Rhode Island is the smallest state, barely 50 by 40 miles. We drove through Connecticut, stopping only for giant pancakes stuffed with blueberries (we felt we should at least eat in the state) and crossed a high swooping bridge to Newport which is itself on an island and gave the name to the state as a drunk or myopic sailor thought it looked like Rhodes. We have encountered a lot of road works on the small roads and each has a policeman directing the traffic, where at home we would have lights. We used freeways or turnpikes rarely, but tickets are given by a person, not machine and the charge is so small you wonder why they bother.
The roads have been scenic, a relaxing drive for Martin, who prefers driving to navigating for me as I hate not knowing where I am going. We have been a good team. He has watched the view while I watch the road and give directions; curve to the left, hard right, watch out!
Newport was the summer hangout for rich New Yorkers and has some extravagant mansions now open to the public. Cornelius Vanderbilt 2 built a large house like a mini Versailles, deliciously OTC and impractical with marble baths which servants had to refill several times to warm the marble and keep the water warm. He spent the equivalent of $400 million for his summer home and then died of a stroke after one summer there. Is there a moral there? The introduction of income tax put paid to this Gilded Age.
To fortify ourselves for the cliff walk around Newport we had clam chowder and a stuffie to see what it was, a tennis ball size ball of shellfish, onion and breadcrumbs. Also an unexpectedly large lobster roll, so we were so stuffed we ended up skipping dinner, that's a first for us! The Bud light we thought was alcohol- free wasn't but luckily there was no wind and we survived the cliff walk.