The Johnnycake State

It was sunday morning, but before we left new england, I wanted to visit newport, rhode island. So we drove from mystic over to newport for breakfast. To get to newport, you have to cross two long and high bridges, which gave us an incredible view of the river and the city. Newport is also home of the international tennis hall of fame, which has the only public grass courts in the country, lots of yachting events and the annual jazz festival. But we were only here for half a day.

I was determined to find some johnny cakes in the only state where you can get them. (Johnnycakes are like pancakes, but they're made from corn.) But alas, no one in newport seemed to make them. So we settled for a standard issue breakfast, looked around newport harbor, and then drove about 15 minutes north of the city to newport vineyards for a tour and wine tasting. I especially enjoyed the cabernet franc, but overall the setup was less impressive than at a new york vineyard we visited a couple of years ago.

Back in newport, we explored the fancy mansions that once were summer homes to the country's captains of industry. Especially impressive was the breakers, which was the vanderbilts' "summer cottage". Many of these mansions are open to public tours.

(On a side note, another place I want to visit is providence, rhode island, especially during waterfire, which runs from april to october.)

Oh well, no johnnycakes, and a vineyard that was just okay, so we headed back to mystic as our weekend approached its conclusion . . .