9.01.2011

Newport, Rhode Island {Day 1}


Good morning loves.


Today I will be sharing the first day of our trip to the East coast!


We landed early Wednesday morning in Providence, Rhode Island {home of DJ PAULY D ladies haha). My aunt and uncle picked us up at the airport and we already knew what we had planned for the day!

We headed to one of my favorite locations...Newport, Rhode Island where we toured the Newport Mansions.

I have toured the mansions before, but this was Billy's first time. We both love history and who doesn't enjoy getting to tour mansions?! These mansions are unlike anything you will ever see....they are massive (one is 170,000 sq ft!) and have the most intricate details. You may be familar with the mansions in this area, but if you aren't, here's some information:


Newport was the summer social capital of the nation during The Gilded Age (1865-1914).  The families (the Vanderbilts are one) who built summer houses in this coastal city were leaders in national life, in great part driving American art, architecture, diplomacy, and business.  Newport’s houses reflect the evolution of the country’s architecture and the social story of the people who designed, built, lived in, and maintained these buildings. 

The families referred to these homes as their "summer cottage"..so just remember that when looking at the pictures I took of the homes.  Back then, there was no income tax. Can you even imagine?


Here are pictures from our day.



Us in front of the Breakers.
the biggest of the "summer cottages" at 170,000 st ft.
70 rooms.




You have the option of doing an audio tour and to us, that is the best part of touring the mansions! You get to follow along room by room while they describe every room, every detail that went into building the home, and about the family who lived in it!

It is so interesting to hear about how the families lived back then. One interesting thing I learned was that the women would change outfits up to 7 times per day!

 I would love to just go back for ONE DAY and see how it really was.






the back... it's pretty small, right?!



My cousin, Christopher (far right), and his girlfriend Caryn drove in from Danbury, CT to spend the day with us and tour the mansions!


Here are 2 other mansions we toured:
The Elms
and
The Marble House (which was both Billy and I's favorite!)






After we spent the day touring some mansions, we drove back to Providence where 3 of my other cousins drove in to meet us for dinner.



The valet driver at the restaurant actually went to high school with Pauly D and sounded JUST like him! it was hilarious to hear him.

Since no dinner in our family would be complete without dessert, we walked on over to Federal Hill (a popular area in Providence) to get some yummy treats!





We ended up with various canoli's, red velvet cupcakes, and cheesecake! There was actually live kareoke contests going on, so it was rather busy in Federal Hill for a Weds. evening. We had such a blast together and I'm so thankful for all my cousins who drove from various locations in Boston to spend the evening with us!

After everyone said goodbye, we made the drive to my aunt and uncle's house in Plymouth, MA where we stayed for the week. To say we slept good that night would be an extreme understatement, but we love keeping busy on vacations!


If you haven't toured the Newport Mansions yet and you are in the area, I strongly recommend doing it...especially if you are a history buff. It's fun either way! ;)

Also, the town of Newport has a bunch of cute shops and restaurants on the water so make sure to check those out.

That's it for Day 1.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about it!




29 comments

  1. Those houses are amazing!! I can only imagine what they looked like back in the day. The Hubs and I love that kind of stuff...I am having vacation ideas....

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  2. I was in Providence for work a few months ago and drove to Newport one night...the mansions were AMAZING and Newport was such a cute, fun town. Looks like yall had a great time :)

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  3. I LOVE Newport! My brother and his wife just moved back to Iowa from Newport and I'm sad I won't get to go back and have a free place to stay. The Breakers was the only mansion I toured when I was out there, but I'm with ya 100%...I'd love to go back for a day and see how people actually lived.

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  4. I would loooove to tour those homes. I honestly just love touring homes in general - like Open Houses for beach houses when I'm on vacation. It's so fun to imagine living there. My sister and I used to claim our rooms when we would look at a new house - imagination is such a fun thing ;)

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  5. Oh Katie, I am really glad you got to tour my summer house in Newport... glad you liked it! Haha! Kidding! Those homes were fantastic! (Your outfit that day was super cute by the way) I cannot wait to hear about the rest of your trip! Glad you and Billy had a wonderful time!

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  6. I totally agree with you--I would love to spend just one day living like they did! Those "summer cottages"/enormous mansions are so gorgeous!! I am looking forward to the rest of your recap!

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  7. Side note - My dad RENTED OUT the Marble House one night a few years back. Pretty cool, huh? It's my favorite "summer cottage" also!

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  8. Looks like a great time! Good company and good food! My type of trip!

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  9. Beautiful photos! Have fun!

    So i just saw that The Last Lecture is one of your favorite books and I have to tell you its my top two! I have it on tape (CD) and i have listened to it over a dozen times. It changed my life and my view on life and I will forever be thankful to Randy for it.

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  10. I'm so glad I learned about the Newport mansions now because I had NO idea and SO have to go! It's going on my list of things to do :) Going in one mansion is cool, but going in a bunch is awesome because then you can compare and decide which one you would've lived in! Oh and I NEED your outfit, by the way :)

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  11. Looks like so much fun! You and your man are so cute together =) I can't wait to keep reading more about your trip!

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  12. OMG! This is totally my kind of tourist stuff! Love it!! :)

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  13. I would take that summer "cottage". great post!

    xoxo navy & orange

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  14. Such great photos. I love the Northeast! I definitely miss it..too bad my boyfriend will NEVER move there.

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  15. Hey Katie!! I love your blog and have been reading daily since I found you a few months ago! Such a small world.. I have family in Danbury, CT, too! And I'm all the way down in Eastern NC! Just thought I'd share, hope you have a great holiday weekend :)

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  16. Glad you had fun in Boston (I'm from that area). I need to get to Newport.

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  17. Gorgeous pictures. Looks like an absolutely fabulous time!

    xo

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  18. Those mansions look amazzzing! I'd love to go see that stuff, so neat :)

    p.s. Love your crops...are those just skinny jeans rolled up?

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  19. So far it looks like you had a blast! I'm glad I'm not in charge of cleaning those houses :)

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  20. Sounds so fun! I usually would pass the audio options for tours but not you've peaked my interest!

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  21. I love your shirt! Seems like an awesome time

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  22. amazing! very similar to the biltmore in NC. too cool.


    still OBSESSED with your top! so glam ;)

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  23. I've always wanted to visit Newport! Looks beautiful! The gelato looks pretty fab too :)

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  24. I love touring historic homes. I have never been to any on the East Coast but I have toured plenty of plantations here in the South so much gorgeous architecture and history!

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  25. Wow, those Mansions look amazing! I'd love to see them someday.

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  26. It's so pretty there! Adding to my list of places I want to visit. And love your shirt, btw. :)

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  27. Those houses are awesome.. Definitely putting it on my MUST SEE LIST!!! Looks like you guys had a great first day!!

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  28. ahhh LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

    the breakers...holy gorgeous you got some GREAT PICS!! We only did marble house this time and i have to agree...one of my favs! I love that when they divorced, the woman moved RIGHT DOWN THE STREET! hahah too amazing for words. It was such a gorgeous house!

    im seriously wishing we knew eachother more back during this time I would have come to SEE YOU! and then driven 5 mins to see you when you were in hingham!

    oh and i cant believe these are summer cottages. I actually almost went to the college there (Salve Regina) and some of the dorms and classrooms are in some mansions! so gorgeous...but some are haunted. EEEEK

    love that you and billy love history and such like this :-) Kurty and I are the same way!!

    COME BACK SOON!
    xoxxo

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  29. Oh these mansions remind me of Biltmore Estate in NC. I felt the same way "I would love to just spend ONE day back then to see what it was like"

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