And I Wander: Mansions and Minced Clams in Newport R I

We are in Newport, Rhode Island; a town where half the wealthy in 1900 built homes. These weren't their real homes you understand; just their summer cottages. Little places where they could get away and entertain each other.

If you look closely at the top of the gate you'll see a stylized C and V. That stood for Cornelius Vanderbilt, and this is the gate to The Breakers.

This is the second home the Vanderbilt family had here. The first Breakers was wooden and burnt to the ground, so this was built of stone.

A detail on the front of the house

The lawn would be filled with tables for outdoor parties.

The blue just in front of the hedge is hydrangea, a wildly popular flower here.

The massive front entry.

This home was built in only two years, an amazing feat when you consider it's size. The Breakers is much smaller than The Biltmore, another Vanderbilt home, but it's still nothing to sneeze at.

The interior, which you're not allowed to photograph of course, is every bit as ornate as you can imagine. One wall is decorated with silver leaf. After realizing the wall never tarnished recent testing proved the "silver" was platinum.

A detail of a lamp post.

Cornelius Vanderbilt only spent one summer here.

The next year he had a stroke and three years later he died.

I thought there were six or seven palatial estates in Newport, but there are dozens! Most of them pale by comparison to the Breakers, but they're still fantastic. Other Vanderbilts built here, as did the Astors and Firestones. The heiress Doris Duke had a home here.

They're still being built today, or you can purchase a ready-made slightly used estate. I found one at slightly over $17,000,000 by Googling Newport Real Estate.

Historic Old Newport - where people go to get away from the crowded cities.

I guess they sail in and sail out, because parking lots are more crowded than the harbor.

Flo's Clam Shack has been destroyed by hurricanes SIX times since opening in 1937.

It's been featured on the Food Network, obviously not for the decor.

Flo's is famous for clam cakes, which I thought would be like crab cakes made with minced clams. But NO!! It's kinda like a clam fritter. I guess it's an acquired taste.