average photos of cool places: 06/27/12

For our second mini break we decided to head to Newport, Rhode Island, to see how the other half live.

On the way there we made a few little side stops. The first was Fairfield Connecticut where we tried to enter some of the national parks and beaches but were turned away because we didn't want to have to pay $25 and upwards just to have a quick look around (who knew beaches weren't free?). We managed to sweet talk (we being Marc) our way onto one beach but had to promise we wouldn't go anywhere near the water. Luckily it was a little windy and cooler than I would like for beach weather so there was no chance I would be going anywhere close to the water. We had a look around and then got back on the road.

Cruisin' through the 'burbs of Fairfield, Connecticut

Trying to sneak on to a crappy "public" beach

View of the nice private beach from the crappy public beach that you still have to pay for.

The crappy "public" beach over run with bathers.

What are people actually paying for? Obviously not a working jetty...

The next stop on the way to Newport was the Pez factory! Highlight - being told we weren't taking enough samples!

Definitely three of my favourite flavours.

They're mine!!! ALL MINE!!!!

They will still rot your teeth but they won't rot your brain.

Necessary.

After the Pez factory we headed to New Haven for lunch. We also had a quick wander around Yale but the stench to highly educated over achievers was too much for me.

Some part of the Yale campus

Lunching on the lawn

Enough fooling around, it was now time to head to Newport where Marc had planned an action packed couple of days.

We started with the Ocean Drive which is 10 miles of spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and the million dollar mansions.

After the drive we headed back in to town for dinner down on the water.

The next day we set off to do the cliff walk, a 3.5 mile walk along the eastern shore of Newport. The walk affords stunning views of the ocean and of the million dollar mansion which hug the cliff.

Starting the Cliff Walk

And squirrels too! Such a treat.

At the end of the walk Marc and I decided to check out some of the historic Newport Mansions. The Newport Preservation society bought or were given a lot of the Mansions which were built during the Gilded Age or earlier. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside the houses but there are links to each of the houses so you can see what they looked like inside. Simply amazing and completely over the top, they really were living in such a different time.

All the houses we visited were the summer houses (or "cottages as Newporters called them) of the extremely wealthy. They were often only used for eight to 12 weeks of the year and would host numerous parties, balls and social gatherings. It is estimated that to run the houses for each summer season could cost upwards of $200,000 (including entertaining and maintaining a full staff).

The first house we visited was Marble House which was a beautiful white building inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. It was built for Alva Vanderbilt (yes of those Vanderbilts) and contains 50,000 cubic feet of marble.

The grand entry into Marble House

The backyard of Marble House.

The next house was Rosecliff which was built for Theresa Fair Oelrichs. It was inspired by the Grand Trianon at Versailles.

The third mansion we visited was The Breakers and is possibly the grandest of all the Newport Mansions. It was owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt and it really did show off all the wealth the family had.

The view from the upstairs balcony at The Breakers

The front of the "cottage".

The back of the mansion

We thought we would give the mansions a rest for the day and head into Providence to check it out. We had hoped to see something called WaterFire but as it was a random week night there wasn't a whole lot going on. We had a little wander around, grabbed some dinner then saw a movie at a really cute independent cinema.

The next morning we got up early and headed back to the Newport Mansions to check out a few more.

We had a look at Chateau-sur-Mer which was built in 1852 and was the grandest house in Newport at the time until The Breakers was built.

The last mansion we looked at was The Elms. Yet another amazing grand mansion now owned and maintained by the Preservation Society.