Matunuck Beach Road is a two-mile straight shot connecting U.S. Route 1 in Rhode Island to the ocean. With cornfields and vegetable farms; the Vanilla Bean, an old-school ice cream shop; the Ocean Mist, a dive once hailed by Esquire as one of the Best Bars in America; and fences that are overtaken with fuchsia roses in summer, it's a microcosm of all that's magical about the surrounding region, Washington County. For New Yorkers and Bostonians, South County, as it's known colloquially, is oft-overlooked for the more popular Hamptons, Cape, and Vineyard. But as much fun as paying $12 for a beer at Ruschmeyer’s can be, there are a few reasons why South County is the unsung hero of the East Coast—no hairdryer or impossible-to-get dinner reservation required.
The beaches are low key, unpretentious, and delightfully imperfect.
South County has 100 miles of coastline and 20 public beaches, including Narragansett Town Beach, a surfing haven, and East Matunuck State Beach, a popular family hangout with a new solar-paneled pavilion. Although the waters of Block Island Sound are decidedly not turquoise, sand is sand, sun is sun, and those rocky patches—at times strewn with seaglass, at times with seaweed—only add to the character.
There are serious gems to be found amid a fledgling hotel scene.
With interiors inspired by retro surf culture, the two-year-old Break Hotel (from Lark Hotels) is a modern counterpoint to venerable stalwarts like the Weekapaug Inn. In Watch Hill, every inch of a suite at the Watch Hill Inn, plus the cabanas at Ocean House (that swanky, storied grande dame overlooking Little Narragansett Bay), have recently been clad in Lily Pulitzer’s signature prints—a nod to the recently opened Lily boutique on Bay Street. Also new at Ocean House: the Secret Garden champagne bar, featuring Veuve Cliquot.
Those oysters on the half-shell help the local aquaculture.
At Matunuck Oyster Bar—a member of Bon Appetit’s Where to Eat in Providence list—45-minute drive be damned: The food is great and the patio is always packed. But the real action happens in the pond just outside the restaurant, where owner (and sustainable-aquaculture advocate) Perry Raso maintains a vast network of oyster farms. South County’s other gustatory delights include clam and lobster shacks (Aunt Carrie’s, Champlin’s), small-batch coffee (Dave’s Coffee), and beer (Westerly’s Grey Sail Brewing, South Kingstown’s Whalers Brewing Co).
Bright sun and dark skies mean countless great reasons to get outside.
Festivals (like the annual Charlestown Seafood Festival), the Kinney Azalea Garden, and the William C. O’Neill bike path all offer different ways to absorb South County’s salty ocean air. According to the South County Tourism Council, the region also has the darkest sky between Boston and New York City, making stargazing—best viewed from the beach or the Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown—the perfect way to end the day.
