Recently, my baby sister moved into a gorgeous apartment located in Rhode Island. I was finally able to visit her today, so my husband and I hopped in the car early enough to beat Cape Cod traffic and got to her (after a really confusing GPS navigation) about two hours later.
She gave us a tour of her apartment and asked what we wanted to do, and I immediately had my answer. On her Snapchat she’s always posting pictures of this beautiful beach and I knew I wanted to see it.
Located in Jamestown, Rhode Island, Beavertail State Park is a hidden gem.
We drove down the road into the unassuming entrance and found plenty of parking in the second lot by the lighthouse. We immediately turned our backs to the lighthouse and proceeded down the well-maintained paths along cliffs that sometimes had paths to beaches below. There weren’t a lot of people on the beaches, and as you proceeded further down the path, the beaches got less and less crowded.
Of course, my sister took us to her favorite spot. When she initially asked “how do you feel about rock climbing?” I thought she was kidding and she meant we had to walk down rocks. But no, she meant something a little more intense than that- before I knew it, she had kicked off her flip flops, was holding a rope and walking backwards, barefoot and in a dress (because that’s Lauren, and I love her for it), down a cliff.
I’ve been particularly cautious about adventuring that could lead to injury since I had an adventure that landed me in the ICU last January, and I almost didn’t do it. I started to, twice, before I scurried back up out of fear. My husband wouldn’t, citing not wanting to get injured before our honeymoon, which truthfully was a concern for me too. But I took it slow, and soon figured out that if you leaned back enough on the rope, you could use your weight to hold you better on the rock. That lesson in gravity, and with encouragement from my wonderful sister, I made it down and I’m so glad I did. The cove felt like it was made with mermaids in mind.
Honestly, I could have sat there and listened to the waves on the rocks all day… or at least until high tide forced me out. Minor detail, though, right? 😉
We continued walking down the path to another rocky area where we climbed down and looked at tidepools, which had fish, mussels, barnacles and a few crabs. After that we decided to head back to the parking lot, but this time we took the shadier, wooded path because boy was it hot.
This little state park is definitely worth the trip. I mean it when I say it’s like a hidden gem- before Lauren’s Snapchat stories, I didn’t even know it existed, and to have experienced it for myself was truly wonderful. I just LOVE finding these beautiful places so close to home. ❤
Until next time, namasté my friends!
Stephanie Jean 