.  Check out our photos from that great day: continue reading »

We took a day trip to Newport just to check out the Tennis Hall of Fame.  Kathleen is a big Tennis fame and still loves Pete Sampras, even though he retired years ago.  Newport is just a beautiful place to visit.  We’ve been there at least a half a dozen times and each time we experience something different. 

Here are some FUN FACTS about the Tennis Hall of Fame:

1. The Newport Casino building — designed in 1880 by the then fledgling architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White — was Stanford White’s first major commission.
2. The Newport Casino was built as a social and recreational club, not as a place for gambling. In fact, “casina” is an Italian word for farmstead or “little house.”
3. The Casino structure had no American architectural precedent and only one possible precursor in England. The concept of renting the building’s first floor to local merchants and using space on the second floor for the club was unique.
4. In its heyday, the Casino offered archery, billiards, bowling, concerts, dancing, dining, horse shows, lawn bowling, reading, tea parties and theatricals in addition to the staples of its present day offerings — lawn tennis and court tennis.
5. In 1881, the Newport Casino hosted the first U.S. National Lawn Tennis Championships. At that time, the championships consisted only of men’s singles and doubles. The Casino continued to host the event until 1915, when it moved to Forest Hills, N.Y. The tournament is now known as the U.S. Open.
6. The Casino’s historic courts are the world’s oldest continuously used competition grass courts and the only competition grass courts open to the public for play.
7. The concept of putting a Tennis Hall of Fame at this site originated with Casino president James Van Alen, who would later invent the tennis tiebreaker and other innovative scoring systems.
8. The International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum is the world’s largest tennis museum and owns the world’s largest collection of tennis memorabilia.
9. Today, the Hall of Fame hosts the last remaining professional tennis events played on grass in North America.
10. The Tennis Hall of Fame presently hosts the opening night concert of Newport’s Jazz Festival. The Casino was the site of the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954.

Check out some photos from our day:

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