Another month, still stuck in this pandemic. We decided to take a road trip to get away from the city and enjoy the wife’s birthday weekend. She saw something years earlier about a place in Rhode Island (Newport) and every year tries hard to get the kids to lobby for a trip there. Well, this year she won the vote. It was within suitable driving distance (3 hours or less is a requirement with the baby now in tow) and another place for Madison to cross off of her “50 states bucket list”.
Newport is beautiful. Seated against the ocean, everywhere is scenic. It’s a quaint town, with museums, beaches, indoor/outdoor restaurants, sightseeing and more. Here’s a quick run down of our stay there for a long weekend last month.
- We highly recommend staying at the Wyndham. The rooms are modern and spacious. The hotel is very clean and they are certainly making sure to remain covid free. There’s an indoor heated pool on-site with patio access. The restaurant, Johnny’s Restaurant & Patio Bar, is pretty yummy and the outdoor fire pit is a huge bonus!
- If you stay at the Wyndham, downtown is just 3 miles away, boasting cobblestone streets and hometown eateries. Our daughter took a liking to Pasta Beach, requesting to go back a day later saying it was the best Margherita pizza she’d ever had. We also dined at Jo’s American Bistro, which was delightful. The food was tasty and the service was impeccable. Make sure you eat the bread in the bag while it’s hot. Nothing like homemade dough for dinner. For the wife’s birthday eve dinner, we decided to dine by the water at 15 Pointe Road. The food was okay so we figured folks must go mainly for the views. We didn’t get to eat at Brick Alley Pub, but the line outside says it’s a must-do spot on our next visit.
- Shopping is a necessity for the Taylor girls. We hit up House of Scrimshaw & Gifts for souvenirs (Madison is now collecting hoodies) and made a quick Sephora run since it was in the same area (Brick Market). We happened to grab a cupcake from the local eatery Cupcake Charlie's, which to this day the wife says she was sad that she only got one. It was perhaps one of the best tasting cupcakes she’s ever had (and she considers herself a cupcake connoisseur).
- Sightseeing - we didn’t do any museum tours; however, the automobile museum is a must! We did drive by plenty of mansions so those tours are most likely worth the money. We spent a few hours at Easton’s Beach. Honestly, we prefer beaches outside of the US and this one, while it’s definitely beautiful, it was disappointing at the same time. The weather wasn’t that great (sun hid behind the clouds that day) and we kept “eating” sand from the wind. Best thing about the beach was the Cliff Walk we discovered adjacent to it. What an amazing view while “hiking” along the shoreline.
We only spent 3 days in Newport, but we would definitely go back. In fact, we hear the Jazz Festival is a great time to visit.
Have you road tripped anywhere this summer? Looks like it’s going to be our mode of transportation for awhile until things normalize again. We’re definitely grateful to live near so many amazing places that are just a short ride away.