I had not been to Narragansett, Rhode Island for about 10 yrs. When you've been away from a certain well traveled place and then come back again after such a long space of time..well, things tend to change. They changed in Narragansett.
The poor economy has taken it's toll on that lovely beach town. Oh, the beach is still there and still beautiful. But several of the businesses are gone now. Among them the local grocery store; restaurants and some of the small boutiques. I'm told a greedy landlord has a great deal to do with it as well.
There are homes up for sale everywhere too. Huge homes...mansions really. The kind of places you look at and wish you could own them or at least see inside them to get a glimpse of how the other half lives. Some of these huge homes that still remain in families seem to be owned by old money...the grandparents I'm thinking. More than once I saw young kids piling in and out of some of these homes with the grandparents in tow. No doubt visiting Grandma and Grandpa at the shore for summer vacation.
It poured buckets on us the first day we arrived. We were soaked through and chilled so didn't do much more than get some food and drink at the restaurant called Turtle Soup on the premises. (And they don't even have turtle soup!) Even getting from the vehicle to the restaurant couldn't be done without splashing through puddles and getting blasts of wind and rain in the face. They still served us graciously considering we looked more like drowned rats than people. Our first day there was spent drying ourselves out but we did manage to take a walk later in the misty air to see a bit of the town and laugh at the way our hair either flattened out or frizzed up from the rain according to our hairs nature.
The second day was not actually raining but it was still very overcast; dreary looking and rather cold. We wandered a bit farther from home base and discovered many of the places I remembered were either gone out of business or replaced by something else. The movie theater was gone now...just an empty shell sitting in the middle of the plaza looking sad and forsaken. The booming restaurant called Spain was now off booming somewhere else. The grocery store was no more...rushed out of business by larger grocery store chains moving into one of the nearby towns. But we did discover a cute little cafe that served various breakfast treats where it was possible to could get a large tea and various types of muffins all made on the premises. They had a steady stream of 30 somethin's; yuppy types; and college students on break, coming through the door with an occasional homeless looking yet not homeless at all with long hair type guy, texting his heart out with a large coffee in front of him. An interesting mix and lots of people watching took place.
We visited the Point Judith lighthouse and found that 911 had reached back in time to change the memory of when I had visited there previously. The property was roped off and a young guard met us at the gate where before there had never been a guard at all. He explained we couldn't come on the property as they already had a crew of workmen there doing repairs and that's all they were allowing in. It seems the harsh winter storms had taken it toll in Rhode Island too.
He told us we could roam the property (such as it was) outside the gate and picture taking was fine. My sister joked that its fine as long as we remembered to drop and crawl if we heard shots. He smiled and agreed with her. I could hear my mothers voice in my head saying 'Isn't he a nice boy?'
The rest of the property had been damaged by the storms as well, with a building standing there sadly with the roof caving in and the stone pillars bending crazily to one side so that I was waiting for it to just snap or crumble. The building had writing all over it in orange paint indicating it was closed and not to venture near it.
The so called beach area consisted of massive sharp boulders and loose rock. A set of determined surfers were picking their way carefully down to the water. I wasn't about to try climbing down. I didn't think I'd be able to make it back up. We snapped a few pictures and continued on.
Watch Hill lighthouse was our next stop. This town at least didn't show signs of storm damage and seemed pretty much the same as when I had last been there. All the overpriced touristy shops were still there as well as the yacht club and so was the oldest running carousel in the country. We ended up following a very old looking man with very young legs wearing pink shorts, down the path that led to the lighthouse. You have to be very secure in your manhood to flaunt pink shorts like he did. And although his face,voice and demeanor gave me the impression he was at least in his late 70's, he certainly didn't walk like he was that old. I could barely keep up with him. Good for you old dude in pink shorts; lead the way my good man!
One thing I noticed in the town of Watch Hill is that everyone seemed to have some kind of gate. Maybe it's to keep the rift-raft out...such as myself. Maybe it's to let people know that it's not public property; I don't know. But some of these gates weren't even attached to any kind of fencing...just a gate standing alone. Very odd look so of course I was drawn to it immediately and took pictures while everyone else wandered by without even a glance...probably trying to avoid the crazy lady going nuts with the camera.
The day we were headed for home it was bright and sunny (of course). I got a glimpse of the Narragansett I remembered from years ago. The beach was full of people, the water full of surfers, and the tourists were wandering around town looking to spend all their money on mementos and trinkets. We had a leisurely breakfast at our totally trendy and comfortable yuppy/college student cafe before heading for home. I should have taken a picture of the lovely cafe. I only hope it is still there the next time I visit.
