Country Roads, Coastal Views and Autumn’s Bounty in Rhode Island

09.10.2023 - 09:19 / nytimes.com / Art

“We’re growing a small business and learning as we go,” said Claire Bowen as she arranged bushels of sweet and charmingly imperfect organic apples on a late-September afternoon. “We hope to cultivate connections between local farms and local tables.”

Behind her, rows of brightly hued zinnias and an orchard of 700 apple trees swayed in the fall breeze. Mrs. Bowen, 55, opened Small World Farm and its farm stand with her husband, Patrick, in August and since then their post-and-beam barn has overflowed with autumn’s bounty: bundles of herbs and hand-tied flower bouquets sit next to baskets of apples, squash and peppers. Farther down the winding country roads lies the Young Family Farm’s stand, where cheery orange pumpkins sit alongside buckets of jewel-toned mums, and Sweet & Salty Farm, a dairy and creamery selling cheese and yogurt from cows that graze in pastures tumbling down to the ocean’s edge.

This rural town, with no franchises or traffic lights, is Little Compton, one of several coastal enclaves in the East Bay region of Rhode Island. At this time of year, the sun casts a golden light over rolling farmland and colonial stone walls, with fall leaves painting the landscape in a palette of amber and scarlet. To the west is the striking blue Narragansett Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean that divides the state.

Beyond the natural grandeur of the East Bay, its charm further stems from a strong sense of community and a reverence for local culinary, artistic and cultural pursuits that are closely tied to the region’s fertile farmland and coastal waters. The results are farm stands galore, a flourishing arts scene and village streets lined with celebrated restaurants.

Just 30 minutes from Providence, over an hour from Boston and four hours from New York City, the East Bay towns of Warren, Bristol, Tiverton and Little Compton offer an idyllic fall weekend getaway.

Rhode Islanders joke that their real summer begins now, that the state’s true beauty unfurls as tourists disperse and the hot weather recedes. With 400 miles of shoreline, the aptly named Ocean State probably packs more beauty within its borders than almost any other coastal destination.

The distance between towns is short — from Warren to Little Compton is roughly 20 miles — and quiet solitude and brilliant seaside views can be found in local nature preserves and public gardens as well as on beaches. Blithewold, a 33-acre oceanfront estate in Bristol, features an English-country-manor-style home and gardens that overlook the bay, while other standouts include Seapowet Marsh, a teeming ecosystem ripe for wildlife spotting; Fogland Beach, a black-stone shoreline perfect for kayaking and windsurfing; and Goosewing Beach Preserve, a sandy