the date's been set!

Newport at the turn of the 19th century was where the socialites of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia came for the summer. They were among the richest people in America at the time—from railroad tycoons and coal barons to plantation owners. The era during which they lived here, the late 1800s up through the 1920s, is often referred to as the Gilded Age. It was a time when whom you knew was everything. The social register, capped at 400 names, was created by Caroline Astor.
Next summer, my niece will be married at the Mrs. Astor's summer home.
I visited Newport and toured the "cottages" back in the late 1970's and was awed by the opulence of a time when the rich came for six to eight weeks, sailed, partied and had high teas, and then made their way back home when the New England summer faded.
I've always wanted to bring my girls on a trip to see the mansions of the Cliff Walk. Now, next June, we'll all get to go... and dance in the ballroom where the elite of American society once partied the summer away.