What better way to celebrate the first day of summer vacation than by heading over to Newport? I went with Lindsey and Judy to my favorite destination spot. We decided to get an early start and leave early on Saturday morning. We grabbed a little DD on the way. The day started off gray and a little misty. We parked in the public parking garage that's kind of near Panera Bread. We were praying that it wouldn't rain and thankfully, it did not. As the day went on it started to get brighter and then the sun came out. I just love Newport. I think it's the perfect type of city. It's a city with businesses blossoming but it is also so attractive. No blight. There are plenty of things to do, but no disgusting smells, trash bag ladies on the sidewalk, buses, exhaust. It's wonderful. It's where I would have put my summer cottage too if I had been alive during the Gilded Age.
We started off near Bowen's Wharf and went to a few stores. The restaurants were filling the air with the smell of wonderful food. Fudge shops, The Cookie Jar, seafood restaurants, burgers, steaks. Wonderful. That's a Yankee Candle they should make- Hot off the Grill. If they can make a bacon candle why not one that smells like hamburgers and hotdogs? The only problem with lunchtime in Newport is getting a seat somewhere. I was really set on trying a new restaurant bur I ended up with an old faithful. Bay had recommended The Smokehouse but Lindsey doesn't like it there so that was out, we thought about Diego's but Judy was not feeling Mexican, I wanted to try the Cooke House but the lack of seats and AC made me pass on that, we were going to go to the Wharf Pub (Lindsey's former place of employment) but they also lack an AC. We also were hot and tired. We could have walked up to the area by Nikolas pizza but I mean, who are you kidding? There had to have been a decent restaurant near us, with AC, little to no wait, and reasonable prices for lunch. Where did that lead us to? The Red Parrot.
I love The Red Parrot. I'm not as crazy about the food as I am about ambiance. There was no wait, which was a huge surprise. We were seated at a high top table in the front of the restaurant. It was nice. We ordered some cocktails to start. Lindsey had a bloody, Judy had the raspberry colada, and I had a Narragansett. I think I was the only one pleased with their choice of drink. Sometimes you need to leave the fancy crap and just go by the standbys. To eat, Linds and Judy both had a cheeseburger. They both liked it very much and I must admit that it looked great. I ordered something new. I had the coconut shrimp wrap. It had coconut shrimp, avocado, lettuce, pineapple, and mandarin oranges. It came with tortilla chips and pineapple salsa. The waiter even said, "Great choice" when I ordered. That's the third time my order choice had been complimented on. No dessert. We had to move on.
We continued our trip on the opposite side of the street now. We popped in a few more stores and decided to get our afternoon treat at Cupcake Charlie's. They were winners on Cupcake Wars. The cupcake was delicious. I had the lemon drop, Judy had the chocolate mint, and Lindsey had a red velvet. They have quite a few other flavors as well. They have a website you can check out and apparently they ship nationwide. Fabulous. We continued our shopping spree back down to the parking garage. We ended our day (half falling asleep) driving down Ocean Drive. It was a great day overall. I was in my favorite city with my favorite ladies on my first day of summer vacation. Wonderful trip.
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