As I’ve mentioned before, I graduated last Friday.

As a treat and to get out of town for a minute, me and The Russian headed up to Newport, RI.

Just a brief overview of our actives in town:

The drive only took about 1 1/2 hours and we were a world away.  The Russian, being resourceful, booked a B&B in town without me looking at it, so I was nervous, but unnecessarily so.  Turns out The Russian is pretty awesome at booking hotels, something I’ll keep in mind for future journeys.

 

We ended up at the Marshall Slocum Inn, and it was perfect, inside and out. They even do breakfast in the morning, but more on that later.  In the five years I’ve lived in Boston, I have never been to Rhode Island.  What a mistake. I felt like I wanted to catch up for lost time, so we tried to do a whole bunch in one day, walking around Newport for hours.  It was wonderful and relaxing and a time to take a deep breath after 18 years of thinking of nothing but school.

We went on the cliff walk overlooking the ocean…

Even took some artsy photos..

Then we walked by the mansions that Newport is famous for.  We didn’t go inside because, hey, this is the FRUGAL foodie and going inside is a little pricey.  Also we spent all of our money on food.  So maybe not so frugal this time. Maybe next trip we’ll venture indoors of those impressive structures.

Let’s talk about my favorite subject, and honestly, the reason we even went to Rhode Island, the food.  We had lobster, and plenty of it.

We started out by having dinner at The Mooring, which we found just by looking through some sample menus at the inn.  The menu did not do the food justice.  It was incredible.  We started off with a bottle of wine and an assortment of oysters..

The moved on to lobster dinners.

The lobster was salty and buttery and rich.  I was in heaven.  The Russian even splurged on his favorite bottle of champagne to toast once we walked back to the inn.  It was a decidedly better evening than my peers back in Boston probably had at the bars.

The next morning I woke up refreshed and still full from dinner.  The Russian and I went downstairs to breakfast on the back patio of the inn, served by one of the owners.  I had the ham and cheese omelet, which was rich and the eggs were fluffy.  It was served with fresh fruit, which was the perfect compliment.  The Russian had the french toast, which was also quite yummy with the Vermont maple syrup.

For lunch, before leaving and after spending away my savings in all the small shops down Thames street, we stopped and grabbed a couple of lobster rolls at The Port, a little seafood joint right on the wharf.  Incredible views and the rolls were filled with buttery lobster meat and a small amount of mayo to keep it together.  Even the bun was buttery and crisp, a perfect crunchy compliment to the sweet lobster.

Afterwards, we got ice cream.  Clearly I cannot have enough food.

All in all, Newport was an incredible destination and a perfect way to calm my mind after years of study.  I came back to Boston refreshed and motivated for the next chapter in my life.

-L