Charlestown and RI coast featured in Travel and Leisure

In the August issue of Travel and Leisure magazine, travel writer Dominique Browning sings the praises of Rhode Island’s coastal attractions, especially those that are less likely to show up on a visitor’s itinerary.

In the article entitled “Rhode Island’s Secret Coast,” she describes places to see and things to do that a visitor would almost certainly enjoy (and that some of us who live here would enjoy). It’s the kind of article that’s worth printing out to save for the next time you need ideas for where to take family or guests.

She starts in Little Compton, where she lives, and goes westward, step by step. Lots more detail about Little Compton, a lot more than Charlestown, but then the best advice for good writing is to write about what you know.

She does a nice job in covering interesting spots in Newport and moves on to Jamestown and Narragansett, and then lingers in her treatise on Galilee. She raves about Iggy’s – her one glaring mistake, because Aunt Cary’s has WAY better clamcakes.. She talks about Moonstone and what a beautiful beach it is, and also reminisces about the good old days when it was our state’s most famous nude beach.

I loved her funky treatment of Charlestown where she only picks two local features to discuss – the Worm Ladies on

East Beach Road

and the Umbrella Factory. I liked her affectionate description of both. Plus, they certainly fit into the “RI’s Secret Coast” title.

She wraps up her South County travelogue in Westerly with an extensive description of Watch Hill and the Ocean House. She very correctly notes that this gorgeous reconstruction of the hotel in its century-old glory days is really expensive – “You have to be an investment banker to afford to stay here” but rightly praises its splendor.

I like reading travel pieces that feature Rhode Island. They always drive home the point of how lucky I feel to live here.

Author: Will Collette