Vacation time 2021. There is not much that could be better than being invited to join Tom’s kids and our grandchildren for a beach vacation to Rhode Island. The shores of Rhode Island were discovered by Pat and Brittany a couple of years ago. This is the second family vacation there and I was invited to join them again this year. This year it was all 9 of us (3 grands) and the dog! The only thing that could make this better would be if Tom was still with us. I am sure he would be very happy to know how his family has embraced me.

Brittany found the house on Quonochontaug Pond. The “Pond” is a coastal lagoon in the towns of Westerly and Charlestown. It is one of nine such lagoons (often referred to as “salt ponds” in southern Rhode Island). The property was fabulous. Location, location, location! Our house was right on the pond and we had a dock where you could fish or launch a canoe (which were included in the rental). This was our “back yard”. Quite nice to have this be your morning view. My grandson was thrilled to be fishing and crabbing with his uncles and aunt and canoeing with his dad.

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We all love the beaches in the area and there are great family friendly restaurants right on the beach. We are partial to The Andrea which is a seaside restaurant and Beach Bar located directly on Misquamicut Beach. Great during the day and very picturesque at sundown.

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There are so many things to do during the day too. A favorite place for me is Watch Hill. Watch Hill offers a lighthouse and the oldest continually operating merry-go-round in the country. Here you will find “the Flying Horses”. And, I might throw in, absolutely fabulous shops and the most wonderful sandwich and ice cream shop (St Clair Annex). Fantastic cappuccino and delicious pastries/muffins can be found at Sift Bake Shop.

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One day I met a friend, Janet, from high school. She lives not too far from Westerly. How great is that?? She took me to the Coast Guard House in Narraganset for lunch. We spent several hours talking and walked out to see the rock pier where people go out on the rocks and build rock cairns. Buddhists writers say its a way to ask for good fortune or an effort to balance energies. That is for sure! The photo on the right is my rock cairn that I built at the beach with rocks my grandson was collecting for me. When I balanced them he asked if I was “magical” since I could do that! I hope he will always think that I’m “magical”

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We went to take a look at “downtown Westerly” one day and it was fun. Wilcox Park is beautiful and there are lots of antique shops and a great vintage gift shop. The owner of Westerly Gifts, Erika Theilig, had quite an assortment of irresistible things to buy. She makes soy candles in a wide variety of scents. She also carries an assortment of Retro and Modern Toys, Candy and Sodas. She had some very original art pieces by Liisa Lang. One came home with me.

But the “Find” of the trip was the public display of the Bricks & Murals project. This project was born in 2016 and came to life in 2017. This was a large revitalization of the downtown area. The painting was done by The Walldogs who are international sign painters and muralists. This project is also amazing because it is 2 states (Rhode Island and Connecticut), 2 towns (Westerly and Pawcatuck), 1 Downtown. The murals are the history of the 2 towns. Tom & Denise and I undertook an ambitious plan to photograph the murals. My daughter-in-law shares my passion for photography. We had time and energy to complete half of the “crawl” and Tom & Denise stopped back the next day on their way home and got the rest. Photo credit for the last 9 murals goes to Denise.

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This was so much fun. Denise and I decided if we lived here we would do a “mural crawl” for tourists with stops at bars, wine bars and foodie places intermittently so that your physical energy would match your enthusiasm for learning about the towns through the murals. All in all it was a great trip and we made it home before Hurricane Henri made landfall in Westerly the day after we left.

Nothing like a family vacation.