First Impressions: Newport

Hey! Long time no see! Today marks two weeks since we arrived in Rhode Island, and I finally have a chance to hop on the computer!

Things have been a bit busy around here! We arrived in Newport on Tuesday, then had our household goods delivered on Wednesday, so we’ve been working ever since to get everything put away. So much stuff, so little space.

Honestly, the biggest obstacle in getting unpacked has been finding locations to put everything. We went from nearly 3,000 sqft. in Kentucky to less than 1,600 sqft. here in Rhode Island.I plan on maximizing our wall space with shelves, but those can only hold so much. Feel free to drop your favorite space saving organization hacks in the comments, please and thank you!

Anyway, back to Newport. Let’s just say, I’m in love! The town in adorable and there is so much to do!

I had tears in my eyes as soon as we crossed the bridge onto our island. This girl is not meant to be landlocked. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be back by the ocean! Then, 10 minutes later, as we drove into our neighborhood, the waterworks were at it again. There were SO MANY kiddos everywhere.

Part of the reason we chose the housing that we’re in is because we heard over and over again that there was a huge sense of community in the neighborhood. Kids are always out on their scooters, the parents all hang out with each other. The house may be old and small, but the people more than make up for it.

There’s a small beach within walking distance that we’ve visited nearly every evening. We can usually find at least a few neighborhood families down there. The kids love to search for sea glass, while the adults chat watch the sailboats pass by while the sunset. And maybe also search for sea glass.

For the most part, the families in the neighborhood are here for the year of school, so even though it’s a Navy base, there is a good mix of Army, Navy, and Marine Corps around us!

One of the first things we noticed about this state/town(?) is that there is no alcohol at the grocery stores. It would have been nice to grab some ice cold beers while we were buying cleaning supplies at Walmart! The liquor stores appear to be completely separate, which was a surprise. In Kentucky, you could usually find beer in the regular grocery store, and many grocery stores had their liquor stores attached right next door. Not the case here.

We actually ran into our first Army/Navy difference as we were searching for the liquor store on base. In the Army, the liquor store is known as the Class 6. I can’t tell you how many times we drove past the “Package Store” on the Navy base without realizing what it was.

Driving around has been a bit of a challenge for me. The roads don’t seem to make sense to me yet. There are lots of one way streets, which can make navigating tricky. Hopefully, I have them figured out and can map my way around in the next few months. I also have to constantly be on the lookout for stop signs, which seem to pop up in the most random parts of streets.

The traffic has been a bit of a pain with it being tourist season, but I’m told we should see it die down by the end of the month. There have also been music festivals right outside of our neighborhood for the last two weekends, which doesn’t help the traffic at all.

TL;DR Newport is different. House is small. Neighborhood is great. I’m so in love!