If there are two things that Americans just can't seem to get enough of during the holiday season, it's festive decorations and jaw-dropping mansions dressed to the nines with Christmas trees, tinsel, ornaments and more.

Long Islanders looking for a holiday-inspired road trip can take the four-hour drive to Newport, Rhode Island, to experience the glitz and glamour of the Gilded Age mansions.

Initiated in 1971 as a two-week series of holiday-themed events, "Christmas in Newport" was designed to induce shoppers and merrymakers to spend time — and money — in what had, by the late 1800s, become America’s most glamorous summer resort.

Day-trippers responded positively to the lights and decorations that adorned the city’s commercial waterfront, but getting out-of-towners to come for the nigh

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