We spent this past weekend in Newport, RI for a little getaway to celebrate my birthday! The idea to head to Newport came up when Hotel Viking invited us to come stay at their beautiful property, and thanks to my wonderful in-laws that offered to watch Jane, we were able to jump at the opportunity and plan a little overnight excursion! With 24-hours of kid-free weekending ahead of us, we packed in lots of eating and drinking and window-shopping. Before we left I polled my instagram followers for recommendations and I received so many great ideas. I was worried that we might be challenged finding things to do there on a cold January weekend, but we had the best time — thought I’d share a few of our weekend highlights for anyone else venturing to Newport in the winter! 
STAY. I have stayed in Newport a handful of times, and each trip has been a totally different experience than this one (my bachelorette, a blogger girls weekend). We stayed at the beautiful, historical Hotel Viking property this trip and it was a perfect location for couples getaway. We checked in to a Viking Suite room and enjoyed a delicious cheese plate and wine left by the hotel staff. I always love having a room with a suite sitting area — especially on a football play off weekend; Mike watched a little bit of the game while I got to read my book and take a rare nap in the comfy bed! It’s a cozy hotel to stay in for the winter, the lobby’s fire was roaring and they served hot cocoa there in the afternoon. We also loved the proximity of the Hotel Viking to all of the shops and restaurants, everything was very walkable (even for me, in 20 degree weather!). 
EAT AND DRINK. The weather was chilly — in the 20s — so most of our plans for the weekend revolved around eating and drinking inside cozy, warm restaurants! Right after we checked in and dropped our bags off, we walked downstairs to One Bellevue, the restaurant in Hotel Viking. We had such a tasty lunch — I had oysters and a stellar burger, plus a memorable Bees Knees cocktail and Mike loved their seafood chowder. I had so many restaurants and bars on my list of recommendations from readers to check out, so we popped into Diegos for margaritas (SO delicious) and also tried the bar at Stoneacre Brasserie (I loved the champagne cocktail and the decor was gorgeous). We had a birthday dinner at The Mooring and I got ID’ed when I ordered my cocktail so that was a real highlight of the weekend for this old lady, ha! On Sunday we had brunch reservations at Clarke Cooke House, but they don’t open until 11:30 and we wanted to get home in time for the Patriots game, so we changed plans last minute and had a tasty brunch at 41 North — I ordered the crab cakes benedict and we both loved the spicy home fries! 
SEE, SHOP, DO. Since we were only in Newport for a short stay, we left our plans fairly loose! We took a really nice stroll from the Hotel Viking down to the waterfront and did some window shopping around the wharf area. I loved visiting the Kiel James Patrick flagship store — it’s an absolute preppy heaven! We also ducked into Kristen Coates store and gallery and I was smitten as soon as we walked in — it was full of the most darling home items and paper goods, and tons of really affordable artwork.
At the end of the weekend, I had really wanted to do the Cliff Walk but it was freezing cold out, so we opted instead to get in the car and do the scenic Ocean Drive. I was craning my neck around every corner to sneak peeks at the mansions and ocean views — it was the perfect way to wrap up our short stay in Newport!
Please note: I was hosted by The Hotel Viking for this stay. All opinions, images and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support that site.
