3 Months In Rhode Island, What did we see?
In short answer, not enough…
Have you changed your travel plans due to coronavirus? Are you postponing your trip or stick with the plan? We have definitely changed our plans - more than once - this year.
We originally planned to fly from Hawaii to China in late January. That obviously didn't work out.
We changed course to come back to the US mainland, staying put in San Francisco for a few weeks, expecting our trip to China somehow would go through at some point. Oh how naive was that! In fact, there were a handful cases, including community spread cases, in northern California, by the time we left San Francisco.
The day we came to Newport, Rhode Island, we heard about its first case. Nevertheless, we felt pretty safe, and didn’t accumulate any hand sanitizers or disinfectant wipes, or oh toilet paper! It was just unfortunate we couldn't make plans to visit friends or places.
The following was a collection of notes I jot down during our first month stay. We ended up staying for 3 months, but didn’t do much in the last 2 months as everything was locked down. My husband took up all the grocery shopping, so I became a stay-at-home mom on a very strict term for the first time.
Quick Facts about Newport
Newport, Rhode Island, was an important port in the 18th century. It is most known for historic mansions and hosting American Cup.
The Bay Exploration Center & Aquarium
Our first stop was this tiny little aquarium. It was literally just a two room show. Yet Apollo spent a good hour talking to the staff, checking out the fish (didn’t I mention before he loves fish?!), and came up with some creative ideas, such as a shell as a boat, to entertain himself. There were a few other families in and out during our visit, but he out lasted everyone and eventually was the only one in the room. It was hard to get him leave. And after just one day, he wanted to go back again.
In fact this was Apollo’s 2nd trip to Rhode Island. He was less than 2 in his first trip and didn’t remember anything. Hopefully he would keep some good memories this time.
New England Aquarium
We visited Boston over a weekend and took our first trip to New England Aquarium. To say the aquarium was crowded was an understatement. It took us a while to line up for the tickets, and getting around with a stroller definitely added some challenge. We constantly got stuck in crowds and could barely move.
Despite the tickets and the $40 parking fee, we took a quick visit and headed out. We picked the afternoon for the visit and thought a dark environment could help our 2 yo nap easily. On the contrary, the scene excited him more than we’d imagined. Our nap plan fell apart completely (as it happened many times before) but at least our little ones enjoyed the aquarium.
Cliff Walk
After a few days of doing nothing, we went for a hike along the 3.5-mile Cliff Walk, probably the most well known tourist attraction in Newport. It is a scenic trail along the coast that combines the shoreline nature with historic architecture.
Our little ones jumped all the way in excitement, and learned some new skills (eg. climbing trees). It took us more than 2 hours to cover less than half the distance, but the time was well spent.
However the walk was not something to be completed by little footsteps in one visit. We visited along different sections of the walk separately, and enjoyed the southern section the most (pictures below). In hindsight, perhaps I just like the cloudy day as the pictures look better. Check out why in my 30 day photo tips online ebook.
the Breakers
When we came back from our 2.5 hour cliff walk the first time, Apollo saw a black tall gate and insisted walking in to take a look. I honestly didn’t know what it was but it was hard to neglect the grandeur of the architecture.
I later found out it was the Breakers, the most well known Gilded Age mansion in Newport, and probably one of the most important historic mansions in the US as well.
It’s worth to mention that Bellevue Avenue has many nice mansions. But they were mostly closed this time.
Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge
Renowned for saltwater fishing, and home to the largest winter population of harlequin ducks on the east coast, Sachuest Point was one of our most visited places in Newport.
Our 2 yo became addicted to climbing these days, and had a total blast jumping - or crawling - on the rocks. He was so disappointed to leave. We didn’t know if or when we would need to follow other states to stay at home, given the low population density in Rhode Island. There was still a little hope that we could go out for the beach hike again.
Flint Point Loop Trail
A 1.3-mile loop trail within Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. It was known for birdwatching. We did a little bit of that, but most of the time simply enjoyed the shoreline walk.
Overall, Newport is a pretty neat town. We came here the first time a couple of years ago in the summer. I have to admit this winter visit was totally different. It was much quieter, oh well, because of the weather and the virus.
It is pretty easy to remember the name of the main beaches, namely First Beach (also Easton's Beach), Second Beach (also Sachuest Beach), and Third Beach. We visited the latter two the most.
We visited Cliff Walk for the last time in the end of March. Several hours after we came back home, we saw the executive order from Rhode Island governor, plus a more stricter order for New York visitors. There is still a lot to see in this little town. Guess we will have to wait for a while.
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