I Was Called White Trash in Newport, Rhode Island
You read the title correctly, I was called white trash in Newport, RI. It’s a funny story, but I’ll get into it a little later.
For my birthday every year, I take a little long weekend trip. Two years ago, I went to Salem, MA. Last year I went to Annapolis, MD. You get the idea. I went to Newport, RI last year for summer vacation and I LOVED it. The town is super cute, the scenery is beautiful, the restaurants are amazing, I wanted to go back. So I decided that that’s where I was headed for the birthday trip this year. So my sister and I packed up the car and off we went.
My Time In Newport
When we got to Newport, we checked into our hotel and went off to find ourselves some dinner. We ended up getting food at this restaurant called Pasta Beach. We had some cocktails, split a grilled Caesar salad, and each had a plate of pasta. My sister had carbonara and I had Bolognese. Now, being from Jersey, you and I both know what good Italian food tastes like. And let me tell you, this place was gooooood. Not what I was expecting from Rhode Island, but I was pleasantly surprised. If you ever find yourself in Newport, I highly recommend it.
“You Guys are White Trash”
Afterward, we went down to Thames Street, one of the main streets in town, and did a little shopping. It was getting dark, so we decided to stop at one of the bars out on one of the docks. The one we ended up in is called Smuggler’s Waterfront Bar. We had thankfully found a bar that seemed to cater to people our age (my sister and I are in our early and mid-20s for reference). So we each got a beer and sat in the Adirondack chairs out on the dock. The bartender had been very nice to us and the music in the place was good. It was a peaceful end to our first night.
Or so we thought. We were at the bar for about an hour before we decided to head back to our hotel. It was only 10 pm or so, which is early for us to call it a night, but it was a Monday and the town wasn’t super lively. So we began the walk back to my car. As we were walking back down Thames Street, a drunk man came out of nowhere and began accosting us.
He was on the opposite side of the street and my sister and I had things on us to protect ourselves, if it came to that. So we were not scared, just annoyed. But we also didn’t want him following us back to the car. My sister asked me to stop walking and start taking pictures of her, so we could fake being busy with the hopes that the drunk man would get bored and wander off. And that’s essentially what happened. He got bored of us doing our thing and ignoring him, so he continued walking.
There was also a group of teen boys on his side of the street that he began getting into a verbal altercation with, so we decided to use that distraction to get ourselves out of there. But as we were finishing the photos and starting to walk onward again, a Jeep drove down the street with people hanging out of the back seat windows on both sides of the car. The woman hanging out the window closest to us looked at us and yelled “You guys are white trash!” and the car sped up to get away.
My sister and I just looked at each other confused. She was a little bit upset and all I could do was point out the irony of calling us, strangers minding our own business, white trash while she was the one being trashy. It was just a really weird series of events. Especially considering we were in Newport. I wouldn’t have been as shocked if we had been in some place like Atlantic City.
Thankfully, our first night ending like that wasn’t a pattern for the trip. The rest of our time in Newport was fantastic. The next day we had brunch at Cru Cafe (highly recommend), went to check out a couple of the Gilded Age Mansions (yes like the HBO show), and got drinks at the Lawn on Castle Hill. It was a lot of fun! And our final day there, we ate dinner at the oldest operating restaurant in North America, The White Horse Tavern. It was expensive, but it was completely worth it.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I’ll definitely be heading back there sometime. Don’t let my one-off weird night deter you from taking a long weekend to this lovely little New England town. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the region, and Newport is absolutely one of my favorite spots. If you like history or sailing, I think you’d really like it too. Or, you could always check out one of our other recommended boating vacation spots, if you’re looking for somewhere to go this summer.
