Sunday, October 25, 2009

Newport, RI Part 2

I'm back! I am completely exhausted and ready for another weekend, any chance I can get that before I even hit Monday? This week is going to be crazy again, but I think by the time I hit Thursday everything is going to get a lot better for the rest of October and the beginning of November. Yay! I still have some more reviews and recommendations for Newport for you guys though...

Yesterday we started the day with a trip to the Newport mansions. You can't go to Newport without seeing at least one of these amazing houses. We had heard that Breakers was the one to do, so we headed to Breakers.
Breakers was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt as a "summer cottage" for his family. Can you imagine if your "summer cottage" had this view?
This inside was absolutely gorgeous. Although, all the crazy decorating was a bit much for my personal taste (as in, I wouldn't want to live in a house decorated this way). But it was definitely massive and how awesome would it be to have a full on library in your house? To visit Breakers you pay about $20 (I think it was maybe $23) and you get an audio tour inside with a head set. It's nice because you can stay in certain rooms and learn more about different things, or you can keep moving and you are not on a specific time schedule. You can also do other passes that allow you get into another mansion for a much cheaper price after you see Breakers. We decided to head to our next stop instead...
I have been wanting to go to this winery (and the others in the Rhode Island, Southeastern MA area) forever! They have a tasting bar, and you get to taste your choice of 5 different wines. I picked mostly white but I did taste the pinot noir.
It was fine, for a red wine. I don't think I could ever be a good wine taster since I just prefer white wine so much. Oh well, I can still enjoy wine tasting and just not be so great at it. I also totally tasted my red wine before the white, strike 2. But I wanted the final taste in my mouth to be my favorite haha. Yeah, terrible wine taster.

For dinner last night we went to a place called Fluke Wine Bar. I LOVED the atmosphere of this place. They even gave us this corner table completely by ourselves. It was a nice place, but not overly fancy. However, I probably would not go back there myself. I looked up the menu online beforehand (as I have to do because of my stomach) and none of the stuff was the same at the actual restaurant, grr! I ended up ordering sea scallops with a bacon risotto.
I love risotto when Eric makes it, but I can't eat bacon or cheese so I asked for the sweet potato puree instead of the risotto. The waiter said they could not do that because it was pre mixed with the scallops. Admire the picture above again, do you REALLY think it's pre mixed? Are you microwaving my meal in the back? I decided to just get the risotto but I was seriously pissed off about paying $30 for a few scallops. Plus I ended up really not liking the flavor of the risotto which was all over my scallops. Later, the girls were speculating that the chef probably does not like to mix things up and thats why they say it is pre mixed. Eric has told me that about other restaurants when I try to make my changes. If I go into my thoughts on this it could be a whole post (maybe tomorrow) but let's just say it makes me VERY ANGRY. I really don't care about your stupid chef appearance, I care about my stomach being happy and since I am the customer you should be willing to accommodate what I want, even if you don't think it's a good flavor combination or the best possible appearance on the plate. Grr. Anyway, I think everyone else was pretty happy with their meals, so you may like it. I suppose I'm not the best person to evaluate restaurants OR wine today haha.

After dinner we headed out to a couple of bars. We started at a bar across from Fluke, and I can't remember the name. They had a DJ downstairs and they were playing really good music. However, everyone there was at least 30 years older than us (not exaggerating) and random ladies were coming up and trying to befriend us, and it just was not normal. Tiff wanted to move on, so we ended up on the top floor of the Phelam, where we saw this...
These college boys were dancing on that platform with each other the whole night. I particularly was amused by the one with his shirt unbuttoned...WHAT?! At first I thought I was going to run into my freshman in college brother at any point (although he lives in a different state haha). But as the night went on, I HAVE to give my brother more credit than to hang out in a place like this! We felt pretty old. Especially when a girl started throwing up and Tiff (the bachelorette) really wanted to go help her. I told her she was not allowed to help college students at HER bachelorette haha.

Overall, we had a good time at both places including all randomness. Next time I'm sure we would try to find the place where people our age hang out :) I am not thrilled with any of the pictures of me and Tiff from the night, but here is the picture of Tiff in her awesome orange boa that I got her!
Catch up with you guys tomorrow!

