Newport, Mystic or Washington DC

amother

Indigo

Fri, Jul 20 2018, 10:40 am

Spent the first 18 years of my life in New England, last 18 in DC area:

I know you are in southern RI but I would head to MA to the New England Whaling Museum in New Bedford. If you are heading to Mystic, go a bit further to New London and Groton to see the US Coast Guard Academy and the submarine base.

Have you ever thought of taking a whalewatching cruise? It's a bit late in the season but my sibling just went with his family and they saw a ton of humpbacks up close and personal. Note: the boats are only allowed to get within x yards of these amazing creatures but they don't have to back up if the whales approach the boat. Even if it's 90+ degrees on shore, bring a windbreaker as it gets cooler once you are on the open ocean.

We went to see the "summer cottages" quite a bit when I was little. I truly did not appreciate them until I was about 9 or 10 years old and I fancied myself as much more grown-up than my peers. Smile

DC: so, so much to appreciate no matter what side of the aisle you prefer! Weatherwise, I would take a 90 degree with 90 percent humidity day over a miserable Boston January anytime. In fact, because I work in an air-conditioned building, I routinely go outside to warm up. I only turn on the AC at our house when it's supposed to hit 100 or more (VERY rare).

The Smithsonians are fantastic and are free (although they do ask for a voluntary donation). The Natural History and American History sites are probably the most popular. I find the National Museum of the American Indian (delves into various cultures of indigenous populations from the Arctic to the tip of S.A.) to be really fascinating although I don't have any genetic link to these tribes.

If you have a car, drive to the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport in northern VA. It is much bigger than the downtown location. There is no admissions charge but there IS a parking fee.

If you use Metro to get around, make sure you and your children do NOT eat or drink in the stations, subways, or buses. Metro is very strict about that and is known to issue expensive citations to people just eating candy bars.

Happy to weigh in on anything else.....

Sebastian

Tue, Jul 24 2018, 10:22 am

Okay, so we're going to newport for 2 nights 3 days.

Any specific mansion you liked
What supermarkets are around?
Any parks around where we could bbq?

Any other attractions that weren't mentioned!

Is there another place in CT that is worth seeing (more than Mystic). I find the drive back to be very long and would like to stop somewhere to break it up.

amother

Peach

Tue, Jul 24 2018, 10:56 am

We went to Newport w a baby and I just remember it being so hard to carry her around the mansions. Also the mansions were so hot (no air conditioning in mansions). My husband liked the touro synagogue and davened mincha there every day. We liked the cliffwalk and had a barbeque in a park by the water but I don't remember name of park. We did stop at mystic aquarium on way up. You can get kosher food in Providence if u want to travel there

doctorima

Tue, Jul 24 2018, 11:29 am

Check out Gillette Castle in CT, or if you love books, look into Book Barn, the largest used book store I've ever seen.

Sebastian

Tue, Jul 24 2018, 2:25 pm

Peach, I'm only planning to do 2 mansions. Dh and I will take turns carry baby if need be.

amother

Gray

Wed, Jul 25 2018, 2:26 pm

Sebastian wrote:

What supermarkets are around?.

Im heading to Newport iyH too. I just checked where I can get pareve ice cream in Newport, because Cholov Yisroel isnt happening.

I found:

STOP & SHOP
250 BELLEVUE AVE
NEWPORTRI02840
(401) 848-7200

SUPER STOP & SHOP
199 CONNELL HWY
NEWPORTRI02840
(401) 845-2220

Another post mentioned Providence for kosher food. Where exactly in Providence can you get kosher food? What kind of kosher food?

Last edited by amother on Wed, Jul 25 2018, 8:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

GetReal

Wed, Jul 25 2018, 2:40 pm

We went for a tour of a vineyard in Newport, toured an old fort and took boat ride in the harbor.

Sebastian

Wed, Jul 25 2018, 3:39 pm

do you have the name of the vineyard, boat tour etc?

Moonlight

Mon, Oct 29 2018, 11:38 am

This is an old thread

I'm looking for feedback from the people who were going on this trip.

ssspectacular

Mon, Oct 29 2018, 2:23 pm

Boat rides are probably not open anymore in late Oct-Nov