Friday was our last day in Maine and the forecast was a little dicey, with clouds and a chance of rain most of the day. It started out okay, though, so we went to the Asticou Azalea Garden (on my list…not necessarily on the guys’ list). I asked Connor to hold my camera for a minute, and this is what I found on my camera roll…

It was a nice little garden with a good variety of plants (beyond azaleas).

From there, we drove into Northeast Harbor – another very cute harbor and town, with what looked to be some very pricey homes!

We headed North along Somes Sound which is considered a fjard (smaller than a fjord), and stopped for lunch at a nice park along the way. It was a little chilly but we managed a 3^rd straight picnic lunch by the water!

A light rain was starting, so we drove North to Ellsworth, ME – about 30 minutes away – to check out their LLBean outlet, and then went to Hannaford’s grocery store to pick up food for dinner (there’s just one very small grocery store in Southwest Harbor, so we figured it made more sense to get food here). Back to the Airbnb to put the food away and rest for a while – two busy days at Acadia were catching up with us! The rain tapered off and we ventured out for one last Acadia hike, this time at the Ship Harbor trail just a few minutes from our Airbnb. It’s a 1.4 mile trail along a beautiful harbor, with lots of rocks and rocky cliffs to admire. It was pretty overcast, so the colors weren’t as vibrant, but still a really nice hike.

After dinner, we had hoped to head back to Cadillac Mountain, as we had 7pm reservations that would have allowed us to enjoy the sunset from the top of the mountain…but there was no sun to set…so we just stayed in Southwest Harbor.

So after about 32,000 steps in three days, our time at Acadia came to an end. The park, like all National Parks, is truly amazing. Three days was a good length – we probably could have kept busy for another day, but we saw everything we really wanted to see. Any less than three days would have been too short. With this trip, Mark and I have been to 19 National Parks – making progress against our goal of visiting all 63 parks.

It was time to check out on Saturday and head to our next destination – about 5.5 hours away, in Warwick, Rhode Island. It’s located between Providence and Newport, so we’ll explore those two cities and enjoy our first-ever visit to the Ocean State.

The drive was pretty smooth – just a few slowdowns near Boston (which we expected!). We found a local place for dinner that was quite yummy, and stretched our legs with a walk around the local mall after dinner.

Sunday, we drove North into Providence. Our first stop was the Brown University campus – a beautiful, old Ivy League school. Of course, nothing can hold a candle to Miami University, but Brown was quite nice! We had fun walking around the campus, taking photos, and enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather.

From there, we headed to the Art Museum at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Apparently, it’s the third largest college art museum in the US, and it was pretty impressive. They have a really diverse collection, with everything from furniture and textiles to paintings and ancient Roman artifacts. They had a nice variety of impressionist paintings which are my favorites!

Found a local sandwich shop nearby for lunch, and have learned something about Rhode Island. When they say “pickles” they really just mean “cucumbers”. We’ve eaten in two restaurants and in both places, they offered free pickles, but I can’t taste any salt, vinegar, brine, or other ‘pickly’ flavors. No thank you!

After lunch, we wandered up Benefit St which is known for its amazing architecture…and it did not disappoint. So many photo opportunities…beautiful!

As we strolled through Providence, I commented on the beautiful rhodys (rhododendrons) and Connor appropriately reminded me “well, we are in Rhode Island”! I guess it makes sense! Oh, and along the highways here, the signs all say something to the effect of “Don’t litter. Help keep our rhodes clean.” I guess they have a sense of humor here!

From Providence, we drove south to Narragansett, an Oceanside town with beautiful beaches and an amazing tower built in 1886.

Next stop was Point Judith, to check out the lighthouse. It’s on Coast Guard property, so you can’t get too close, but it was still neat to see. We traveled to Point Judith along Ocean Drive, and the homes were massive and beautiful. Looked one up on Zillow out of curiosity and it’s estimated at $13.3M. Wow.

Back to Warwick for grocery store trip to get dinner to cook/eat at the hotel (the thought of eating dinner out for 12 straight days is not appealing to us, as you can tell…so eating in a few times helps to break it up…and is much less expensive, besides!) and back to the hotel. After dinner, Connor and I made a trip to check out a new store in the area – BJ’s Market. It’s part of the BJ’s Wholesale Club group, but is the first of its kind. They’re apparently testing out having smaller stores that just sell groceries. No electronics, outdoor stuff, furniture, or clothing (so none of the fun stuff!). We walked through just to see what it was like…I guess their idea is that they could build more of these so people don’t have to travel as far to do their weekly grocery shopping…but it’s still large bulk packages of everything.

On Monday, we ventured out to Newport, known for its Gilded Age mansions. The Newport tradition is to call these “cottages” but they are far from it! We visited two of these grand estates – The Breakers and Marble House.

The Breakers is the grandest of the cottages, and the original home was built in 1877, but was destroyed by fire in 1892. The larger ‘replacement’ was completed in 1895 with over 138,000 square feet and 70 rooms. It was built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The same architect designed The Breakers and the Biltmore Estate in NC (the Biltmore was built by Cornelius’ grandson, George Vanderbilt). Hard to imagine that this was basically a summer home…they didn’t spend all that much time there.

I couldn’t use a flash inside the house, so some of the photos are a little dark…

Marble House was completed in 1892 as a birthday present for Alva Vanderbilt, from her husband William Kissam Vanderbilt (nephew of Cornelius Vanderbilt II). When it opened, it was considered the most lavish house in America. Marble House is an appropriate name – literally there is marble everywhere…floors, walls…but it’s not white marble, as that would be too cold and sterile.

These mansions all overlook the Atlantic Ocean, and there is a ‘cliff walk’ that runs along the back of the properties, along the ocean. We walked along that for a bit, to enjoy the view of the ocean, the mansions, and some buildings of Salve Regina University which now occupies some of the original mansions.

After all the mansions, we took a little break and headed north from Newport to the Green Animals Topiary Garden, which is one of the seven ‘properties’ included in the Preservation Society of Newport County – but it’s completely different. The gardens were created by one of the wealthy families of Newport, and it includes more than 80 pieces of topiary, plus lot of flowers, trees, and a vegetable garden.

We drove back into Newport for dinner and then walked around town and through Bowen’s Wharf. It’s a pretty town and still very ‘fancy’, although not to the same extent as it was during the Gilded Age!

So two days in Rhode Island and we saw a LOT! It’s a pretty state with so much coastline. It’s easy to understand why the wealthy enjoyed spending their summers here back in the late 1800s! Next stop…the Hudson Valley in NY.