Rhode Island – Day 2
Friday was a great day in Newport, Rhode Island! Mr. SP and I were on the go the entire day and I do believe that we walked for about four hours or maybe more. As a result, the sleeping was good Friday night.
Read all about what we did on our first day in Newport, here.
We started the day by taking a walk to try to find my running friend’s grandmother’s house. I had her address and it should have been a ten minute walk but we missed a few signs and ended up walking about an hour on this quest. It was worth it because we got to see beautiful houses off the beaten path in Newport.
Greg’s grandmother has lived in Newport since the 1940s. Her cute Victorian had ocean views until a house was built beside her.
The next picture shows her street. Greg’s grandmother’s house is the one with the station wagon parked in front. You can get a glimpse of the mansion that was built beside her that blocked her ocean view. If you peep through the window in the gate you see a pool and then the ocean.
From the end of the street you can go down a few steps and you are on The Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is a 3 1/2 mile public trail that parallels the ocean. The 3 1/2 mile trail goes through 60 some properties, most of which are mansions. I’ll show you pictures of those later. I’ve never seen anything like what I saw here.
Our next stop was the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum. We didn’t get to tour the museum as the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tournament was being held but we did get to see a few great tennis matches. The grounds at this historic club are so pretty. My one grass playing experience wasn’t good but I think I might like to play here. They have camps and clinics for adults, so maybe I’ll give it a shot one of these days.
Mr. SP and I would have been content to spend the entire day watching tennis, but this was our only full day in Newport and there were too many things to do that we didn’t want to miss. Our next stop was to tour The Breakers built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1893. It’s hard to believe that this monstrosity was built in only two years.
It is difficult to get a good picture of the front of the mansion because it is so big and is surrounded by large trees. I can only imagine how heavy these gates are.
The area behind the mansion is very open and leads directly to the ocean. You can get a good view of this mansion from The Cliff Walk. At first I thought the Vanderbilts swam in the ocean here but once I saw the rocky coastline, I realized that there’s no way a person could swim here. They must have gone to a nearby sandy beach.
We could have spent an entire day just touring mansions but there was one more thing we wanted to do on Friday, The Cliff Walk. We walked and we walked and we walked some more to get to the start of The Cliff Walk. Part of this 3 1/2 mile trail is paved and the other part is a rough path over big boulders. We started on the rough part and ended on the paved part. When I go back to Newport one of these days, a run on this trail will be #1 on my list of things to do.
We started at Bailey’s Beach. Maybe this is where the Vanderbilts went to the beach at the turn of the century.
Wouldn’t you love to walk or run here?
You may need to get a paper towel when you view the next set of pictures because the houses just might make you drool onto your keyboard.
The trail includes a tunnel. It would be pretty spooky in here if you were hiking at dusk or at night.
I’m pretty sure that this house belongs(ed) to the Astor family.
The house below is beside The Breakers.
These are just a few of the mansions that are along The Cliff Walk. Many can’t be seen from the trail. Wouldn’t I love to be able to really explore Newport with no restrictions!
We were worn out by the time we walked back to our hotel. I’d repeat this vacation day over and over again, it was that good!
Wow! The only mansion I have ever seen is the Biltmore House, those are incredible and with that view.
OMG! It looks as though one millionaire tried to outdo the next! I’ve never heard that much about Newport. We have a tiny little village of Newport here in Augusta County. I should send you pictures of it to compare!
Very neat Paula! I’ve never thought much about visiting Newport but you’ve peaked my interest. Thanks for sharing those pictures.
I want to live there!!! Maybe you could accidentally run into one of the owners, become best friends, and then have all access to Newport. 😉
WOW!!!!!!!!!! Those ARE some gorgeous homes……
suzanne
I’m a native Newporter – born and raised there.You made me home sick