New England Road Trip: Rhode Island, Newport & Connecticut; the Highlights!

And so begins my series of blog posts on our road trip in the states from last year. I kept putting this off because we enjoyed it so much that every time I thought about writing this, I felt all gloomy that it was over.
Now that we've booked trips away to Iceland and the South of France within the next five months however, I can finally revisit our glorious stay in New England. 

After we left Boston (post on that HERE) we stopped into Wrentham Village, a premium outlet centre stocking such brands as All Saints, Aldo, American Eagle Outfitters, Gap, Bare Minerals, Barneys New York, Coach, Guess, Converse, DKNY, Karen Millen, Michael Kors, several make-up and perfume stores and of course, my favourite; Kate Spade, where I bought a lovely dress, earrings and a bag at a huge discount. We ended up spending almost an entire day here without realising it- the place is vast and it's easy to get absorbed in the bargain shopping so I would suggest setting aside some time here if you are interested in saving a bit on your premium brands. 

My beloved rose gold bag. 

Our next stop was Narragansett, Rhode Island. We stayed in the Tower House b&b, which has a whole load of positive reviews on Trip Advisor (HERE) and definitely lived up to them- the house itself was stunning and our room was decorated beautifully and thankfully, included air conditioning. Cool drinks were also provided in our own fridge (and badly needed as it was very humid at the time!)
Mary Beth greeted us warmly, like we were family really and provided welcome drinks and nibbles.

Click the bottom right to enlarge!

We sat out on the porch, listened to the crickets around us and felt our shoulders drop as we sipped our beer and wine. We realised at that stage how full on New York and to a lesser extent Boston was and we were really delighted to begin the more relaxing part of our trip.

Later that evening, we went for a great meal by the sea in The Coast Guard House, the top-rated restaurant in the area. We enjoyed seafood and cocktails and sat outside afterwards to digest our all-American blueberry pie while the waves bashed against the coast:

The following morning we were treated to a delicious breakfast that included this baked French toast, dripping in brown sugar syrup. 

I'm still thinking about it, several months afterwards..

Once we were well fed we headed out into the oncoming storm to Newport, where we spent the day hiding from the torrential rain in The Breakers, a Vanderbilt palatial mansion that has been restored and opens for tourists. We weren't allowed take photos, so sadly I can't blind you with how very gilded it is,  so these are courtesy of their wikipedia page:

The audio tour is really interesting and it was fascinating learning about how the very wealthy lived and Summered (100% keeping that phrase for future reference) back in 1895. We didn't stay the night in Newport but instead, headed on towards Connecticut where we had been briefly while staying in New York to visit family, but took the time to return to sightsee.

We had such a brilliant time the first time we were there, we both felt that overall this was one of the highlights of the trip for us! Plus, is there anything better than that sign, made by my very cute cousins-in-law? *heart eye emoji*

We stayed in a B&B at Taylor's Corner (Trip Advisor reviews HERE), a farmhouse from the 1700's that had that authentic old-timey feel to it but with all mod cons, thankfully. This was one of my favourite places that we stayed in. The owners left us to our own devices and we almost felt like we had the whole house to ourselves out in the countryside. It was so peaceful outside, while the house itself was cosy and welcoming.

We ate in Woodstock that night, a nearby town but I've no recollection of the name of the place…apologies. I really should have taken notes!

The following morning we were again treated to a great breakfast and made friends with the owner's cats while we made our plans for the day.

Taylor Brooke Winery is just around the corner and had a free tour on that day, so we of course took part! 

Although most of the fruit had been picked for the season, there were still some grapes left on the vines and so we got to see them being put through the machinery and afterwards taste some "ones we made earlier". 

It was a lovely way to spend the morning and we learnt something too (mostly what we learnt is that wine is delicious but we already knew that much..)

And that's the end of part one! 

I know I've crammed a lot in here but that's exactly what our trip was like; we wanted to see as much as possible, which we did! If I gave each place a separate post, we'd be here forever so these really are just  the highlights. 

See you in Massachusetts! 

XX