Virtuoso Traveler - August/September 2018 - 47
Narragansett Bay's Castle Hill Lighthouse and (right) garden views at The Chanler at Cliff Walk. (LIGHTHOUSE) STEVE DUNWELL/AGE FOTOSTOCK 2 Newport, Rhode Island Wicked good seafood meets historic mansions in the Ocean State. hen Gilded Age magnates sought a summer escape, the Vanderbilts, Astors, and their cohorts chose Newport, a craggy spot with fresh breezes, a safe harbor, and dramatic views at the base of Aquidneck Island, building grand mansions that attest to the lavish tastes of the time. "Early nineteenth-century Americans didn't have a style of their own, so they looked to Europe to emulate their grand houses," says Fran Kramer, a Rochester, New York-based Virtuoso advisor and antiques collector who frequently shops in Newport. She recommends strolling the Cliff Walk, which divides the Atlantic from the town's titanic homes in a timeerasing three-mile route. "Newport is like the Hamptons of Rhode Island," Kramer W adds, "except that it's very accessible; you can walk to everything and get close to its homes." This summer, the grandest of Newport's grand mansions, The Breakers (44 Ochre Point Avenue) has opened a new welcome center with a sunlit café where guests can relax after estate tours, including one that explores the house's below-stairs workings via an underground tunnel. A new pass to Doris Duke's home, Rough Point (680 Bellevue Avenue), offers entree to the house, grounds, and special exhibitions, which include the bespoke jewelry produced for the tobacco heiress. "Seafood is, in itself, worth the trip to Rhode Island - think New England lobster, stuffed quahogs [clams], and creamy 'chowda,' " says Kramer. Order fresh-from-the-boat dishes at the new Stoneacre Brasserie (28 Washington Square), then toast the former "rum capital of the world" on the new Newport Cocktail Tour. BE THERE: Housed in a nineteenthcentury "summer cottage" on Newport's Cliff Walk, The Chanler at Cliff Walk channels global destinations, from Morocco to Martha's Vineyard, in 20 themed rooms. Doubles from $660; Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 dining credit. For further New England charm, check out Bar Harbor, also originally a summer colony, or more-bustling Portland, Maine, filled with lobster boats and oyster bars. Regent Seven Seas Cruises' 11-day New York City-to-Montréal voyage aboard the 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator visits both and includes a shore excursion to Acadia National Park. Departure: October 18, 2018; from $7,299. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2018 47