I woke early today at 6.30am, Anne got up at 8am. Now getting ready for a days sightseeing around Newport before moving over to Chatham. I've been checking out the place we are staying at for the next three nights, Chatham Inn and Spa. It looks lovely right on the beach etc. I just hope the weather holds while we are there! Breakfast shortly and then we are off, need to get the car back, hopefully we haven't lost the ticket or it could prove interesting.

We have been down for breakfast which was nice but the service is pretty poor and very slow and although I originally said the hotel was swanky I've now changed to it being manky. It's one of those places that flatters to deceive.

Anyway having breakfasted we finished our packing and then checked out, getting the car was easy as we still had the ticket and within 20 minutes we were on our way to Adams Fort.

The fort is star shaped popular around the 1750 to 1800 period and was clearly built to protect the Newport Harbour area. We arrived at 1005hrs and purchased tickets for the next available tour at 1100hrs. So at the moment we are sat in the car passing the time waiting for the tour to commence and looking out over a sea of yachts. The sea is blue, calm and shimmering in the heat, a lovely sight.

Well we went on the tour and it was different. For instance the tour guide had to open up individual areas as you went round and lock them again as you leave. He also insisted we stayed together and had to move on when he said to. This meant you were rushed all the time and couldn't see/read all that you wanted to. Basically very boring although it only lasted an hour! Luckily we had a few characters with us to help keep us amused. There was the Adams family, none of them looked a full card of buttons, there was granny Adams who was vey small and frail but I could see her sat in a rocking chair on the porch with a shotgun. Then there was Daddy Adams who was only slightly taller than granny at 5', now he was the talkative one of the family as he chatted all the way round making inane comments and what I took to be jokes in his world. Mummy Adams was probably the nearest the family had to someone 'normal' but even then you would have been stretching the meaning of 'normal', to say she was ugly, well let's say I've seen better looking gorillas and certainly less hairy ones. To complete the family there were son and daughter Adams, both of an unknown age and both short of a sandwich or two. This is a family that will never be troubling the people at Mensa!! Amongst the group we also had the very loud military genius who could explain everything in more detail and greater depth than the guide and also the teenage girl who was bored silly and decided to Feinstein sunstroke, that was until the tour ended and the family set up the picnic and she suddenly became gregarious and wanting to eat, not how it is with sun stroke but hey what can I say, easier to see from the outside.

Anyway once the tour ended we hit the road towards Cape Cod and Chatham. Why is it that whenever I see/talk about Cape Cod all I see is Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder? The journey was long and boring but to be fair Anne did another excellent navigational job in trying circumstances due to the very poor signage adopted by the Americans for their road system.

We arrived at Chatham Inn And Spa about 3pm to be informed that the room wasn't ready and check in wasn't until 4pm. A good start but the staff were friendly and we went out onto the terrace to have lunch. By the time lunch had been prepared (and eaten), burger and chips for me and soup and a sandwich for Anne it was 4.15pm and the room was ready. Turns out we are in one of the 'cottages' away from the main building. It's actually quite nice, roomy and with a small lounge area, huge bed, massive flat screen TV and a bathroom with more light switches and combinations to use them than I ever thought possible. The room also has a Bose sound system which is excellent although Anne doesn't like the classical channel the radio is tuned too.

Having unpacked and got ourselves sorted we took a drive into Chatham, only a couple of minutes away. It was by now just turned 5pm and the shops were closed. It looks nice enough and I have little doubt we will be back during normal opening hours, it was then back to the room for some leisure time before getting ready for dinner in The Tavern. Now I don't mean we actually got ready in The Tavern I meant we got ready in our room and went to The Tavern to eat, hope that is all clear now? Don't want you thinking that we'd been frightening the locals or anything like that which of course you might have thought if I'd not cleared up the ambiguity first!

The meal was excellent, the nearest to 'fine dining' we have had so far this trip and to cap if all we had more than one knife and fork. They weren't set out of course, just rolled up in the napkin as part of the place setting but hey at least it was somewhere close to 'normal'.

Having eaten we returned to the room, just a short walk especially for average sized people obviously if you were shorter it would have been further as your legs are shorter! Is that a sensible argument or not? I'm actually thinking not as the length of your legs doesn't make the distance travelled any further it just means you have to take more strides ( gives himself a slap round the back of the head)! I'm putting it down to being tired it's been a long hard day and I only had a few hours sleep last night.

So on that note I shall take my leave, wish you all a good nights sleep full of beautiful relaxing thoughts and images and I'll talk to you all again tomorrow, although that might actually be today now!! Night, night.