The Newport Blues Cafe offers great nightly live music, and has been known to host surprise celebrity guests around the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals. 286 Thames Street. 401-841-5510, NewportBlues.com
See a Summer Cottage
You know of the Newport mansions, but how many of them have you actually seen inside? Those tony summer cottages of America’s royalty are seriously gorgeous. Make it a point to see at least one of them (and no, that field trip you took to The Breakers in fourth grade doesn’t count). Rosecliff has seen several movies filmed there, including the original The Great Gatsby. Marble House has a Japanese tea house in the back. The Elms, though it doesn’t have a water view, has some of the most beautiful gardens you’ll ever see. And the grand dame of them all, The Breakers, is the kind of splendor you won’t soon forget. NewportHistory.org
Lunch with the Other Half
Common wisdom indicates that every food tastes better when you’re eating it with a water view. Maximize your noontime deliciousness at one of Newport’s coastal fine dining restaurants, but lifehack your experience by going during the day when the offerings are just as grand, but significantly more affordable. Chic hotel Castle Hill Inn has a sprawling lawn full of Adirondack chairs where you can take in the view and enjoy impeccably fresh seafood in creative preparations. The Spiced Pear has an incredible, elegant locavore menu. You could splurge for dinner, or go for lunch, sit on the outdoor terrace and still be able to pay the toll on the way home. Castle Hill: 590 Ocean Avenue. 888-466-1355, CastleHillInn.com. Spiced Pear: 117 Memorial Boulevard. 401-847-2244, TheChanler.com
If you’d rather be on the water than in it, set sail on the Adirondack II. The boat, moored in Bowen’s Wharf, offers Morning Mimosa Sails, daily tours of Newport Harbor, Sunset Sails and evening Dark and Stormy Sails. Also on Bowen’s Wharf, Island Style Parasail offers a bird’s eye view of Newport Harbor. Adirondack: Bowen’s Wharf. 401-847-0000, Sail-Newport.com. Parasail: 9 Bowen’s Wharf. 401-601-0330, IslandStyleParasail.com
Dine on Haute Cuisine
Newport has its timeless, classic restaurants. Places like Sardella’s, The Mooring and Brick Alley Pub will always have a line out the door in the summer. But there’s a new crop of chefs popping up in Newport that are flexing their culinary muscles and bringing something new to the city’s food scene. Chef Jake Rojas of Tallulah on Thames serves “modern, fresh, local” cuisine in four-course and six-course tasting menus. Stoneacre Pantry offers incentive farm to table cuisine, particularly for brunch. The owners of the beloved (and fondly remembered) Thames Street Kitchen have opened two new places. Mission serves burgers and hot dogs ground in-house, and topped with house-made deliciousness like Mission Sauce, grilled jalapeños and caramelized onion sauerkraut. Winner Winner is a BYOB restaurant that specializes in rotisserie chicken and fried chicken, with all of the Southern sides you want, like mac n’ cheese and biscuits. Tallulah on Thames: 464 Thames Street. 401-849-2433, TallulahonThames.com. Stoneacre: 515 Thames Street. 401-619-7810, StoneacrePantry.com. Mission: 29 Marlborough Street. 401-619-5560, MissionNPT.com. Winner: 677 Thames Street. 401-848-2449, WinnerWinnerNPT.com
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