Scenic Foliage Drives →
Rhode Island Foliage Driving Tour
(page 4 of 5)
Follow the "mansions" signs on America's Cup Avenue (you can turn onto it from Thames Street in Queen Anne's Square) and Narragansett Street, which eventually intersects with Bellevue Avenue. It's along Bellevue that you'll be able to visit and tour the awesome trappings of great wealth 'til your heart turns green. The majestic homes all have names -- and not quaint ones like "Art and Betty's Bungalow" or "Dunrovin." Here are The Breakers, Beechwood, Chateau-sur-Mer, The Elms, Kingscote, Belcourt Castle, Marble House, and Rosecliff.
The Newport Casino and International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum are down at the end of Bellevue, back toward town (take a left at the intersection of Narragansett and Bellevue). Looking to stretch your legs? Take a right turn onto Memorial Boulevard and you can park on the street to take the Cliff Walk, a glorious three-and-a-half-mile stretch of ocean and mansions. You can also pick up the walk by continuing straight on Narragansett at the intersection of Narragansett and Bellevue. Follow the street to where it dead-ends and you'll find a few spaces to park your car.
The first third of the walk is easy, but the rest is work, and the whole length is not suited to small children, strollers, bicycles, or anyone who is disabled. If you go far enough -- and how can you not, in the presence of lively surf and grand mansions -- you'll be clambering over big rocks and along seawall, and -- depending on the tide and the wind -- you may get a bit of saltwater spray in your face, too. The view is breathtaking: There's Rhode Island Sound stretching out for miles off Newport. Sunlight shimmers across the water like hammered silver. The surf slaps the rocky base of the walkway, sending fountains of salt spray into the air to be caught briefly on the wind and gently sprinkled onto the thickening hedgerows of beach plums that gird parts of the meandering path. Just beyond and to my right are the manicured lawns and sprawling, stately backyards of some of the most magnificent mansions in the country.
There's enough in the country's smallest state for everyone; we're more than halfway through our second day and we haven't even explored Second Beach in Middletown, East Beach in Charlestown, Watch Hill in Westerly, or Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island.
For now, those stops will have to wait. My goal is to continue west. I cross the Newport Bridge, pay my $2, and drive onto Conanicut Island and Jamestown, which was burned by those zany Brits in 1775. After you've crossed the bridge and passed through the tolls, take your first exit and turn right, following signs for Jamestown. Once you're in town, turn right onto Narragansett Road, following it until it intersects with Southwest/North Street. Turn left (Southwest Avenue eventually merges with Hamilton Avenue, and becomes Beavertail Road), to Beavertail State Park and Lighthouse Museum, which is a fitting place to let the day wind down. In fact, Beavertail offers one of the finest ocean views in the ocean state.
The wind is up. The fall air is still warm and redolent of distant marsh and ageless salt. The setting sun is bright red, and it paints the sky a rich and darkening vermilion, like an ember.
From here, you can either retrace your steps back to the East Bay or settle in for the night in Jamestown at the Bay Voyage Inn. This inn with 32 rooms is known statewide for its Sunday brunch (reservations are a must). It is open year-round with a dining room that overlooks the harbor and serves classic American cuisine -- filet mignon, rack of lamb, and an extensive seafood menu. A delicious ending to a spectacular journey.
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