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Published: August 23rd 2014
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Rhode Island has definitely become a "day-trip" destination for us as 1) it is an extremely small state and 2) it's only a couple hours from our house. Getting in the car early in the morning, driving to NEWPORT for seafood and a walk-around and being back at home by 10 has become fairly common practice in our household.
During the winter Newport is a pretty bleak place. It definitely is not hopping with energy and young people as it does in the summer, but this is the perfect time to visit the million dollar mansions as they are deserted with no one around. Newport is known for the incredible mansions that were built in the twentieth century by the Vanderbilt's and co. We decided to visit THE ELMS. What an incredible place - the size alone dwarfs you and you can't imagine how and why anyone would need a place this big. You can only imagine the parties that were thrown here. The size of the kitchen was mind-blowing - it has to be for the size of the parties that were thrown according to the tour guide (audio). Even more mind-blowing was the grounds, the trees and the
statues. The scary part is that this mansion is "smallish" compared to some of the other mansions. We would highly recommend visiting any of the mansions in the area. It is worth it to listen to the stories and see the grandeur. Avoid the summer rush crowds.
Back in town you can't go wrong with the BLACK PEARL FOR CLAM CHOWDER. Situated right on the water and always busy it is a good spot for some hot chowder on a cold day.
During the summer it is pretty hard to get a spot - especially outside - as people usually just converge here to enjoy the sun, the sea and a good beer. We've been to the Black Pearl a couple times now. We always get a nice IPA harpoon and Sam Adams (this is Sam Adams country) to go along with oysters (always good), chowder (nice and chunky), shrimp scampi (you don't see these around much anymore), clams casino (very good), and sea scallops cooked to perfection. We have yet to have a bad meal here. Otherwise the streets of Newport are lined with cute little shops and plenty of bars. Cupcake Charlies is a good bet for
a good cupcake - their selection is pretty awesome. As a side note - Newport apparently has a massive Irish population, because we went to Newport during St. Paddies day and it was crazy. The town was overflowing with drunk college students.
Keep going on mansion drive, follow the road along the coast and you will run into OCEAN DRIVE - spectacular drive along the Newport coast - especially during sunset. Follow it all the way to the end, park, and watch the sun set - most of the time it is a red, red glow. I would have to say this is one of the prettiest drives around. Drive into town a little more and stop on the way to the docks. The sun setting over the bridges is even more spectacular if that is possible.
This state is also blueberry country. Driving the area in AUGUST FOR FARMSTANDS is the best time. Drive the RI 77 FROM TIVERTON TO SAKONNET. Keep going and end up at the OCEAN AT SAKONNET. It's backcountry driving at its finest - small towns, orchards, roadside stands, vineyards (oh yeah there are vineyards here too), and lobster rolls. You can find
the same scenery in many places but few areas can match the northeast with blueberry pie and lobster rolls. The BLUEBERRIES are fresh, the produce is fresh, and the people are friendly as heck. TIVERTON FOUR CORNERS is a small little town with shopping and antique stores. GRAY'S ICE CREAM SHOP FOR BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM is a must do. We got to town pretty early in the morning so we had ice cream for breakfast (nothing better). I really don't like blueberries, but the blueberry ice cream was pretty phenomenal.
We would never have imagined that we could or would find anything close to resembling a vineyard in Rhode Island. There definitely are not too many options. We stopped at Sakonnet Vineyard - the wine was decent. A quaint little place with good lunch. Definitely worth a visit. DO A WINE TASTING - the variety is actually pretty good.
Many day trips to this part of the country resulted in only crossing-off one thing - blueberries. 218 down and 5,563 to go.
Til next time from party town on the east coast
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Thanks for the memories...
When I was earning my MBA in Massachusetts, I spent many weekends in Newport, touring the mansions and eating the seafood. As for "day trips." when we lived in the DC area, we would go to NYC, arriving about 11 am, and then touring Central Park, Times Square, Little Italy (for dinner) before returning home by 11 pm. The East Coast is so great for such trips as so many great destinations are close.