This is Newport, Rhode Island Day; and being lazy bums, we get off to a late start. So, after a brunch in Providence, we catch the #60 bus from Kennedy Plaza. The bus takes almost an hour and a half and lets us off near the town.
Newport, located on Aquidneck Island, once eclipsed Providence as the lead city in Rhode Island. Incorporated as a town in 1639, Newport has about 25,000 residents. None other than Benedict Arnold was the first governor (when the statehouse was located here), and a lot of famous people were either born or worked in Newport.
We walk a short distance from the bus depot to the Long Wharf shopping mall. If you want to buy stuff in Newport, this is the place. Whether it’s clothing, souvenirs, or food, they’ve got a shop for it here.
We can see the Old Colony House from here. Built in 1739, this building is the fourth oldest statehouse still kicking in the USA. Slaves probably helped erect it since the slave trade was big (and legal) business at the time. Newport, and not Providence, was where the state of Rhode Island was governed during those years, and the Stamp Act riot took place just in front of this house in 1765.
Strolling down Thames Street is pleasant. It is one of the two oldest continuously used streets in the town and runs for about a mile and a half. It’s pretty much as it was laid out in 1654; except the colonial houses are now souvenir shops and restaurants.
On the walk back to the bus depot, it is hard to miss Trinity Church. Constructed in 1726 and looking similar to Boston’s Old North Church, Trinity Church is built entirely out of wood. How they have kept the termites at bay for so long, I’ll never know.
The Newport Trolley bus will take us to where we want to go-we think. After some doubtful moments, the bus eventually deposits us at one end of Newport’s “Cliff Walk” on Memorial Boulevard.
The Cliff Walk doesn’t begin at Easton’s Beach; but there is a fine panoramic view of it from the trail. The full length of the walk is about 3 1/2 miles. We don’t walk quite that far, as the last part of it (near Bailey’s Beach) is a bit dicey.
The far shore and the Sakonnet Lighthouse on Little Compton beckons to us as we walk along.
The path is paved and runs between the rocks along Narragansett Bay on the left and the manicured green lawns of the mansions on the right. These mansions are a famous attraction of Newport, and were particularly notable during the Gilded Age-although most of them are no longer privately owned.
The Chanler Mansion, for instance, was completed in 1873 for New York Congressman John Winthrop Chanler. Now it is a hotel-with stunning views of Cliff Walk and the Bay. If you owned a mansion here, you didn’t have to worry about intruders on the water side. The lawns are vast and the Bay is quite some distance from the houses. So no worries on that account.
Occasionally, there are paths diverting from the Cliff Walk that head down the cliff towards the rocks and the water. These are always marked by caution signs showing a fictional walker falling to his death or major injury. Needless to say, we don’t try any of these side paths.
Of course, the caution signs don’t deter everyone from going down a side path. Even though it’s not so hot, we see swimmers upon a big rock at the edge of the cliff. They must have been desperate for a swim-or an occasion to booze up.
We can see a few sailboats out on Narragansett Bay. This bay covers almost 150 square miles and is on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. It is New England’s largest estuary and it’s a great place for sailing. The “America’s Cup” sailboat race was conducted here for many years, and John and Jackie Kennedy sailed the waters of Narragansett Bay quite often on the Presidential yacht the “Honey Fitz”.
The only authorized place to descend from the cliff path to the edge of Narragansett Bay is via the “Forty Steps”. Tradition has it that David Priestly Hall had the first steps to the Bay built so that his children could have access to the water and the rocky shore. That was in the 1830’s and the steps back then were wooden. Hall gave the general public access to these steps about a decade later.
Mansion servants used to meet here during the Gilded Age for trysts or just to shoot the breeze.
By the 1980’s, the wooden steps were rotting and the place was declared unsafe. Only in the 1990’s were the steps replace by granite ones and the Forty Steps became an attraction along Cliff Walk. Let’s head down.
We can see “Conrad’s Cave” as we arrive near the base of the Forty Steps. The waves swoosh in and out of it.
Of course, there are nice views of the coastline from down here and a competition of sorts for photos. Speaking of photos, it was about at this time that the battery fell out of my good camera unbeknowst to me. I never found it again, had no replacement with me, and had to use my cell phone camera for the rest of the trip. Yikes! But it could have been worse before smart phones.
Back up on the Cliff Walk, we have a not-so-close encounter with Ochre Court. Built in 1892 and looking every bit like a chateau, it was the second-largest mansion in Newport. The fabulously wealthy Goelet family used it as a summer residence before donating it to the Sisters of Mercy in 1947.
Well, the Sisters of Mercy were merciless in accumulating real estate. The Goelet bequest set a precedent and, before one knew it, the good Sisters had eighty acres of prime real estate at their disposal. What to do with all that land? Why not build a university? That’s exactly what the Sisters of Mercy did, establishing Salve Regina College (it became a university in 1991) and making Ochre Court its administrative building. About 2,600 students attend classes here. It’s Catholic, of course, and is especially known for its nursing program.
And now along Cliff Walk, we stroll towards the big enchilada, the crème de la crème: The Breakers. The Breakers was built in the 1890’s as a summer residence for the wealthy Vanderbilt family. In this mansion, there are 70 rooms on five floors. Befitting the grandest mansion in Newport, most of the interior is made of marble, rare and exotic woods, or mosaics.
The Sisters of Mercy didn’t get their hands on this one; although The Preservation Society of Newport County now owns the building. Until recently, there were still Vanderbilts living here.
The combination of a stone wall and sturdy metal fence makes it hard to even see the Breakers from waterside, let alone break in. Those Preservation people take security seriously! At least there is a nice little pavilion near the Cliff Walk. It looks suspiciously like a guard house, though.
It’s easy to see how The Breakers got its name. The surf is particularly rugged in this place.
So that is it for the Cliff Walk. My girlfriend goes looking for my lost camera battery while I stroll up to a street to check out the transportation options back to Newport town.
Back in Newport, we return to Thames Street and walk for a bit. A monkey grinder statue in one of the side streets makes us wonder what the hell that is about. Called the “Hurdy Gurdy”, one can at least support a worthy cause by inserting coins in the monkey’s can. All money goes to the Child & Family Services of Newport.
Since we have some time before we have to return to the bus depot and our ride back to Providence, my girlfriend explores a few souvenir shops for t-shirts. She graciously buys me a small whale ashtray. Rhode Island was once a big player in sperm whale oil candle production and manufacture, and some whales can still be seen plying the waters here.
Although we would stay in Providence a few more nights, we see no more of Rhode Island…a pity, since what we have seen has impressed us. Instead, we focus on elsewhere, and the train station is about a mile away from our hotel-passing the hill on which the State Capitol Building sits. Erected in 1901, the Rhode Island State House has one of the largest stone domes in the world; and, on top of the edifice (it is covered and being renovated during our visit) stands the gold-plated “Independent Man”-alluding to the freedom and independence which inspired Roger Williams to found this colony. Not bad, Rhode Island. Not bad at all.
Musical Interlude: “All of Me”-Dinah Washington at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival