Rhode Island

8 Picturesque Towns in Rhode Island for a Weekend Retreat

Published

2 years ago

August 29, 2024

8 Picturesque Towns in Rhode Island for a Weekend Retreat

While it’s the smallest state in the United States in terms of square miles, Rhode Island is known as the “Ocean State” because of its stunning coastline. Many folks from neighboring states like Connecticut and metro areas like Boston dash off to Rhode Island in the warmer months, looking for escape and inspiration. Small towns in Rhode Island provide the perfect backdrop for busy parents and professionals looking for a scenic change. Here are some of our favorites.

Newport

Newport, Rhode Island, breakers drone photo.

Nestled on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay, Newport is a popular stop for weekend visitors, summer folks, and cruise guests. One of the most famous activities is mansion tours, which allow visitors to see exquisite homes built for successful American families during the Gilded Age. These include The Marble House, built by William Vanderbilt for his wife Alva, and Chateau-Sur-Mer, known for its high Victorian architecture. Check out Newport Travel Trolley Tours or Gansett Cruises for unique ways to travel around the area. Rhode Island Red Food Tours and Island Adventures bike rentals provide other great ways to see the highlights.

If you want to experience a waterfront weekend, book a room at the Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, where you can enjoy firepits, a heated indoor pool, and kayak rentals. If a Victorian-style B&B is more your style, visit the Almondy Inn, which has elegant rooms and is near downtown activities. The upscale shopping district includes delightful seafood restaurants like the Brick Alley Pub and shops like the Pink Pineapple.

Little Compton

Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Sakonnet River, Little Compton was developed in 1682 and became a part of Rhode Island in 1747. Today, it’s still a thriving fishing town and home of Wilbor House, originally built in 1690 and containing rooms representing four different centuries. Modern visitors can tour Wilbor House for free. Those looking to get a more comprehensive understanding of the area can rent two wheels at Little Compton Adventures and enjoy a guided tour of the highlights, including the Sakonnet Point Lighthouse.

If you’re in town for the weekend, enjoy an upscale experience at the Stone House Inn with its updated rooms and water views. You can also find comfortable, affordable lodging in the nearby Quality Inn & Suites Middletown/Newport. If you’re hungry, enjoy a handcrafted sandwich at The Barn Restaurant or seafood rolls at The Commons Lunch.

Westerly

Located on the Pawcatuck River, Westerly is known for its beautiful beaches and lighthouses. Stroll through downtown Westerly, and you’ll find no shortage of spots for stopping and exploring. For example, Martin House Books offers a wide selection of reads, a cafe, and a cheerful children’s space. You can also find thoughtful jewelry pieces at the Eagle’s Nest Gallery or stop for a drink at the Tapped Apple Cidery & Winery.

If you’re looking for waterfront accommodations, don’t miss out on the Weekapaug Inn, which offers Pond View Rooms, Weekapaug Beach access, and a boathouse with complimentary kayaks, paddleboards, and sailboats. Restaurants, free boat tours, and a state-of-the-art fitness center are also included in your stay. The Inn has a sister property in Watch Hill called The Ocean House, to which guests at Weekapaug Inn have unrestricted access. Regular events there, such as wine tastings, barbeques, and book signings, mean you’ll have plenty to do during your stay.

East Greenwich

East Greenwich is located in central Rhode Island along the west shore of Narragansett Bay. Its Main Street is known for being a charming place to shop, dine, and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Stop by The Green Door for beautiful baskets and wreaths, or find unique curated gifts at The Current. Main Street Coffee is a darling place to enjoy a latte or a homemade quiche. You can also take in some seaside views and sushi at Water Street Kitchen & Bar.

Weekend visitors can try the comfortable, affordable accommodations at The Holiday Inn Express—West Warwick area, located in nearby Coventry. You can also travel a few extra miles and stay at The Shepherd’s Run in South Kingston, which offers suites, spa services, and winery tastings. If you’re visiting during the warmer months, be sure to visit Goddard Memorial State Park in nearby Warwick, where a beach with a lifeguard, picnic tables, and a nine-hole golf course means you’ll enjoy plenty of outdoor recreation and beautiful views.

Bristol

The village of Bristol is nestled on a peninsula between Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay. It’s around twenty miles southeast of Providence, a city easily accessed by plane or train from metropolitan areas like Boston and New York. If you love the outdoors, you’ll want to visit from May through October, when you can enjoy the East Bay Bike path or one of Bristol’s fourteen parks. You can also sign up for events like the Bristol House Tour, where you can tour twelve historic houses and have access to shuttle vans that will easily transport you between them. While there, enjoy a boat tour of the area with a company like Seastreak or check out an exhibit at the Bristol Art Museum.

