Newport - Clam Central

Fast Boat - Newport
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Providence, the state capital of Rhode Island didn't look too promising when we stopped off for lunch, but Newport, an hour to the south was another matter. Gorgeous old buildings combined with lots of nice restaurants on the water's edge and a big dose of sunshine made our decision to stop here easy. Our guidebook recommended a B&B called the Stella Maris, which Phill thought must involve beer and spuds, and was therefore keen. In reality it was a big old 1850s redstone house overlooking the bay. Lots of blue hydrangeas surrounded a patio with rocking chairs, which we sat in with a glass of chilled white wine from Michigan.

Newport Harbour
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Our hosts, Dorothy and Ed were another nice old couple who were keen to organise our stay with recommendations on what to see and where to go - we did not take them up on all of them as we would have had to stay for a week, but did an interesting tour of the library - the oldest in the US - and checked out the boathouse down the road where the Puma round the world boat is housed. Dorothy was also an excellent cook and seemed to spend her afternoons baking some cake or another which we would eat for breakfast on the patio the next day with home made marmalade. A 15 minute walk took us into the centre of town which was busy with weekenders and holiday makers. In the evenings we agonised over which of the hundreds of restaurants to go to and ended up in an unassuming place serving the local clams (quahogs) which come with a bowl of broth to remove the grit and a bowl of melted butter for dipping - highly recommended if you can get past their strange and very phallic shaped siphons. We also tried out some lobster at a restaurant right next door to the Aquidneck Lobster Co, where we had seen hundreds milling around in their tanks earlier in the day, so we knew they were nice and fresh!

Stella Maris B&B - Newport
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Newport is also well known for its huge mansions built by the rich and famous at the turn of the century. Many of these were lined up for demolition by nasty developers until the town organised a preservation society, and many are now open to the public. Although we weren't too bothered about paying to traipse around a replica of Versailles, we took a pleasant walk along the cliffs which gives you a view of some of these monsters and the sea. Much prettier, we thought, were the older, mostly wooden mansions along the bay where our hotel was and Monts, as usual, had her eye on something we could never afford.