8 of 40 Birthday Experiences! June 2023 - Celebrating Rick’s Birthday in Newport, Rhode Island.
An easy train ride to Providence And an uber out to Newport for a weekend of exploring, eating, and relaxing.
Day One: Made it to Providence early - around 10am - after an easy Acela ride from New York City. We walked around Providence for a bit until we were ready for a lunch and a beer at The Malted Barley (Craft Beer + Pretzel Sandwiches). Then an uber out to Newport for the weekend. We stayed at The Harborside Inn - which was a wonderful little hotel right on a pier. We had a patio to sit on, listen to the music of the bar next door, and watch the sunset over the bay. The room included a nice continental breakfast each morning and cookies in the afternoon. We headed over to Bowen’s Wharf to explore - had dinner and listened to live music at The Landing followed by cookies at The Cookie Jar. Then a walk in the rain over to Goat Island (looking for goats but found a lighthouse instead) before grabbing wine at Thames Wine & Spirits, sitting on our deck to watch the sunset and have some drinks in private.
Day Two: After breakfast at the hotel - we headed out into the rain to get some coffee at Kaffeology then walked a few miles down to the start of the Cliff Walk. The first part of the cliff walk was pretty rocky, going back and forth from beach to cliff to rocks. Very few people and lots to explore. The second half of the Cliff Walk is much easier - mostly paved and accessible. Along the walk, you get amazing views and a glance at the Mansions of Newport - built by the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers - during the Gilded Age, reflecting their owners obsession with social status and emulation of the European aristocracy. We took a break to see The Marble House, gifted to Alva Vanderbilt for her 39th birthday, and lunch at the Chinese Tea Garden. The food, tea, and cocktails were amazing and it was a nice break. They were also extremely accommodating to Rick’s Vegetarian and Kassie’s Pescatarian diets. We made it to the end of the walk and decided to walk an extra mile to Rejects Beer Co. for a few beers to wait out a downpour, then on to amazing dinner at Flo’s Clam Shack.
Day Three: Breakfast at the hotel before walking around a bit. Then on to an uber to the Topiary Garden. We did not realize just how difficult it would be to get an uber to pick us up from the Topiary Garden. But almost an hour after starting our search, we got one and got to the train station with enough time to get some snack lunch and to jump on the train.
Important Links and additional information:
The Malted Barley, Providence: https://themaltedbarley.com/
The Harborside Inn: https://www.newportharborsideinn.com/
The Landing: https://www.thelandingrestaurantnewport.com/
The Cookie Jar: https://bowenswharf.com/directory/the-cookie-jar/
Kaffeology: https://kaffeologycafe.com/
Newport Mansions: https://www.newportmansions.org/
Cliff Walk: http://www.cliffwalk.com/
The Marble House: https://www.newportmansions.org/mansions-and-gardens/marble-house/
Chinese Tea House: https://newportclassical.org/venue/chinese-tea-house/
Rejects Beer Co: https://www.rejectsbeerco.com/contact-us
Flow’s Clam Shack: https://www.flosclamshacks.com/
Topiary Garden: https://www.newportmansions.org/mansions-and-gardens/green-animals-topiary-garden/
What started as 40 from august to august has expanded to the start of 2023 to August 2024. Due to other people planning things that we want to join… before August 2023. This is the celebration of “omg Kassie survived 40 years - we never thought it would happen.” Maybe the next 40, I’ll be more careful so it won’t be so surprising. 40 “experiences” have to be #1 unique, #2 require the day and night in the location to count, #3 that’s it.
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Originally from Iowa (Kassie) and Kansas (Rick), we met in Kansas in 2005 and immediately found that we had so much in common - including our desire to someday see the world. We now live in NYC and quickly started catching up on travel after our first (just us) international trip to Iceland in 2015. We decided to start making videos for us and our family/friends to track our travels. Kassie is in Marketing, an Author (see her poetry + author videos), and Puppet Creator. Rick is an Engineer and Script Writer (see our current and coming puppet movies!)
YouTube Site: https://www.youtube.com/@KassieAndRick-ExploreManyPaths
Kassie's Author Site: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/
Joint Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore_many_paths
Kassie's Magazine: https://www.opendoorpoetrymagazine.com/