Staying in Bristol means effortless elegance at places like Bradford-Dimond-Norris House, where you can enjoy charming rooms and downtown attractions just outside your door. Pick up a new sweater at Beau Bleu Boutique or enjoy a fish sandwich at The Waterside Bar & Grill. For dessert, head to the Jules Ice Cream Shop, where vegan treats and ice cream sodas are served along with all your favorite flavors.

Block Island

Block Island is only twelve miles from the Rhode Island coast and is accessed by ferry. Its free public beaches make it extremely popular in the summer months. Among its most popular is Fred Benson Town Beach, which offers restrooms, food, rentable chairs, beach umbrellas, and boogie boards. Visitors also love Surf Beach, which is a three-minute walk from the ferry and close to shops and bathrooms. This is also where you’ll find the Block Island Beach House, a hotel that offers ocean-view lodging and a restaurant that’s the perfect place to watch the sunset while enjoying a cocktail.

Hiking and biking are also popular in Block Island, with over 28 miles of trails to explore. Fishing, sailing, and kayaking are also popular. Shoppers can enjoy beachy gifts at Diamond Surf Shop or treats for their best friends at The Mutt Hut. Then top off your day with a Fisherman’s Platter at The Beachhead Restaurant.

Jamestown

Aerial view of Beavertail Lighthouse, Rhode Island.

Most of Jamestown is located on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay. It’s home to historic sites like Watson Farm, which was established in 1796 and sits on land once owned by three governors. It is still an operating, sustainable farm. If you visit during open hours, you can enjoy workshops, walking tours, and farm activities.

Visiting for the weekend means you’ll be only a few miles from Newport, an excellent location for a day trip. Consider staying at Club Wyndham Bay Voyage Inn, which offers comfortable rooms overlooking Narragansett Bay and an outdoor pool and fitness center. Enjoy gorgeous waterfront dining with breathtaking views at JBs on the Water or a frozen hot chocolate at Slice of Heaven.

Warren

Warren was first settled in 1653 as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With centuries of maritime history to its credit, the waterfront remains a popular visitor spot. The Warren Town Beach has a lifeguard-protected swimming area, playground, outdoor shower, and picnic tables. You can also visit places like The Charles Whipple Greene Museum, where you’ll find artifacts, documents, and stained glass windows attesting to the town’s history and beauty.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, check out William’s Grant Inn B & B in nearby Bristol, where you’ll find cozy rooms and a friendly staff. When you’re hungry, enjoy a lobster roll and lovely views from the rooftop bar at The Wharf. Or stop by Cafe Water Street to sample the sweetest crepes, chai lattes, and banana bread in town.

If you’re looking for a unique way to spend a weekend, enjoy the peace, history, and beauty of one of Rhode Island’s small towns. With so many elegant homes, restaurants, and resorts to explore, you’ll wonder why you didn’t visit sooner. Active folks will love the area’s activities, foodies will be delighted, and those looking for a relaxing weekend won’t be disappointed. Pack your bags and get ready for a beautiful getaway!

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Rhode Island

Rhode Island women’s basketball wins A-10 regular-season championship

Published

9 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Rhode Island women’s basketball wins A-10 regular-season championship

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – What was a peerless achievement in University of Rhode Island women’s basketball history now has some company just four short years later.

The Rams are Atlantic 10 regular-season champions again after a special Saturday afternoon in Kingston, a coronation more than a contest against visiting George Washington.

The Revolutionaries never had a chance after the hosts got off to a sharp start at the Ryan Center. URI left no doubt in front of its best crowd of the season, and a significant portion of that gathering stuck around long after the final whistle to see the nets cut down again.

It was all Rams in this 72-48 cruise, a result that matched what was a first in 2022-23 and handed URI a No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. George Mason dropped to the No. 2 spot despite posting the same 16-2 league record as the Rams, and that came thanks to a comprehensive 79-63 defeat in a Valentine’s Day matchup.

“There’s nothing more satisfying as a coach than to have the confetti fall and to cut down nets with this group of young women,” URI coach Tammi Reiss said. “I’ve never been prouder.”

