I have three friends from college that I try to get together with every year. Once we all graduated from UF, we all moved to different cities and we wanted to fun way to stay in touch. Most years in the past, we have just met up in one of our cities; but this year we decided to pick a destination.
It’s always tough to nail down a weekend as everyone’s lives continue to get busier and busier with work, family and kids. I’m proud of us for keeping this tradition going.
We decided to go to Newport, RI this year. A city that none of us have ever been to before. The girls were so awesome to plan the entire thing and I just gave my thumbs up along the way! Life was busy and I trusted all of their decisions.
Newport was just gorgeous. April is still early season for them, so it wasn’t beach weather yet by any means; but it was still beautiful.
We were looking for a place that was just low-key, pretty scenery, fabulous food and maybe one that had a few good day drinking spots 🙂
We stayed at the Castle Hill Inn which I can’t recommend enough. The cottages are so cute and we were able to comfortably fit four girls in one cottage that had a king bed and a pull out queen.
The restaurant is fine dining with the most stunning views on the entire island. They also have spa services available which you can bet we indulged in too.
We all arrived into town on Friday. I got in that evening.
I made it just in time for the most gorgeous sunset from our balcony! We sipped on a little Rose, caught up quickly and then got ready for dinner at the hotel.
I had to steal this photo from the hotel’s website because I didn’t take any; but this is how gorgeous the views are. The food was lovely too.
Saturday morning we chose to have our breakfast delivered to our cottage. It was so nice to just relax in bed with coffee, catch up with the girls and have breakfast in bed. I had the avocado toast with smoked salmon on top with was divine!
The little beach right outside our balcony.
A look at the cottages at Castle Hill Inn
After breakfast, we got dressed to head into downtown Newport. We had good intentions of touring the Vanderbilt mansion called The Breakers, but we drove up and toured the exterior grounds instead. It could have been quite a time consuming excursion we were limited on time. So we drove off and decided to shop downtown and find a great lunch spot!
We had lunch at The Moorings Restaurant. I wanted to find the place with the best lobster roll because I have never had one before!! This one was awesome and served on a croissant instead of the traditional hot dog bun roll. They also had these amazing lobster fritter things as an appetizer that were incredible too.
After shopping and lunch, we went back to the hotel and posted up at the coolest bar. The clear curtains were down this time of year; but in the summer, this is an outdoor bar with panoramic views.
Here’s a look at the hotel. Looking at the photo on the left is the bar area that has the curtains rolled down currently. All the windows to the right is the gorgeous restaurant in the hotel that you saw the interior photo of above. This is a gorgeous lawn filled with adirondack chairs that you can sit on to read, eat, or drink and view the ocean.
We headed back to the cottage to relax for a bit before having to get ready for dinner. I loved taking advantage of our deck!
Dinner Saturday night was at Tallulah on Thames. It is a tiny restaurant with a ton of flavor!! Oh my goodness. We all couldn’t stop drooling over our courses. It’s a pre-fixed menu and every course was out of this world. I would highly recommend this spot.
Sunday morning was breakfast at the hotel again and then our spa treatments. I had a facial that was so nice and relaxing. I loved the products that they used at the spa. They smelt so good.
We packed up our things after our spa treatments, snagged one last picture on our perfect balcony and then headed back to downtown Newport for a quick lunch before all heading back home.
It was so warm and pretty on Sunday that we decided to hit up an outdoor venue. This spot had the perfect patio. This was very much just average bar food, but the patio was great and a nice casual meal before hitting the road!
It’s always sad to say goodbye but we truly had such a great time catching up even though it was a short trip. I found Newport to be incredibly charming and still loved it this time of year before the height of their busy season. I would love to go back with my hubby sometime in the future.
It was great to get home to my kiddos and Brody was so cute and excited that I brought him home a present. He immediately wanted to put on his new shirt that Mama bought him!
Here’s a quick recap of my weekend in Newport. There are plenty of cute places to stay and eat in the city. Our hotel was probably a 8-10 minute drive from downtown. I actually liked that part about it though. You are there for the views.
Newport Recap
Where to Stay:
Where to Eat:
Castle Hill Inn
41 North (great for drinks outdoors too)
What to do:
Tour the Mansions
Sailboat Cruise (if summertime)
Have you ever been to Newport before? What were your favorites??
Link up with Natalie and I for Thoughts for Thursday below!
Looks like such an awesome trip! Now I'm craving a visit to the coast. (I found your linkup from Mattie @ Northwest Native, and I'm so glad I did! Your blog is great 🙂 )
Looks gorgeous!!!
Looks like such a fun weekend!
Wow!! What a lovely place and an even better tradition! It's so great to catch up with old friends! Your lobster roll has me salivating!!! Make today work, Rachel –CubicleCouture
Love the east coast.Sounds like a relaxing weekend with great friends. Thanks for the party and thanks for sharing all these wonderful places in RI.
This looks so picturesque! Like a scene from a Elin Hilderbrand novel! I'm putting it on my bucket list!
Love.
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Girls getaways are food for the soul. We take one every year and it is always so needed!!
What an awesome getaway!! You go on such neat trips! Love the pics!
Newport really is such a pretty quaint little town and I am so thankful that in this crazy military life we get to live in some really awesome spots, but I would NEVER live there again! HAHAHA! LOVED Castle Hill though, fantastic place! Good choice!
Looks like such a little charming town! Never been to RI before. Have been to Cape Cod though and it looks similar!
This looks like the perfect girls getaway! I think that is so special you girls get together every year. Have a super weekend Annie!
Shelly||The Queen in Between
I love Newport! We do girls' weekends every year with my college besties, and we went to Newport two years ago. Castle Inn is gorgeous and I love the town in the off season! I love that you ladies do this too! I have a whole list of locations for our annual trips if you need any suggestions 😉
If you head back to RI you should go to Block Island:)
Here the lighting is a little brighter than lounge setting, and you can sit at one of their many tables, or grab a seat by the bar. With a large menu of beers, you might have trouble picking just one. The music at the venues in Los Angeles is always upbeat with a mixture of rock and pop, and the food menu is large as well as their seating.