Newport, RI

The Inn at Castle Hill, Newport, RI

We recently attended a wedding in Newport, RI just as the town was awakening in preparation for the busy tourist season which gets it's official start Memorial Day weekend. With a large group of rowdy South Floridians it's impossible not to have fun, but it also cuts out a lot of the sightseeing. I look forward to going back again for a real visit as we hardly had the chance to scratch the surface of everything to do and see here.

Dinning

• Annie's - 176 Bellevue Ave: great hole in the wall breakfast spot if you want something quick. Bring some cash as it is cash only.
• Benjamin's - 254 Thames St, make your way to the 2nd floor: this ended up being our go to spot for breakfast during our visit as well as watering hole one of the nights. Decent food and most impressively, three cocktails in highball glasses will cost you $16, a steal for us South Floridians!
• 22 Bowen's - Bowen's Warf: It's hard to accommodate a group of nearly 20 people, but Bowen's handled us impressively well and there was not one person at our table who did not rave about their meal. I had the grilled yellowfin tuna (the tuna steaks here are huge!) with sweet red chili glaze, pan fried singapore noodles & fried lotus chips with a side of the truffled lobster mac 'n cheese, yum!
• Brick Alley Pub - 140 Thames St: Our first stop for lunch upon rolling into town & I must say it was excellent pub fare. The lobster reuben sandwich is a must have and the lobstacado (english muffin, mound of lobster meat, sliced avocado & muenster cheese) also a very tasty choice.
• The Clarke Cook House - Bannister's Warf: The group's enthusiasm over this meal was not as great as it was at Bowen's but I absolutely loved my meal (that or it was the wine I was throwing down in an effort to dull the pain of listening to a very high maintenance individual at the table). It's hard to find a restaurant that can put together an incredible vegetarian entree that's not pasta and they did just that. I had the mixed vegetable korma which had an array of five or six Indian dishes and my plate was cleaned!
• The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar - Sayer's Warf: we ended up here after our brewery stop for appetizers and drinks and had intended to return for a proper meal at some point since we enjoyed it so much. The clam chowder and bag of doughnuts (fried shrimp, lobster & crab fritters with chipotle-maple aioli) were excellent. Make your reservations in advance because this place is a popular spot.

To do

• Cliff Walk: A gorgeous walk along the shore of Newport that takes you behind immaculate historic mansions. Mandatory sight see.
• The Newport Storm Brewery & Thomas Tew Distillery - 293 JT Connell Rd: $7.00 beer tasting with a souvenir beer glass includes tastings of whichever four beers they have on tap at the time (there's also the rum tasting option at $9). The favorites from our tasting included the Hurricane Amber Ale and the Dunkelweiss (honestly, no one liked the other two we tasted). We also tried the Summer Hefeweizen at a local restaurant, which was also pretty good.