Best of: Newport

Seeing as I was in Newport for 24 hours longer than I was in Mystic technically, you'd think I would have all sorts of fabulous things to say about the richest town I've ever seen.  But I don't really.  Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous, and I'm sure the beautiful people enjoy their very polished lives there.  But technically, I went to Nantucket for 12 of those 48 hours, so I didn't get to see much.

I suppose the big draw of Newport are the mansions.  They're EVERYwhere!  They're all big, and all gorgeous!  Some you can tour and some have actual super rich people living out their every day in them.  The most famous I suppose, is The Breakers.  The Breakers is owned by the Vanderbilt family (aka, Anderson Cooper's family) and is bigger and more ostentatious than you'd ever believe.  There was marble and gilding and silver out the wazoo, which is not really my thing.  But the view and the grounds made the place.  Just like in most places we visited, I'm pretty sure the gardeners are quite well paid.

My most favorite part was the Cliff-walk leading to most of the mansions.  It's about a mile and half right on the water.  You get great views of the water and Rhode Island, but you also get great views of the backs of some of these enormous houses.  Aside from taking your life into your hands, traversing some serious rocks instead of concrete walk-ways, it's a fantastic way to spend the afternoon.  I only wish it would have been a prettier day - the cloudy skies made for some dreary pics.