In the morning, we smartened up and drove to Kingscote after breakfast (yeah!) We loved this house with it's William Mores inspired dining room, stained glass windows and collection of Asian knick-knacks. The was a little too overstuffed for our taste, though and the upstairs seemed too modern.
The next house, The Elms, was The Hubby's favorite. It was a self-guided tour and the house itself was "technologically advanced" with a complex buzzer system for the servants. It also had very calming fountains and a humongous dining room. We were starting to get burnt out at this point, but we still enjoyed this particular house.
Chateau-Sur-Mer was our last house. The most memorable feature was the staircase, painted with a vine, that wound up several flights. The rooms had lots of carved wood and cool paintings. It was a good way to end our tour.
We had lunch at the waterfront and then ice cream at Ben & Jerry's (always a classic). We tried shopping a bit, but we didn't find any good, tacky, souvenirs. We then drove to Green Animals in Portsmouth, a topiary garden and museum included in the price of our admission package from the mansions. The topiaries were shaped like all different kinds of animals (huge animals!). It was definitely geared more towards children, but it was a nice stroll after all of those houses. The toy and miniature museum was a bit run down, but, again, I bet kids would think it's great.
Our weekend in Newport was packed and more strenuous than you would expect from touring historic homes, but we had a good time. I hope to return someday to see the houses decorated for the holidays.
Some Practical tips
10 years ago
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