In April we went a bit north, so this past weekend we decided to go a bit south. I hadn’t been to Newport for quite a while, probably 15 or 20 years, so it was mostly new again for me. As usual, we seemed to fit quite a bit of activity in, but it still felt like a vacation.
We stayed at a little B&B called Polly’s. It was more like staying with your grandmother than visiting a B&B, but it was decent. The breakfasts (yogurt parfait on Saturday and french toast on Sunday) were a little disappointing, but the place was clean and quiet and the backyard was very nice. Considering it was relatively cheap ($339 for the weekend) and we booked just a few weeks in advance, not bad.
Saturday night was a tasty meal at the Atlantic Beach Club, whose history (on the back of the menu) seems to basically be the fact that it gets destroyed in every major hurricane. Pumpkin-seed encrusted swordfish and filet mignon in Bearnaise sauce were excellent.
We decided to do the Cliff Walk on Saturday morning, originally intending to do the northern half and do the other half Sunday. However, we felt ambitious at the halfway point and did the whole thing in one shot. Little did we know that the southern half is mostly unpaved and more like rock hiking than walking.
It was very nice, very sunny, and very tiring, we estimated that round-trip it was about 8 miles. A tasty 7-cheese pizza from Grilled Pizza on Thames and some excellent gelato (Tiramasu for me, Oreo for her) from Cold Fusion gave us the energy to make it back to the car.
After a couple hours of rest, we were back in action, this time taking the last harbor cruise of the day. The narrator Phil was informative, especially when he announced “uhh, if you look to starboard you’ll see a sailboat sinking”.
We dined at Loca. When most places have 90 minute waits, you can’t expect much from a place with open tables, but it was acceptable. Steak stips with Gorgonzola were tasty, chipotle ribs made up in tenderness what they lacked in excitement.
Sunday we hit a couple of mansions. I remembered The Breakers a bit from my trip as a child, but it was good to see again, and it was also good that our 175-year-old tour guide lived till the end. We also saw Rosecliff, which isn’t as impressive, but was still nice. We spent a good part of the tour chuckling at the massive wedgie a fellow touree had.
Lunch was at Becky’s BBQ. The chicken and potato salad was good, the ribs and sauces were mediocre, and the pulled pork had the texture of paste, yuck. Luckily the wine we tasted at Newport Vineyards was mostly very nice, and we even brought a few bottles back. We capped the trip off with a trip down scenic Ocean Drive, and headed home.
More pictures…
A couple weekends ago we took a trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvannia (i.e. Amish Country). One of the days we decided to go to Hershey, PA (technically Derry Township). The touristy stuff there obviously revolves around the Hershey company or its namesake and founder.
Hershey’s Chocolate World is a very clean, excessively corporate, attraction. Most of it is obviously targeted at kids. It features a “simulated factory tour,” which is a ride where animatronic cows sing to you how they make chocolate, a gigantic gift shop, and is the home base for a town-wide trolley ride.
The trolley ride was led by what I’d have to guess is one of the biggest Milton Snavely Hershey fanboys out there, but in between his fawning we got to see the town and the school which the Hershey’s founded in lieu of having children (Mrs. Hershey had MS). The school is simply amazing for a high school, especially one that charges no tuition.