3 Days in Rhode Island

We had a little time in between our Maine road trip and our next big plan (the Jets game in Newark and then New York City!), so we decided to squeeze in a stay in Rhode Island. I never thought much about it, but Rhode Island has a LOT of coastline for such a small state.

To all my east coast friends who are rolling their eyes at me, just remember that many of the Northeastern states are tiny compared to California, so it’s hard to really keep them separate (which one is east, Vermont or New Hampshire? Are they really even different states? 😜)

We were lucky to get an airbnb at the last minute that was reasonably priced AND 3 blocks from the coast in Narragansett. It was an interesting house that had 4 units - the owner lives on the first floor, her daughter lives on the second floor with her husband, 2 kids and a dog, and they have two “units” that they rent out via airbnb. Ours was tiny - basically one room with kitchen and bath. But it had a really cute porch and did I mention it was 3 blocks from the coast?

We did a lot of walking by the water - to get coffee, get lunch, get exercise, etc, etc. And the weather was fantastic!

One of the days we went to Newport (which is only a 20-30 minute drive from Narragansett over bridges and an island), mostly to see the mansions. The Breakers was definitely the highlight of the visit, and you can take a self guided tour throughout the house and grounds, since no one lives there anymore. It was huge, had an amazing view of the ocean, and was decorated so much like Versailles, I was really surprised. I guess I never thought American mansions would be decorated in that style. I took a stupid number of photos, so I set up a separate gallery for them (see here), but here is a small sampling so you get the idea: