August 20, 2025–Leaving Newport, Rhode Island

On Monday we drove from Portland, Maine down to Boston, and then on to Newport, Rhode Island, a distance of about 177 miles. Before we left Portland we visited the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, which is a historic lighthouse that sits on a headland at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, Gulf of Maine. It was completed in 1791, and is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.

We visited the small museum there, which I was against on principle because I usually feel a pall of boredom wash over me when we go to most small museums. Like who cares? But Doug was insistent that we go because he would go to any museum, no matter how small or how lame. Surprisingly, this museum was well put together and interesting. Below is a picture of a Fresnel lens, which was a revolutionary invention that improved lighthouse illumination by using a system of prisms and lenses to focus light into a powerful beam. Pretty cool, right?

We had never been to Newport, and it was lovely surprise. Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island located on Narragansett Bay. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions from the Gilded Age. We stayed at the Cliffside Inn, an 1876 Victorian manor house. It’s called Cliffside because it’s right by the Newport Cliff Walk, which is a 3.5-mile public access walkway along the eastern shore of the island.

Yesterday we walked the cliff walk about one and half miles to the Breakwaters, a Gilded Age mansion built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. We have toured many mansions on our travels, and this one was one of the most stunning houses I have ever seen. The sheer opulence of it was almost unbelievable. The largest Vanderbilt mansion is the Biltmore in Asheville at 178,926 square feet. The Breakers mansion is 125,339 square feet. Cornelius and George Vanderbilt (Biltmore) were brothers, so they must have had quite a serious competition going. The Biltmore is the largest house in the United States, so apparently George won.