Newport RI

Whoops - this is a month delayed and a long one! Back in early November we took a trip down to Rhode Island. It's not too far away - love Boston!  Newport, RI was the happening spot for the richies back in the day. They have 7 'summer cottages,' aka mansions, for the normal person to tour. The rest of the area is filled with other huge cottages that richies still own. I wanted to tour three cottages, but Dave wouldn't have been to handle more than one. I had to pick the 'best' one. So to The Breakers we went!

The Breakers was completed in 1895. It took only two years to build the whole thing, and it's like 20,000 sq ft. or so. The Vanderbilts owned this home...so Gloria Vanderbilt's grandparents built it, I believe. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures once inside the building. They give you individual audio tours, which took a little under an hour. This place was unbelievable! So ornate and over the top. Gold and platinum on the walls incorporated in the wallpaper. Wood used from all over the world, bedrooms that are as big as our house. The list goes on.  Oh, but my favorite extravagance was definitely the marble tub in Mr. Vanderbilt's bathroom. If he wanted to take a hot bath, his staff would have to fill it full 6 times with hot water before he could use - it took that long for the marble to heat up enough to be comfortable!  Of course, Dave said he wants one of those when we build our house. lol

The front gates are made with wrought iron and are impressively huge. They also have another set of these at the side entrance. The side entrance gates were down to be worked on. It took them over a week to dismantle, using a crane etc, because they are so heavy!

This side of the house faces the vast Atlantic Ocean!

 Dave on the patio of the Breakers.

The huge yard looking out at the ocean. They had all sorts of parties back in its heyday. I wish I could have seen it.

After our tour of the ostentatious Breakers that some called a tasteless exhibit of money (which by the way Dave was ready to buy ... typical American!), we did something Dave would enjoy - Tennis!  We briefly wandered the grounds and he saw a nice grass court up close. We were too cheap to buy tickets for the museum, but it was worth just wandering.

With our stomachs growling we headed to downtown Newport. It has all sorts of shops, restaurants, one way streets, and the like. We happened upon the White Horse Tavern. It looked pretty decent. We walked into an extremely dark room with ceilings about 7 ft tall and a huge fire warming the restaurant. The food was amazing! It happened to be restaurant week in town, so we got an appetizer, delicious lunch, and yummy dessert for $15 each - well worth it.  While we sat there we read a history of the tavern. It is the oldest tavern in the U.S.  It definitely seemed old :) but how cool that we ate there and didn't even realize it!  We bought a pint glass from there - how could you not?!

While heading back to the 'summer cottages' to do the cliff walk, we drove past the structure below. I bet few know about this structure.... but it made my heart skip a beat! A couple years ago while watching the History channel they discussed the origins of this, the Newport Tower. The origins have been argued for centuries. Some believe the vikings built it when they discovered the U.S and used as a lookout or cairn landmark (I thought this was the case after watching the HC). Others are convinced it was a windmill Benedict Arnold (the great grandfather of the Benedict Arnold most have heard of) built for his farm. They've done carbon testings and all sorts of tests, but there is still no definitive answer.  Love it.

 It's crazy to see the stones up close!

So, as you can see, back to the Breakers for the Cliff Walk! The Cliff Walk is about 7 miles roundtrip I think. You walk along the edge of the ocean in front of all the huge 'summer cottages.' What a perfect way to see these secluded homes! We started at the Breakers and began walking a portion of it - about a 1 mile trek.

How could I not take another picture of the Breakers in the late afternoon with families playing on the lawn?!

 Dave enjoying the water breaking on the cliffs.

Part of the path had a nice stone wall... other areas were sketchy looking fences, mucky tunnels, or really narrow right against the cliff.

This gazebo was half a football field away from the main house, and people on the path could look right into it. Maybe it's cool to have a structure right by the water, but who wants to have all these people walking by you and staring?

Another house we could have toured was the Marble house. We'll have to go back in the spring when their Chinese Tea house is open. It was an interesting sight to see this on the Atlantic ocean.

Ok, so this is just a silly picture of Dave walking through one of the mucky tunnels. After I took this I couldn't stop laughing. We had just watched Halloween the weekend prior and this made me think of Michael Myers.  Dave embodies MM here and it's way freaky to me.

We turned around and headed back to the Breakers. Can you see it in the background?  It's the dark red roof with a bunch of chimneys. It's just such a big building - I still can't get over it.

Oh, and our last stop was to the front gate again. I wanted a picture of me by it to provide some perspective. Can you even see me? :)

 

Rhode Island tip of the day: If you are a young, pretty female working at a bar - watch out for Marine guys from the Newport base! While at the White Horse Tavern there was a Marine guy sitting next to us at the bar. This guy would not leave our poor waitress alone. He kept telling her she was beautiful, and right before he left he asked to take a picture of her - say what?!?! We were a little creeped out, especially since we heard him talking to someone else about his girlfriend in Chicago and going home to see her and her child. Weird.