After we left Salem, we drove along the coast, on our way to Newport. We had one stop before we got there, however: Plymouth.
We weren’t going to drive by Plymouth and not stop to see the two famous rocks there. Now, you might be asking, Ana, two rocks? I thought there was only one famous rock in Plymouth?
Well, you’re wrong! There are two!
Let’s start with the obvious. Plymouth Rock.
The rock is at the bottom of a giant enclosure, sitting in the sand. I found out from the informational signage that the rock had actually been cut in half at one point, and part of it had been paraded around the East Coast before being brought back to it’s original spot and reunited with its other half. How romantic.
It was interesting to see, but at the end of the day, it was a rock. The best thing we did was stop at the wooden shack between our car and the rock to buy some fudge, because it was the best fudge I could have imagined having.
Having seen this pilgrim relic, we headed to our next rock: Sacrifice Rock.
When we were searching online for things to do in Plymouth, Sacrifice Rock came up as an attraction, and I immediately demanded that we go there. The name is misleading, however, because no sacrifices actually occurred there (or at least, not of the violent kind). Sacrifice Rock is speculated to have been a place for indigenous Wampanoag folks left small items as a prayer for safe travels, but there’s no evidence of any kind of human or animal sacrifice.
Sacrifice Rock is also located in an odd spot – there’s no parking area, and it’s pretty much just by the side of the road by a few houses. Sarah parked the car on the side of the road while I got out to look at it.
It was much bigger than Plymouth Rock. And much cooler, in my opinion. People had left behind stones, feathers, pennies, and colorful marbles at the top of the rock, which was cool.
I wished that I had something to leave behind there, but I’d literally run out of the car with nothing on me, and I could see Sarah getting stressed as cars continued driving by her parked on the side of the road, so I hopped back in the vehicle and we began navigating toward Newport.
As soon as we arrived in Newport, we headed to The Breakers, the “summer cottage” of the Vanderbilts. It was an incredible place, and more like a palace than anything else. You can read about our adventure and see photos of the incredible space here.
In stark contrast with The Breakers was our hotel, the Jailhouse Inn.
It was a former jailhouse.
We selected this place because when else are you going to have the opportunity to sleep in a jail cell without actually having to sleep in a jail cell?
They converted the old jailhouse into a hotel, with the old cells and offices now rooms.
They even kept some of the details, including the old doors and bars on some of the windows.
The signs labeled the rooms as “cells.”
And the doors to the halls included the old wrought iron.
The rooms were very nice, though, and unfortunately I didn’t see one ghost during our entire stay.
We were pretty hungry, and I was determined to get clam chowder and a lobster roll, so we made reservations at a place called The Mooring, which I highly recommend.
We had a bit of time before dinner, so we took a quick stroll through the city – it was very charming.
There were a lot of cute shops, which we ended up visiting the next day.
But finally, dinner time!
NO PARKING VALIDATION.
As a fellow sign maker, I’m sure they’ve dealt with a lot of annoying idiots for them to make that sign huge and in red letters, but I also just found it a little funny.
The restaurant was nice though, and they seated us with a view of the water, which was gorgeous at sunset.
It was right about now that I began fantasizing about coming back to Newport during their quiet season again, but next time for a writer’s retreat. I’d thought the same thing about Salem. I could see myself going on a brief roadtrip, spending time in Salem writing, before coming back to Newport for extra writing days. I can honestly see myself returning for just that.
I ordered both the clam chowder and the lobster roll, because I didn’t want to choose, and I wish I would have just gotten the chowder.
Chowder isn’t the most appealing thing to photograph, but when I tell you this chowder. Was. Amazing.
Oh my gosh. This was the best chowder I’ve ever had in my life. I’d spend the rest of our trip wishing I could eat this chowder again. It was perfect!
The same could not be said for the lobster roll.
The lobster itself was fine, but it was flavorless, which was so odd. The lobster salad was also cold, and I was expecting it to be hot, so that was also a bit odd. It had no flavor to it, and was just kind of a cold mixture on toasted bread. I would skip it the next time I visit. The fries it came with were super delicious, however!
Satisfied with our meals, we walked back to our hotel to rest up for another adventurous day.
We’d explore more of Newport, and visit the beautiful Marble House.
Stick around for more adventures!
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