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!