21 comments:

  1. going to check out part 1.. but from the looks of this recap it sounds like you had a GREAT TIME!! Newport is SUCH a beautiful place!

    oh college dudes.. I love my peers!

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  2. I totally agree with you! We pay good money for food from restaurants and they should make it the way we want it!

    Glad to see you had a fun time, though.

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  3. I'm the opposite with wine. love red, but not white.

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  4. that 'summer' house sounds amazing :) I hate when a restaurant claims that they can't change stuff that should be so simple to switch.

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  5. Looks like a great time! I like the picture of the guy with his shirt unbuttoned, and his sexy bf. haha
    I hate it when restaurants don't listen to special requests, what a bummer! You are right, the customer is supposed to be right (most of the time...). In your case, I doubt the rissoto was pre mixed, the chef was just LAZY. I worked in a kitchen too long to doubt that.

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  6. Looks like a great trip! I lived in Newport for a summer after college, it was a blast!

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  7. That sucks that they couldn't modify that dish for you. Boo.

    Looks like you had a great time! Hope you have some quiet weekends ahead of you!

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  8. Wow! Looks like you guys had a great time! Love the view from that summer cottage. How lovely.

    Had to chuckle at your wine tasting story. Sounds like me! LOL

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  9. I love white wine, too. Wine tasting is one of my favorite things to do! It sounds like you had fun.

    I can't believe they wouldn't change the order for you... I've never heard of that before. I would be pissed, especially since you had to pay $30 for something you didn't even enjoy.

    Funny/weird bar stories!

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  10. Your weekend looks so fun! And I've been to the Breakers too...so HUGE and gaudy, its crazy! Also, next time you go, you should hit up the Newport Creamery, cause their milkshakes are HEAVENLY and out of this world :)

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  11. You should TOTALLY write a post about making your own order in restaurants - I totally agree and I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say :)

    Oh, and lovely "summer cottage" lol!!!

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  12. I can't believe that the restaurant would not substitute for you. I can see if they want to charge a little bit more for doing so, which is common, but to refuse? And it would have been pretty easy to plop those scallops on top of a different base rather than the risotto.

    As much as they should care, I don't think all restaurants truly care about their customers. I am allergic to certain kinds of alcohol so if I get a drink out, which normally I just don't, I have to ask for particular brands of alcohol that I know I don't react to. I have specifically asked for something and had them bring me something different. Of course I knew because I completely broke out..

    Def skip that place next time if they are not willing to meet your needs!

    KT

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  13. "However, everyone there was at least 30 years older than us (not exaggerating)." LMAO...this 53 year "old" wants to know the name of the oldtimers bar so my wife and I can go there if we go to Newport. Finally, a bar for us older folks. By any chance did they play 70's music?! If so, I'm so going there ASAP! OK, but seriously, I'm not a wine person, but I do whine if there's wine to drink. Bring on the beer! Every time I read the word Phelam, I think it says "phlegm." Sorry, just my weird brain. Oh, and no one can pull off wearing an orange boa like Tiff. Just think what a beautiful bride she'll be wearing a wedding dress! By the way, thanks for your "normal" and kind comments on my blog. I think "taper madness" just set in for me, and unfortunately for you it happened here and now! By the way, I'm going to have to root for the Yankees in the World Series. A Mets fan can't root for the Phillies. So sorry!

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  14. Sounds like so much fun!

    I'm like you - love my white wine and not a fan of red. Whenever we hit a winery for a tasting, I try to skip the reds.

    Too bad about that restaurant...they really should be accommodating your request(s) and it's not like you were asking for anything outrageous.

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  15. shes rocking that feather boa for sure!!!!
    ummmmmm... did you go to the only gay bar in newport? lol im just kidding.. love the shirts on both of them!

    i would have been pissed.. i hate making a stink in places, but i would have made one there for sure..

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  16. OHHHHHH im having a giveaway on my blog.. go look!!!!

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  17. What a stupid restaurant. They should know that pleasing customers is more important than making specific food.

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  18. Next time try Salvation Cafe on Broadway...lots of neat food and GREAT martinis. The Rhino Bar is good too for a bar. Glad you enjoyed the mansions! We had our prom at Rosecliff...it was so cool!

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  19. oh come on, you don't have a summer home like that? ;) one day... one day...

    looks like a fun weekend!

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