Sunday 4th June: arrival day
Our lodging in Newport for the next 4 days was at The Marshall Slocum Inn; a boutique hotel where we had the one bedroom apartment. I’d had trouble finding anything in the area within a reasonable budget but was quite pleased with my choice. It was large, light-filled, clean and well located being just a 5 min walk down to the main attractions along the harbor front.
We settled in at the apartment and Mark re-assembled his bike before we headed down to explore Newport harbour front. Our wandering path took us along the High Street area of Newport called Thames Street and it was along the northern section here that we found Lululemon! Continuing on we explored around Bowen’s Wharf and down to the southern section of Thames Street. Being a Sunday afternoon it was quite busy with families strolling the streets and folk of all ages spilling out of the many bars, cafes, shops and restaurants. I have to say though, I was slightly underwhelmed by the area. My preconceptions had this as a more polished and classy shopping and restaurant precinct. The reality though was that it didn’t feel very much different to Sydney’s Harbour side shopping area of Birkenhead Point, nice but nothing special.
Our dinner booking was at the White Horse Tavern which is apparently the oldest restaurant in America, having served guests since 1673, and our reservation was for 5.30 pm which suited us as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We stopped off on the way for Mark to have a beer at a speakeasy called Pour Judgement which was a rather small venue but packed.
Our meal at the Whitehorse Tavern was pleasant enough except that, given we were the youngest patrons by a decade or so, the setting was again rather reminiscent of Fawlty Towers. There was one funny story for the evening though. Yet again, when we went to pay we found there was no Apple Pay potential. I mentioned to the girl serving us that we found it odd that in the ‘land of Apple Pay’ no restaurants actually seem to take Apple Pay. She exclaimed, “oh no, in a fine dining restaurant such as this we couldn’t be taking your phone away from you to go and pay”. We found that comment odd on two fronts. First, we didn’t consider this a fine dining restaurant, and two, why she should have to take our phone and not bring a mobile device to the table was a bit unclear. She then remarked that mobile billing devices weren’t for fine dining restaurants. We were going nowhere quickly with this conversation so we brought it to an end; but with a wry chuckle.
It was all of 7 pm by the time we got back to the apartment but we were glad for another early night. It had been a rather full day and we were happy to have a bit of peace and quiet in our lovely accommodation.
Monday 5th June: The Breakers & Bellevue Ave day
The weather was cool and cloudy again this morning but Mark ventured out for a ride and I did some yoga before we both went on a walk to get a coffee. We ventured along Broadway which was another street hosting cafes, bars and restaurants and even closer to our lodging.
Our plan for the morning was to visit one of the many mansions in the area; The Breakers. Our journey there took us via Bellevue Avenue, which starts just a few hundred meters down the end of our street, and that is when the wow factor hit. We weren’t wowed yesterday but today ended up being one huge wow after another. Bellevue Avenue is regarded as 2.5 miles of history and gilded age opulence and this was a most accurate summary; it was one grand and imposing manor on a large estate after the other for the majority of its length. The start of Bellevue Rd, nearest to our street, also marked the start of a lovely shopping corridor, more like what I had been expecting to find yesterday. Little did I know this opportunity was to be found just around the corner from our lodging!
We made our way on to The Breakers and spent about 2 hours there walking first through the mansion and then exploring the grounds using the free audio guide available through the Newport Mansions app. The Breakers was so named after the waves crashing against the rocks at the bottom of the garden. It was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, of US shipping and railroad empire building fame, as a summer residence for the family to escape the city and was completed, quite remarkably, in just two years. It was fascinating to stroll through, what had been, a most luxurious home and to hear stories about how the occupants and their staff had lived through this gilded period. Interestingly, the gilded age came to an end when income taxes were introduced. The photos of The Breakers below do not do the place justice so I suggest that you pay a visit if you’re ever in the area.
Our afternoon was spent taking a 2hr history driving tour of Newport using the following audio guide. It was a little clunky but we got the hang of it eventually as we were directed, again, past mansions but also places of historic significance and along the famed Ocean Drive. It was a worthwhile exercise and another worth doing especially as it was so cheap ($15 USD).
We headed back out again later in the afternoon to have a stroll along Bellevue Avenue and check out the shops and then we went down for Mark to have a beer (or two) at Pour Judgement again. After that, it was back home for a quiet night dining in.
