Newport, Rhode Island - Part 1

Chris and I decided to try to get away together for our 7th wedding anniversary, and also our last trip before baby Strat #2 comes. Our original plans didn't work out (a cruise - they wouldn't let me travel as far along as I was), so we brainstormed and decided to go back to Newport, RI. We had visited very briefly five years ago on our summer of travel and loved it, so decided it would be a great place to explore a little further. We left Eleanor with Chris' family and took flight.

We met up with some friends in Connecticut on our way there and got to meet their new baby.

Once we got to Rhode Island, we hit the ground running. The thing I wanted to do most while we were there is walk the whole cliff walk. The cliff walk is a 3.5 mile walk/hike along the coast with gorgeous views and mansions all along it. Since we were staying downtown and parking is fairly difficult, we decided to walk from where we were staying. The entire thing was too much for one day, so we split it in half and did the first part the evening we got there. The weather was awesome, but the walk was long. The first day we ended up walking around 5 miles round trip on mostly rugged terrain.

That evening we headed downtown for dinner (getting a ride with Uber) and then walked back to our place, adding another mile and change to our daily total.

The next morning we "slept in" until 8am and then found a delicious breakfast place. After breakfast, we headed back out on the cliff walk and walked what ended up being another 5ish miles.

This part of the cliff walk included the 40 steps, which is an area that allows you to climb down to the water.

Overall, the whole thing is beautiful, but by the end of this part of our trip, I was dragging. All together we had walked well over 10 miles, probably closer to a half marathon, in just 24 hours. My feet were tired! We grabbed some lunch and then headed to the next activity on our list, which involved sitting...sailing! Neither Chris nor I had ever been sailing before, and sailing is pretty huge in Newport, so we decided to go on a sailing trip.

Obviously there were real sailing people driving the boat, but Chris didn't hesitate to take a turn.

There was also no shortage of Wedding Crashers quotes bantered by (mostly) Chris and myself ("We're tacking back 'round." "Ease the sheet, swing the jib starboard!")

While we were sailing around the cliffs, we got to see lots of interesting houses including this little gem, which you can rent out and stay in (as long as you sit on the wait list for 2-3 years):

The house is isolated on a little rock island, self-sufficient, and completely off the grid with it's own waste management system, solar panels, wind turbine, and composting system.

We also saw the childhood home of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, as well as her "dollhouse" which you can see to the left of the picture below.

The trip around Narragansett Bay was absolutely amazing and a great way to spend the afternoon of our actual anniversary. We then walked back to our place and relaxed a bit (or napped in my case) before heading out to an anniversary dinner. I'll try to post the second half of our trip later this week!