Our original plan was to leave earlier in the morning to head into Newport to make sure we had enough time to do whatever we wanted to do. However, with a king size bed and a nice cold, dark room, it was extremely hard to get up this morning. Knowing that the last two days didn’t take up as much time as we thought it would, I figured it wasn’t bad to just hang out and relax. Luckily, our checkout wasn’t until noon anyways (which I’ve never had a checkout as late as that), but we were out of the hotel around 11:30. Since Newport was only a little over 30 minutes of a drive, we arrived shortly after noon. Everyone recommended we go to Newport, but NO ONE told me we’d have to drive over not one but TWO huge bridges. I should have known better as someone who hates driving over bridges, but they were huge.
The first place we decided we’d go check out were the mansions. I’ve seen the inside of mansions on Zillow listings, I’ve been inside a “mini” mansion, and I’ve even been to The White House…nothing compares to the size of The Breakers.
The amount of detail in the paintings, murals, fabrics, and literally everything is breathtaking. The pictures are below, but the rooms we got to see were the (in this order) – Great Hall, Grand Staircase (that the servants rarely used incase you didn’t know), The Dining Room, The Staircase Fountain (literally a fountain under the staircase), The Billiard Room, The Morning Room, The Music Room, The Library, Mr. Vanderbilt’s Room (the father), His Bathroom, Mrs. Vanderbilt’s Room (the mother), Gertrude Vanderbilt’s Room (the oldest daughter), Guest Bedroom, Servant Staircase (a much smaller, less aesthetically pleasing, typical staircase), The Kitchen (away from the rest of the house incase of fire so it didn’t take the mansion down with it), and the 2 Story Butler’s Pantry (because who doesn’t need that much space). This was a place highly recommended to us by many people, and I totally understand why. If you ever get a chance to go to Newport, definitely take the time.
After our tour we got to walk around the grounds a little where we saw The Children’s Cottage – literally a mini house, although only in comparison to the mansion, for the kids to play in. It looks like it is open seasonally, so you might get to take a look inside during the spring or summer, but unfortunately for us, it was closed.
After leaving The Breakers, we were trying to figure out what to do next. We were recommended to do the Cliff Walk, which is a 3.5 mile walk along the shore with views of the ocean and I believe the other mansions. Since it was cloudy and overcast all day with a bit of a wind chill, especially by the water, we decided it wasn’t a tour to take this time around. We did, however, find a 10 Mile Drive, that brings you along the entire coast of Rhode Island, with just as many nice views from the comfort of your heated car. We passed by many other mansions and stopped where we saw some ocean views.
I wouldn’t call it a “beach” per se, but it was a nice little beachy area with many rocks that could lead you out into the water. While we were there, I saw many long, flat rocks – the perfect kind for skipping. So for about the next 30 minutes or so, Noe and I just gathered rocks and saw which ones we could skip and how many times. Noe was much better than I was, however both of our records were 6 skips (!!!!) so I’d say we did pretty decent. He even found a little bone that resembles that of a snake!! We have yet to find a picture on google that can confirm, but the appearance is identical, and something that you can’t convince me is anything other.
After skipping rocks, we continued our drive. We drove past Fort Adams and the Coast Guard before heading back towards town to see what Thames St had in store. We walked the street for a little to see what shops were around before deciding we should go to dinner. A lady that Noe does work for said her favorite place was The Black Pearl, and after seeing it was primarily seafood dishes (shocker) we decided we would give it a try. I am not a fan of seafood by any means, and will very rarely try any dishes. However, Shrimp Scampi Pasta was on the menu, and I assumed it would be baby shrimps, which I can handle.
I was wrong. Our plates came out, and there were JUMBO shrimp all over the place. Jumbo shimp freak me out, because they resemble the actual animal way too much for me compared to baby shrimp. Nonetheless, if you cut up the jumbo shrimp, they essentially become babies so we made it work. Not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of myself for eating as much shrimp as I did, but it was definitely a great dinner, and I’m glad we went.
We were on our way home with only one stop left – Christmas Lights. I found a campground on the way that was doing a drive through Christmas light show for $23 a car. Last year around Christmas time, my sister, her girlfriend, Noe, and I all went to one not too far from home that was so awesome. I figured what the hey, let’s stop by.
The Christmas lights were good, coordinating with the music playing on the radio, and the show was about a mile long drive. Was it worth $23? Most definitely not. The website stated the trip was about 20-25 minutes, and I’m sure if it was busy it definitely would be. However, Noe and I made it through it probably 7. I suppose you live and you learn, but they were decent either way.
Luckily, we were only a little over an hour from home and it wasn’t too late – only around 8:30 or so, so we were on track to be home at a decent time. Shortly before making it home, we decided to finish off our weekend trip with some nice ice cream from Dairy Queen. It was the perfect ending.
I love traveling and seeing other places, but nothing beats coming home to your own space and bed after some time away. We made it back all in one piece, brought all of our stuff upstairs AND unpacked the suitcase. Now we’re all relaxed, laying in bed, and watching another soccer game as I type this. It’s been a long day, a little after midnight now, but a very fulfilling weekend. I’m so thankful we were able to take this trip this weekend given the pandemic and new world we are currently living in.
New Year New Place going strong for a whole 5 years now! Thanks for keeping up, and I hope you’ve been able to live vicariously through me. Subscribe to my blog with your email so you can stay up to date on any and all blogs I post! I’ll be making another one real soon with an exciting announcement you won’t want to miss 😉
Until next time!
TRAUDTSTWOCENTS 
Now that you’ve done Newport in the fall you really should go during the summer. So you didn’t care for the Jamestown bridge. It’s beautiful at night and you can see it from our timeshare. The Red Parrot is another great resturant right in the center.Glad you and Noe had a good time. I agree ice cream is always a good choice anytime.
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We almost went to the Red Parrot!! We just decided not to in the end. I’m sure we’ll go again but in the spring / summer, because a lot of things we saw this time would be awesome in those seasons.
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