The Best Walk

The Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island

For an anniversary present a few years ago our children gave us a great gift - a weekend at a bed and breakfast in Newport, RI! Our anniversary was in September and it we took the trip in October. In New England an October weekend can be warm or on the chilly side. This weekend was cold! But, we enjoyed every minute of it. This was our first stay at a Bed and Breakfast and we really liked the social atmosphere. The hosts were excellent and so were the other guests staying there. (We stayed at the George Champlin Mason House.) During out stay we walked all over Newport and toured a couple of the mansions. But what we really enjoyed was the Cliff Walk.

We almost missed it. Saturday afternoon we walked along Ruggles Avenue not knowing we were within a few steps from the the famous walking area. During breakfast the next morning we listened to the other guests describe the great views they saw. Later that morning we were on the path between the Mansions and the ocean - The Cliff Walk. The walk is three and a half miles long and offers views of the ocean on one side and mansions on the other. It was both a natural setting and a historic one.

As mentioned before the weather was brisk and being in the breeze of the ocean increased the wind chill. But the scenery was great and we were enjoying being in Newport. We stepped up the pace of the walk and before long we began feeling warm. As any couple might do, we walked along and talked about all that was going in our life. Thinking back this was one of the first times I realized how much a walk can put you at ease. A couple of sections of the walk offered some protection from the wind, not much bit enough to keep us walking. Near the end of the trail there were some rough spots. As we entered that area we found we were being sprayed by wind blown sea. (This area has since been improved.) As we turned around we noticed a couple of sailboats going by. We decided to keep walking in the opposite direction.

Don’t let the word “Cliff” in The Cliff Walk bother you. The walk isn’t that high and the railings keep you safe. All but there very end of the walkway is easy (the part we skipped).There were a couple of surprises too. On was we found that many of the areas between the mansions were left in their natural condition. The other was the peacefulness of the walk. Probably because of the weather, there wasn’t many others talking the walk that day. But that was just fine. The Best Walk is peaceful and scenic.

Filed under: Rhode Island on April 23rd, 2007 | No Comments »