Rhode Island Town 4: South Kingstown (and a bite of Narragansett) 6/25/2020

There’s nothing like a beach day during a Rhode Island summer. So on the gorgeous morning of June 25th, we packed the car and headed down to South Kingstown to spend the day at East Matunuck State Beach.  Aemilia opted to stay home, since she hates sand. With her along, a day at the beach would have equaled a grumpy teenager who would have unceasingly reminded us of the unfathomable misery she was experiencing due to our callousness.  Right, Aemilia? 😉

Upon arrival at the beach, we purchased a season’s pass which costs $30 for RI residents and gives us access to 8 state owned beaches.  This year, rather than receiving the beach pass in the form of a sticker, our license plate will be scanned each time we enter a beach parking lot. (I think I like this idea!) We then proceeded to park in the unpaved lot and make our way to the sand.  

​Wow, was it crowded!  We arrived around 10 AM and it was already pretty packed.  We headed down past the last lifeguard chair at the far end of the beach, and we were still surrounded by people.  I was under the impression that to aid with COVID-19 social distancing, parking at each state beach was going to be limited, however this was not the case at East Matunuck as more and more people continued to arrive.  We actually had to move our beach mat when another family plopped their stuff down right next to us. 

Perfect beach day (but notice the crowds in the background)

Yikes!!!! The water is cold and the waves are BIG!!!

After warming up...

Although the vast number of people in such close proximity was uncomfortable, the water was great.  At first, Aoife & Tarynn deemed it too cold, but after a little while they determined that once you were in the water for a little while, it really wasn’t that bad.  Tarynn especially had fun jumping in the waves, and it was especially nice that the water was clear with very little seaweed.  Usually when we are at East Matunuck, we take a walk to look for the little crabs that live under the stones at each end of the beach.  However, given how difficult it would be to maintain a six foot distance from other people, that really wasn’t possible today.

Starting around 1pm, a few people started to pack up and leave.  This is usually the case at the RI beaches - there’s usually a morning shift of people and later in the afternoon a second wave of beachgoers arrive.  I love to make the most of the day by staying until the sunset.  However, with the crowd and feeling kind of uncomfortable with the closeness of other beachgoers, we decided to pack up around 2:30 and head over to Jim’s Dock, which is just down the road from the beach in the fishing village of Jerusalem (which is a very tiny section of Narragansett even though it is on the western side of the breachway separating Jerusalem from Galilee).  In my opinion, Jim’s Dock has the best clam cakes close to East Matunuck beach, although there are several great clam shacks in Charlestown and Narragansett.  We took our food to go and set out a mat on the state pier dock, enjoying the view and watching the fishing boats coming in.  The clam cakes were perfect - light & fluffy with lots of clams and little grease, and were a delicious end to our day.  

There is so much more to South Kingstown than the beaches.....hoping to return to SK and visit more places in this beautiful town before the summer ends. 

Other places we've enjoyed in South Kingstown: 

• Tilly's Cheesesteaks - Delicious cheesesteaks, hand cut fries, and shakes.  We first discovered Tilly's through one of the RI Food Fights throwdowns, and we've been back several times since.  
• Kenyon's Grist Mill - In the lovely historic village of Usquepaug, Kenyon's Grist Mill has been continually grinding meals and flours onsite since 1696. 
• The Ryan Center at URI - Concert and sports area on the University of RI campus.  We've had fun going to several URI women's basketball games here. 
• ​Crawley Preserve - Beautiful wooded trails with moderate slopes.  Some trails cross over brooks and streams.
• The Great Swamp Trail - This loop trail is pretty flat and is just over 4 miles long.  Part of the trail follows the edge of a lake, and throughout the lake there are utility poles which are the home of several ospreys.