Newport R.i. International Boat Show

Anyone who knows Newport well, or who has even visited their infrequently, realizes that the entire expansive public waterfront which is lined on the wharf side by upscale clothing and gift shops, restaurants and exclusive hotel resorts is of necessity open to the general public. Similarly the abutting marina areas and the boats they service on the waters edge of Newport Harbor are readily visible from many different points on the shoreline. So it was curious that literature my wife and I came across in the elaborate Newport Visitors Center advertised that admission tickets to the, already in progress, "International Boat Show" were twenty five dollars per person.

How could they charge admission to an area that was already open to the public? They would have to attach horse blinders to everyone who hadn't purchased a ticket, I quipped to my wife.

When we arrived at the site, toting our incredulity but without blinders, their pathetic solution to achieving separation between being inside and private vs outside and public became obvious. They had assembled temporary aluminum storm fencing around a segment of the wharf area. The second distinction they imposed was that paying visitors wore overly large identification tags hanging from around their necks. Seeing several such guests side by side resembled a police line up of felons.

Our suspicions were correct, the separation afforded by the fencing was imaginary since you could see everything on the wharf perfectly well through and over the fence. As far as the flag draped ships filling the harbor, they were visible to eye and camera from everywhere. Those who organized this event had borrowed a page from Hillary Clinton. They assumed visitors would go along with temporarily suspending their disbelief. Many did, mostly those from other parts of the country.