Exploring BIG Time in LITTLE Rhode Island
Yesterday we visited the Basketball Hall of Fame (read that post here) in Springfield, Massachusetts and today we headed to Rhode Island to explore the town of Newport all well staying in a campground in the state of Connecticut. That’s the beauty of small states and actually the main reason we picked the campground we did. Ace’s High RV Park is locatedequidistant from both of these places we wanted to visit.
The drive to Newport was just over an hour. It was a fairly dreary, cold overcast day, but the meteorologists had promised it would burn off by lunch time. We all know that meteorologists should always be trusted…..baahaahaa! Thankfully they were correct and by the time we finished up our packed lunch and got out the car to explore, the skies were blue and the views were spectacular. We started with the Cliff Walk which is known as one of the most popular Newport attractions. We lucked out with a great, free parking spot and as we proceeded to the National Recreation Trail we understood why it was so popular. WOW! Not the coastline we are used to, but equally gorgeous and we were overwhelmed by its beauty. Oh how we love exploring new places.
As we walked the path with the water on the left and the Newport mansions on the right there was never a lack of things to look at. Looking around became a bit more challenging when the cliff walk turned from easy to navigate paths to unpaved rocky areas and dark tunnels where are attention was focused on traversing the path safely!
Such a lovely walk and in some points the pathway was nearly 70 feet above the water. All the while rubbing elbows with the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers if rubbing elbows means trying to fit my camera lens between the rungs in the fence! Many of these Gilded Age mansions that line Bellevue Avenue are now museums open for touring. The most famous is likely The Breakers which is a 1895 mansion patterned after a Renaissance palace. The view & gate were impressive enough to us, we didn’t even have to pay for the tour. We were also impressed by Salve Regina University - what a tough life those college students must have trying to study along the shorefront overlooking the Narragansett Bay. The Salve Regina campus is set on seven Gilded Age estates and features 21 structures of historic significance and beauty. See I told you these students had it tough!
On our way out of town, we took note of the harbor as it played host to some boats. It certainly wasn’t filled with the usual amount of yachts & sailing ships, while the ones that were in the water we still shrink-wrapped which is the life of a New England boat in the winter. I’m sure the harbor will be bursting at the seams in a few months when summer finally finds its way to the Northeast. While crowds are not our thing, I’m certain we might enjoy being in Newport when the renowned sailing regatta, America’s Cup, comes to town.
For such a tiny state, it sure exudes big time beauty and money. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States with dimensions of 48 miles (North to South) and 37 miles (East to West). Despite its small stature, it boasts 400 miles of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Bay. This means that all Rhode Islanders live within a 30-minute drive to the shore. If only the would have put Rhode Island in a warmer climate. It’s not that big, it could be moved right? So even during our short visit, it was easy to see why the rich and famous of New York City made Newport there summer vacation home. In true See Simple Love fashion, we left some of Newport unexplored and on the table for our next visit through town. Until then, stay beautiful….
