Skip the mansions and go to the library. Some vacation huh? Newport will surprise you with its layers of delight.

Rhode Island’s island town is a gilded place with its mega-mansions and massive yachts, but it’s also a personable walk-about kind of place with historic characters and present-day residents protecting and preserving houses, boats and traditions to share some incredible history with the rest of us.

For certain, guided tours of The Breakers, The Elms and their neighboring mansions lure lots of visitors who are happy they did so, but there’s more. Being on foot helps discover the rest, but isn’t always mandatory.

I decided early on in my three-day June visit not to swoon over the unattainable Gilded Age but to figure out what all the rest of Newport might offer.

The mansions drive-by I did on Ocean Drive and Bellevue Avenue; the going-inside I skipped, or saved for another time. What I found were other houses, some which let me in, some which never intended to and one I thought was open for tours but I startled a local bridge club.

When I stopped counting yachts in the harbor and strolled a few blocks to the international school where some are being restored, I felt more kinship with the people---working stiffs like me as opposed to someone who could rent a yacht, or own it.

Food everywhere was excellent, but the night I pushed back from the waterfront dining table and started asking around to find out where the local people eat, I treated my budget better.

The drive to next door Middletown wasn’t scenic like the Newport harbor, but eating seafood at Anthony’s with the regular community let me eavesdrop on a different accent and observe that stuffies, chowder in several styles and the day’s catch please the hometown folks too, just like they do tourist me.

Lunch on the lawn at Castle Hill on Ocean Drive, however, would surely be a grand experience, overlooking the Narragansett Bay and being looked over by those sailing in the harbor.

Handy Lunch on Thames Street meets the needs of local laborers and budget visitors for breakfast and lunch, and White Horse Tavern on Marlborough Street gives a more Gilded Age ambiance and price.

Plus, George Washington ate there.

Newport serves up many inviting alternative steps along with solid tours to experience the famous side. Surprising interesting options cropped up as I wandered, sometimes aimlessly and sometimes with a purpose.

The Visitor Information Center helps with both; it’s a big bustling hub for ideas, maps and brochures, buses and trolleys. Bathrooms too, Dunkin Donuts for a quick bite, and 30 minutes free parking which is important in this busy town.

Number 23 America’s Cup Avenue is the address. I’m no sailor but that street name belongs here and since Newport held the America’s Cup title for 50 years, 1930-1983. Switzerland has it now.

Seven of the legendary America’s Cup twelve-meter yachts on Newport’s Narragansett Bay are available to sail any summer afternoon -- a casual two-hour trip or a three-hour racing event on Sunday afternoons.