Rhode Island Day 2
On the second day of our Rhode Island trip, we got up early and headed toward Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge to do some birding. However, we first stopped at Second Beach to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise! Below is a cell phone photo.
From there we drove on out to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. Here are a few cell phone photos showing the area, and how sleepy we still look! Notice the deer in the first photo.
We did quite a bit of hiking! There were tons of sparrows, and I even managed to get two life birds (species I’d never seen before): a Harlequin Duck and a Field Sparrow. The duck was too far away for a good photo; I did get several for ID purposes but they’re not worth sharing. However, here is the Field Sparrow – a regular shot and a zoomed-in shot, to show how camouflaged it was:
Here is a link to my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S200303784
And here are a few other birds and wildlife from this morning. In order, they are:
- Gray Catbird
- another Gray Catbird
- Swamp Sparrow
- Yellow-throated Sparrow
- White-tailed Deer
- Song Sparrow
Click any image to see a larger version.
After birding, we went to a place called Yiayia’s Cafe for breakfast, and then embarked on the famous Newport Cliff Walk.
The Cliff Walk is a 3.5 mile paved path at the top of, you guess it, cliffs! It’s famous for the mansions built along the way, many left over from the Gilded Age. More about the mansions later. The path has quite a view looking out over Easton Bay. Here are some of our photos from the walk itself, including a few of the back of a couple of the mansions:
We ended at The Breakers, which is the most famous of all the Newport Mansions. It was designed for the Vanderbilt family by Richard Morris Hunt (if you’ve read The Devil in the White City, you’ll know the name.) It was build from 1893-1895, has 70 rooms, and a living area of 62,482 square feet.
So here are my thoughts on the mansion. It’s beautiful. It’s ostentatious. Many Americans of the time were starving (as many are today) while the Vanderbilts squandered their wealth on this and their other homes. It’s hard to stomach. Then again, I know I come from a place of privilege, if on a much smaller level, so I tried to enjoy what I could. Here are a few photos.
I’m glad we went, but I’m also glad we didn’t try to tour more of the mansions. Many are open to visitors. It’s just not my thing, really.
After we finished our tour, we walked back to our B&B along the streets, where we got to see more pretty leaves changing colors. We eventually had to get back onto the Cliff Walk, though, so we would finish up back where we parked.
After getting up early and walking almost 7 miles, it was definitely time for a rest at Admiral Sim’s House, our B&B.
That evening, we had reservations at White Horse Tavern. It is America’s oldest operating restaurant and tavern! It originally opened in 1673, so that’s 351 years from opening day to our dining experience!
Here are some photos of the exterior and interior.
And here are a few photos of our food and drink.
I wish I’d written down what we had, but I think it was (in order) an old fashioned, a Scotch egg, lobster bisque, lobster ravioli, and steak frites.
We also ended up in a conversation with a lovely couple at the next table! We all shared travel stories, as well as a bread pudding.
I think Day 2 was my favorite!!!