URI scored on each of its first five offensive possessions and authored a masterpiece through the opening three quarters. It was only in the fourth when Reiss emptied her bench that George Washington showed any semblance of being able to keep pace. Palmire Mbu led three in double figures with 23 points, and Sophia Vital played yet another complete all-around game to help the Rams run roughshod.

“We were just extra motivated today,” Mbu said. “We wanted to do great for our crowd.

“Just trying my best. Trying to be aggressive and to give solutions on offense and defense. It felt good.”

URI owned a 21-point lead entering the final 10 minutes, thanks to 18 assists, just two turnovers and 63.4% shooting from the field. The Rams buried the offensive struggles they experienced in road losses to La Salle and Richmond with what had been a typical display of crisp execution. URI closed 26-for-35 from 2-point range, collected 48 points in the paint and racked up another 17 off Revolutionaries turnovers.

“I do believe the last four years we had talented teams – we had talented players,” URI guard Ines Debroise said. “But I think it’s also how we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together. This year that’s what we were going to do from day one.”

Mbu’s bucket off a Vanessa Harris steal gave the Rams a 25-10 lead and forced a George Washington timeout with 6:38 left in the second quarter. It seemed just a matter of time before this one was out of reach, and Brooklyn Gray followed a Debroise 3-pointer with a pair of layups to make it a 32-12 cushion. URI’s lead never dipped under 12 points again, and Mbu’s hook in the lane capped an 8-0 run that took it back to 58-38 with 1:00 left in the third.

Video of URI coach Tammi Reiss speaking postgame on Feb. 28

URI women’s basketball beats George Washington to win the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship

“They were sharing the ball in a championship game,” Reiss said. “It wasn’t 1-on-1. That’s what makes this team special.”

The Rams (25-4, 16-2 Atlantic 10) set a new program best for conference wins in a season and are now one shy from a new overall mark – they collected 26 while making a run to the WNIT Round of 16 in 2022-23. URI shared the league crown with rival Massachusetts that year before suffering a semifinal upset against Saint Louis and missing out on a third meeting with the Minutewomen.

“Their job is to show up and be us,” Reiss said. “Execute our game plan with discipline and ferocity for 40 minutes. Our job is to manage them – their health, their minutes.”

The Revolutionaries (15-16, 7-11 Atlantic 10) dropped to the No. 10 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will play No. 7 Saint Louis in the second round on Thursday, March 5. The Rams will open Friday’s quarterfinals in an 11 a.m. tip on the USA Network against either No. 8 Loyola Chicago or No. 9 St. Bonaventure. No. 4 Davidson and No. 5 Saint Joseph’s are in URI’s half of the bracket, while the second-seeded Patriots and third-seeded Spiders could be on a semifinal collision course in the other half at Henrico Sports & Events Center.

“It’s going to be tough for everybody – probably three games in three days,” Mbu said. “We’ve got to push to the end and play like we’ve been doing.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON (48): Sara Lewis 2-10 2-2 6, Gabby Reynolds 7-13 2-2 17, Tanah Becker 1-2 1-1 3, Mia James 2-6 0-0 4, Kamari Sims 2-4 0-0 4, Emma Theodorsson 0-6 2-2 2, Jaeda Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Filipa Calisto 2-2 0-0 4, Colleen Phiri 0-0 0-0 0, Caia Loving 2-2 0-0 4, Payton Dulin 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 20-48 7-9 48.

RHODE ISLAND (72): Palmire Mbu 9-14 3-4 23, Albina Syla 5-6 0-0 10, Brooklyn Gray 5-6 0-0 11, Sophia Vital 3-6 1-2 7, Ines Debroise 4-7 0-0 9, Vanessa Harris 3-7 0-0 7, Aimee Michel 2-2 0-0 4, Valentina Ojeda 0-2 0-0 0, Ta’Viyanna Habib 0-0 0-0 0, Eva Agba 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 31-51 5-8 72.

