For our babymoon, we decided to go to Newport, Rhode Island.
For those of you who have been following along with us for a while, you’re probably wondering why we decided to go back to the place that we go practically every year now instead of making our babymoon someplace new. If so, you’re not alone as my parents-in-law literally said, “again?” when we mentioned where we were going. Part of the reason was cost and familiarity, but the other reason was that we had already planned this vacation prior to finding out that we were pregnant. We didn’t go to Newport last summer due to circumstances, so we decided that this past summer that we wanted to go back. It worked out really well where the vacation we’d already planned turned into our babymoon vacation.
(We also saw a lot of PA license plates for the first time since we’ve been visiting Newport, which my husband and I joked saying that maybe some of our PA readers saw some of our posts and decided to check Newport out for themselves!)
But you didn’t come here to read about why we had a babymoon. You, like us, are probably reading this because you’re hoping to travel on a budget and you’ve been thinking about potential places that you can visit in the States with Newport, RI being one of them. In today’s post, I’m going to recap everything we did during our babymoon where we stayed in Newport, RI, and visited Boston, Northern Mass, and Maine. You can expect longer more detailed posts of some of the places we haven’t linked yet.
Where We Stayed:
We stayed at the Marshall Slocum Inn, because it’s honestly, in our opinion, one of the best places to stay in Newport. The innkeepers and all of the employees that work there are great, the rooms are always clean and cozy and it’s very close to most of the attractions in Newport. It’s in an incredibly walkable area and we love that about it.
What We Ate:
Rhode Island:
Tickets Bar: We ate here three times during our visit because the food always hits the spot. I’d recommend their calamari as it’s covered in garlic and butter. Their fried pickles are good too.
Flo’s: Is it a trip to Newport without visiting Flo’s Clam Shack? To us, it’s not, so we made sure to make it a point to have dinner there during our trip.
Olneyville NY System Hot Weiners: We love this place, so we had to stop by while in Providence. I cannot have hot dogs while pregnant (specifically ones made at restaurants or outside establishments), so Han had the hot wiener all the way, while I had their chili cheese fries.
Del’s: Another Rhode Island must is Del’s Lemonade, which we enjoyed while looking out at the ocean.
Maine:
Lobster Shack at Two Lights: We love this place and will likely make it a point to try to go here anytime we’re near Portland, Maine during the summer.
Portland Lobster Company via Lucky Catch Cruises: This was one of Han’s ideas of things for us to do and I’m so glad we went. It’s one of our favorite things we’ve done during this trip.
Holy Donut: We didn’t get to try this the last time we were in Portland, so we knew we wanted to make it a priority to stop there before our visit to the Rhode Island State House. It’s one of the best donuts I’ve had. If you love cake donuts as much as we do (shoutout to Federal Donuts here in Philly), you’ll love these potato-based donuts. We highly recommend the Blueberry Cannoli donut (I think it’s called The Holy Cannoli), Dark Chocolate Sea Salt donut and the Blueberry Lemon donut. So so good.
Massachusetts:
Nick’s Famous Roast Beef: I didn’t have the roast beef, because I can eat it during pregnancy, but I did have the burger which was delicious. My husband loved the coveted roast beef sandwich that many people recommended to try when visiting the area.
Mike’s Pastry: Han really wanted to try their cannoli. He said that it’s one of the best ones he’s ever had.
Dorchester Brewing: We were looking for a place we could visit that had BBQ and this place did not disappoint – except in the greens department. I don’t know what I expected, but the greens lacked flavor to me. Everything else, however, was great and I’d recommend checking it out.
What We Did:
- Hammond Museum Castle
- Cliff Walk
- Brenton State Park
- Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
- Portland Head Light
- The Wadsworth-Longfellow Museum
- Bunker Hill Monument
- Commonwealth Museum
- Rhode Island State House
- TD Garden Tours
- Lucky Catch Lobster Cruise
Where We Got Coffee:
Dunkin Donuts: I know, I know. However, we HAD to find out if the reason so many people from MA love Dunkin is because it’s better in MA than it is anywhere else. So we tried it on our way to Boston one day and we both were shocked to discover that it actually is better in MA. Granted we only had it from the Dunkin there once, so maybe we just were fortunate to have a good barista, but it tasted a lot better than the Dunkin coffee we have near us.
Springline Coffee: Our goal this time around was to try coffee shops we hadn’t tried before, so we stopped by Springline at Bowen’s Wharf to see what their coffee was like and it was pretty good! I tried to get the Taylor’s Latte to drink that they had in honor of her announcing 1989 TV, but I don’t think they heard me because my order was wrong. I can’t tell you how that drink tasted, but their coffee is really good!
Dave’s Coffee: We enjoyed coffee milk and coffee (decaf for me) on our way to the State House!
