A LOT OF AMERICA IN A SMALL SPACE: NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
Story and photography
by Eric Anderson & Nancy Allen

Newport, RI was a thriving maritime city in the early 1970s, bustling with energy. The U.S. Navy had a home there and the city housed the America's Cup. The navy pulled out in the 1970s, however, and the Cup was lost to Australia in 1983. Faced with significant economic problems Newport had to reinvent itself. The choice was obvious. There were lots of interesting things to do in town all close together and of course Newport had a seaside location. What more could tourists want?

As it turned out, not much. Twenty years later Newport has become one of the prime tourist and convention destinations in the North East. If the White Horse Tavern, founded in next-door Middletown in 1687, really is the oldest tavern in the United States then maybe Newport is returning to its roots to when it was called "America's Oldest Resort." Says Evan Smith, the president of the Newport Convention and Visitors Bureau, "You can see an awful lot of America in such a small space. We're safe, we're accessible and we've been entertaining guests for more than 350 years." www.gonewport.com Tel 800-976-5122.

ATTRACTIONS


Indeed those years are all around you in Newport. It is eminently a walkable city and when you wander along its cobblestoned streets and past its Colonial homes -- each with the plaque signifying its listing as a National Historic Landmark-you surely get a wistful ache for the quieter pace of the 1700s. The houses, all lived in, are beautifully maintained and colorfully painted with flowers cascading over stone walls and picket fences.


Many are best seen from the ocean and most tourists ultimately taking to the sea for a sail on Newport’s Narragansett Bay. There are many choices, a popular one aboard the 72-foot schooner Madeleine. cruisenewport.com Such a cruise sure gives the feel for Newport.