Halftime – RI, 40-25. 3-point FG – GW 1-8 (Reynolds 1-2, Becker 0-1, James 0-2, Sims 0-1, Theodorsson 0-2), RI 5-16 (Mbu 2-4, Gray 1-1, Vital 0-2, Debroise 1-4, Harris 1-2, Ojeda 0-2, Agba 0-1). Rebounds – GW 23 (Sims 5), RI 26 (Vital 6). Assists – GW 7 (Sims 2, Loving 2), RI 21 (Vital 7). Turnovers – GW 13 (Sims 4), RI 7 (Gray 2, Harris 2). Blocked shots – GW 2 (James 1, Loving 1), RI 3 (Mbu 2). Steals – GW 3 (Lewis 1, James 1, Sims 1), RI 6 (Vital 3). Attendance – 6,580.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

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Rhode Island

Frostbitten lizard found in Rhode Island is healing

Published

21 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Frostbitten lizard found in Rhode Island is healing

While shoveling his driveway during yet another winter storm, a man in Providence, Rhode Island found something rather unexpected—a very cold giant lizard. Fortunately, the animal rehabilitation experts at the New England Wildlife Center found that besides being very dehydrated and having frostbite on its tongue and toes, the female tegu named Frankie was doing okay.

Tegus are large South American reptiles, so how did Frankie end up in the middle of a snowstorm in New England? Tess Gannaway, a veterinarian at the wildlife center who treated Frankie, tells Popular Science that she was probably someone’s pet.

“Given their size they often roam folk’s homes like dogs or cats and there is a chance that in warmer months Frankie escaped and was surviving on her own outside until the weather got too cold for her to manage,” Gannaway explains. There’s also the more unfortunate possibility that the lizard was recently abandoned.

The black on the tip of Frankie’s tongue are the dead tissue as a result of the frostbite. Image: New England Wildlife Center Staff.

Either way, Frankie was likely unable to pull her tongue back into her mouth at the start of the storm, which caused the frostbite on both her tongue and her toes. The tongue frostbite is particularly notable because known cases of animals with mucus membrane related frostbite are exceedingly unusual. Because of the frostbite, Frankie no longer has the iconic reptilian V-shape in her tongue.

In fact, veterinary medicine as a whole didn’t have any published accounts of such an affliction. As such, Gannaway and her veterinary student turned to human medical literature to decide on Frankie’s best treatment option, and ultimately identified what they were looking for.

This “is really cool and an example of something in veterinary medicine and other fields we call one health, so the intersection between human and animal health,” Gannaway explained in a New England Wildlife Center video.

In the human report, a portion of a patient’s tongue had unintentionally frozen because of a medical intervention in the mouth. Doctors then removed the dead external tissue a number of times, healing the injury within three weeks.

Similarly, the team at the New England Wildlife Center aims to remove part of Frankie’s dead tongue tissue every two or three weeks. Hopefully, the tongue will heal on its own, but the good news is that tongues are rapid healers.

Gannaway says that the team is “cautiously optimistic” about Frankie’s future.

“She did great during her first debridement [the tissue removal] and has moved on from liquid to solid food. New England Wildlife Centers’ Veterinarians will keep checking her tongue every 2 weeks to see if she needs further sedation to remove more superficial tissue,” she adds.“Until then she is on pain medications and an antibiotic. Tegus can live normal lives with only part of their tongue so as long as we can get her tongue to stabilize she should be ready to live a warmer although slightly less adventurous life.”

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Rhode Island

Bodycam footage shows moments police respond to Pawtucket shooting

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Bodycam footage shows moments police respond to Pawtucket shooting

Police bodycam footage shows the moments officers arrived to the scene of a deadly mass shooting in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

The shooting on Feb. 16 at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena killed Rhonda Dorgan and Aidan Dorgan, the ex-wife and son of the shooter, who died by suicide.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

Gerald Dorgan, Rhonda’s father, died from his injuries this week. His wife, Linda Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso remain hospitalized.

Around five minutes after the first officer arrives, he beings helping paramedics with a man who identifies himself as Aidan. Twelve minutes in, Aidan Dorgan is transported to the hospital, where he would later die from his injuries.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.

For the last 10 minutes of the footage, the officer then begins helping paramedics transport the other three gunshot victims.

The video ends with police prepping witness interviews.

The shooting rocked the Pawtucket community. Chris Librizzi, head coach of the Blackstone Valley Schools hockey team impacted by the shooting, said the players and coaching staff “are devastated over the events that took place at Lynch Arena on Monday and intimately affected one of our teammates.”

As authorities continue investigating the shooting in Pawtucket, three patients remain in critical condition.

“We will lean on each other and support one another, as we have always done as a team,” he added.

Pawtucket police said two handguns were found at the scene after the shooting, a Sig Sauer P226 and Glock. Other weapons have been seized at the suspect’s storage unit in Maine.

Investigators continue reviewing all video evidence from before, during and after the shooting, including surveillance footage from the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, police body-worn camera footage and other records — a high school sports livestream captured the shooting from a distance — police said.

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