Rhode Island’s best-kept secret is the perfect low-key getaway
Sitting prettily but often overlooked between Nantucket and Montauk, this teardrop-shaped island 13 miles offshore has picturesque goods in spades: soaring bluffs, a pair of historic lighthouses, and 17 miles of tawny beaches. The island’s jetty-guarded Old Harbor is a gateway to nostalgic vacation land, with Victorian waterfront hotels, quirky shops, and ice-cream and fudge parlors. In New Harbor, on the island’s Great Salt Pond, sailboats and fishing charters anchor a maritime scene that remains mega-yacht free. And at the island’s heart: an undulating landscape—45 percent of which is protected in conservancy—punctuated by shingled cottages. The sum effect is a mesmerizing postcard from New England summers past. ~ By