Walking around the seaport town of Newport, Rhode Island, feels like a dream. Not because it’s perfect (although, it is), but because you can never fully shake the feeling you’re moving through a movie set; a backdrop carefully curated for a period piece on how America’s elite summered in the 1980s.
Here, roads are bordered by stately oak trees and called Maple Drive or Pleasant St. Flawlessly manicured lawns stretch out before postcard villas that may differ in style and colour (Navy Victorians and ochre Colonials neighbour cream Romans and merlot Georgians) but share the same accessories; an American flag above the door, Chevrolet in the driveway, flower pot on the porch. Downtown is equally old-world charming, with ornate cottage-style shops, cobblestone streets and nautically-inspired decor. Like Auckland, it’s a city of sails, and more than a few sails in the bay are attached to mega-yachts owned by millionaires.
“To understand Rhode Island you gotta understand the Bay,” said Mark, a Newport local showing us around. “The bay is our fine jewel; we all have boats here and every weekend we’re out enjoying them.” The coastline’s legacy goes far beyond weekend boat trips, and was the foundation upon which the town was built. After becoming one of the five leading ports in the US during the 18th century, Newport boomed to support maritime trade.
A century later, it became the destination du jour for America's rich and famous, who spent their millions building gigantic mansions but maintained a connection to the sailing culture that continues today.
So, whether you love sailing, or are intrigued by the old-world ways of America's elite, here's how to spend 24 hours in this perfectly preppy town.
Learn the ropes at the Sailing Museum
Newport has a long maritime legacy, but its more recent history is on show at the Sailing Museum. As someone who has tried sailing once (and has the scar to prove it), I wasn’t exactly hanging out to wander around rooms of static diagrams and long-winded descriptions. So, I was pleasantly surprised by a single, large room packed with digital and interactive delights.
After snapping on a bracelet with a QR code, visitors are invited to wander around several stations where you can build, name and decorate your own boat, before completing virtual reality tasks like raising a mast or steering around a course. In between the screens, you can also take in several video projections, life-sized props and cases of quirky artefacts from sailing Hall of Fame members.
See sporting legends at the Newport Casino
To continue the sporting theme, make your next stop the Newport Casino, just a few doors down Bellevue Avenue. Despite the name, the complex was opened in the summer of 1880 as a social club where the Newport elite could play tennis, watch theatre, attend events and, of course, trade gossip. Today, however, it draws a very different crowd as the location of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Walking through the museum, we first pass through the literal hall dedicated to the stars of the sport. Of the 262 inductees across 27 countries, there is just one Kiwi, Anthony Wilding, who was inducted in 1978.
We pass dozens of life-sized vignettes and large displays that tell the story of tennis, from its humble beginnings as an elite hobby played with wooden bats and heavy white petticoats to the competitive sport featuring featherlight racquets and multimillion-dollar sponsorships. Whether you’re interested in the social rites of 19th century sport or the rise of celebrity athletes in the 60s, the politics of sports fashion or how women closed the tennis pay gap, there’s something here for everyone.
Tour the Mansions
Hot, bothered and looking for somewhere nice to summer, many wealthy New Yorkers made Newport their vacation spot in the 19th century. However, they weren’t about to stay in a humble seaport cottage, especially during the Gilded Age (a period of staggering materialism and political corruption in 1870s America). So they put fortunes forged from tobacco, margarine, oil and the like towards mansions of spectacular proportions. To say it became a matter of “keeping up with the Joneses” isn’t a metaphor; the Joneses not only had a house in Newport but supposedly owned the first personal car.
Today, most of the mansions are still owned by individuals (we’re pointed towards one that recently sold for a cool US$30 million), while others are owned by the Newport Restoration Society, and open for experiences to the public.
One such house is the Breakers. Considered the grandest Newport mansion, the “intimate” 5ha property (for context, think of 13 rugby fields) was home to Mr and Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt II and their seven children. At least, home for the summer. While not a history buff nor up to speed on the television series The Gilded Age, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the obscene lavishness of the sprawling Renaissance Revival-style palace.
Walls of the “morning room” were papered in platinum and the library had a fireplace the size of my VW polo. A billiards room featured hand-laid mosaic tile flooring while the guest dining room (not to be confused with the personal dining room) had life-sized human sculptures on the ceiling, two massive Baccarat crystal chandeliers and red velvet curtains draped around alabaster archways. There’s enough gold in any given room to make your teeth hurt and to get lost between the rooms isn’t hard; there are at least 70. While walls don’t talk, the 45-minute audio tour offers some insightful stories about the Vanderbilts and their life of supreme affluence.
Walk Washington square and grab lunch at Bar ’Cino
A mooch along Broadway St takes you past the customary tourist shops that sell “nothing you need but everything you might want”, according to our guide. If you’re looking for an endless selection of items emblazoned with “Newport”, or nautical-themed homeware, you’ll find it here.
After shopping up an appetite, the southernmost end of the street finds you in the Historic District, and more importantly, at Bar ’Cino in Washington Square. Italian-inspired, the menu also draws flavours from Mexico and features stacked charcuterie boards, thin-crust pizzas, fresh pastas and incredible salads alongside an impressive craft cocktail menu. Just make sure you save room for dessert, which stars a fluffy pistachio-ricotta-cream layer cake and dense, rich tiramisu.
Wander along the Cliff Walk
To see the mansions from another point of view, and get some good ocean air in the lungs, take a stroll along the popular Cliff Walk. The 5.6km trail hugs the rugged coastline in a mix of pavement and rocky trail and offers views of the famous mansions, as well as the vast horizon and (if you’re lucky) some ocean wildlife.
The northern end starts by Easton’s Beach on Memorial Blvd but has several entrances/exists including Narragansett Ave, Webster St, Sheppard Ave, Ruggles Ave, Marine Ave and Ledge Rd, before popping out at Bellevue Ave. A brisk pace will complete the walk in around 2.5 hours but for a shorter stretch, try covering Narragansett Ave. to Ruggles Ave.
Grab a drink atop the Vanderbilt hotel
Round out the day with a well-earned drink on top of the Vanderbilt Hotel. Built by Cornelius II’s third son, the residence is a tad humbler than his father’s palace, and located downtown facing Newport Harbour, but was gifted to the city after completion in 1908. In the 1990s it began its life as a hotel and now features a trendy rooftop bar to match. After grabbing a drink on the top floor to take in the views, use the setting sun as an excuse to move indoors, where the ground floor bar is decked out with stylish vintage art and plush velvet seats.
DETAILS: RHODE ISLAND
Getting there
Hawaiian Airlines flies from Auckland to Boston, via Honolulu, with return Economy Class fares starting from $2019 return. Flights depart Auckland three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and connect to 15 US mainland cities.
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