Newport, RI: beaches, good restaurants, museums, art, sports-and tourists!
Written: Jan 23 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Never boring. Great ocean access with glamorous sites, history, art and more!
Cons: Tourists--LOTS of tourists!
|
|
|
| vickie's Full Review: Newport |
In contrast to other epinions reviews, I think this town is great! I spend just about every other weekend in Newport or on one of the nearby beaches. Sure there are lots of tourists-the town is clogged with them during the summer. However, by following a few tips you too can enjoy the town often referred to as "America's first resort."
Newport is situated at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It is a treasury of colonial homes and boasts many of America's "firsts." These include:
First US post office and free public school (1640)
First US synagogue (1789)
First gas lit street (1803)
First open golf tournament (1895)
First national grass court tennis championships (1881)
First piece of advice: don't try to get around by car! Newport is a summer-long traffic jam. Park your car (this, alone, is a major challenge to do legally) and walk. Newport is a very walk-able town, the main attractions are close together. Wear really comfortable shoes, you are going to be walking a lot unless you want to stay mired in the crowds of tourists.
Strategy for a great day (more specifics about the sites are included later in this review):
One of the things that love most about Newport is the proximity of the beach, the cliff walk, and the mansions to everything else. Put a swimsuit and towel in a bag and carry them with you in Newport! I like to arrive in the early morning and start with a walk along the ocean cliffs. At the end of the walk I like to return to the village center by walking along Bellevue Avenue, the street bordered by the mansions from the "gilded age." It's incredibly beautiful, perfectly maintained.
If I can get all of this done in time for an early lunch, I generally eat at the bar at the Clarke Cooke House. The food is great, the bartenders are pleasant and the owner is generally eating at the end of the bar and chatting with local businesspeople, which makes for interesting eavesdropping! If I'm running late and the restaurant is too crowded (not all THAT uncommon), I stop in at a deli, pick up a sandwich and take it to the beach to eat. My favorite "deli" is actually part of an upscale grocery on Memorial Blvd. And I take it to Easton's beach. I generally spend the majority of the afternoon at the beach, catching the rays and watching people play frisbee. When the weather is less than perfect I take in a museum instead of the beach. Between 3 and 4 pm I shower (facilities at the beach are acceptable) and walk the streets of the village looking at the shops and art galleries. By this time the tourists are getting tired and they are much "lower key." I grab an early dinner at one of the restaurants (reservations help but are not necessary) in order to beat the crowds that eat "fashionably late," and I finish the day by watching a great sunset over the water. Perhaps I take in some music in the evening, the jazz in some of the bars is great.
This is a great day. It is not painful, as other reviewers have expressed. In my opinion, a good strategy for the day makes Newport worth dealing with the tourist crowds.
Beaches:
Because the Gulf Stream runs relatively close to the shore, the water at Newport beaches is warm (by New England standards). Easton's Beach (also called First Beach and Newport Beach) is a popular spot, due to its proximity to town. It's ¾ mile long and starts at the northern edge of the Cliff Walk. Just follow Memorial Blvd out of town and you'll find the beach. Heads up: there is a red seaweed that comes ashore in July and August. It's harmless but creates an odor at low tide. Swimming is very safe.
Baily's Beach is at the south end of the Cliff Walk. It has good swimming and sometimes has good surf. Other beaches around Newport don't have this seaweed, but they require a car to get to them. Put up with the seaweed and don't try to drive!
Cliff Walk:
This is a 3 ½ mile paved path that starts at Easton's Beach and runs south to Bailey's Beach . You can enter the cliff walk at several points. This walk is incredible because the cliffs are high and the surf is crashing below for the entire length of the walk. The views across a bay are breathtaking. The side of the path opposite the cliffs is the "backyards" of the mansions that Newport is famous for!
Mansions:
Newport was the summer home of the wealthy and these mansions were built mostly in the 1880's. They each cost millions to build, single parties used to cost the owners as much as $200,000! The so-called "gilded age" ended when the US instituted income tax. Each of the following mansions is open for tours. Most, not all, charge an admission fee so don't try to see them all in one visit! They include:
Beechwood: summer home to the Astors
Belcourt Castle: built for Richard Hunt and now owned by the legendary Tinney family
the Breakers: Cornelius Vanderbilt's summer home and the largest and most opulent of the mansions Chateau-sur-Mer: built for Asian trader Shepard Wetmore
the Elms: built for Philadelphia coal baron Edward Berwind;
Kingscote: built for Savannah's George Noble Jones
Marble house: owned by the William K. Vanderbilt
Ochre Court: built for Yew York real estate developer Ogden Goelet
Rosecliff: built for Hermann Oelrichses
Museums: There are too many museums to describe in this review-even more than the number of mansions! My personal favorites are the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the Newport Art Museum. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is also located on Bellevue Avenue. It was built in 1880 and was the site of the first National Men's Championship in lawn tennis. The complex is a wonderful example of of period architecture surrounding green grass courts that pre-date Wimbledon. The front of the complex houses the Hall of Fame and museum. It's really cool-and there is a great little restaurant next to it for lunch.
The Newport Art Museum is also located on Bellevue Avenue (see, I told you that this is a convenient, walking town!). The main building was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and is a great example of mid-Victorian "stick-style" architecture. The museum has exhibits by internationally known artists in five galleries and there is a permanent collection of 19th and 20th century American art. This is a great place, especially for a rainy day!
Other museums include: The museum of Newport History, the Newport Artillery Company, the Newport Historical Society, the Museum of Yachting and the Naval War College Museum. There are also 7 or 8 historic buildings and homes that are open for tours.
If indoor touring is not your cup of tea, Newport has great area golf courses, boat excursions around Narragansett Bay (which I highly recommend), fishing boats for hire and sailing boats to tour and ride. If you feel up to facing the highest tourist "density", there are countless antique shops, gift shops, art stores and galleries.
Yes, as other reviewers have pointed out, there are lots of tourists here-throngs of them. However, with a strategy of how to avoid them as much as possible, this is a terrific place to explore!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
vickie
|
|
Location: Waltham, MA
Reviews written: 75
Trusted by: 113 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.