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Here is a quick summary of our trip to Eastern CT & Rhode Island!

If you haven’t been keeping up with our latest Facebook & Instagram posts, we’ve been on vacation!!! Where, you ask? To none other than Rhode Island with a couple of friends. It’s not too far, things are just about as pricey as they are in Western CT, but there is TONS more to do! To top it all off, Mandy the Magnificent Vacation Planner (Extraordinaire), found us a great place to stay, Mystic River Hotel & Suites.

I’m no hotel expert, but this place has location down – with Mystic Village, Aquarium, and the port all within 5 minutes, I’d definitely book again. That said, Mystic wasn’t why we were on vacation, no. The food and treats, goodies galore, that’s why we go places! Believe me, we’ve got you covered with this one.

Let’s not spend any more time jabbering, I certainly hope you’ve packed something to write with cause HERE, WE, GO!

Our Vacation in Rhode Island

So, you know that we were staying in Mystic, but our friends were in Westerly. This certainly didn’t mean that all of our plans had to happen around Westerly, but it definitely made things easier. As you’ll soon discover, outside of our trip to Newport, most of our Rhode Island recommendations will be from Westerly. Does this bias things a little, definitely, does it also mean we’ll have to take another trip to Rhode Island, absolutely! (And we certainly wouldn’t mind some recommendations *hint hint*)

Restaurants

Amanda’s Pantry: 37 Beach St, Westerly, RI 02891

Amanda’s Pantry is secretly Mandy’s own restaurant that she never told me about, isn’t that crazy!!! I’m just kidding, but if she did have her own place, it would definitely have food as good as Amanda’s.

Our time here was brief but pleasant. Mandy enjoyed a lovely Mexican Omelet with black beans, onions and spicy peppas. I got myself a delicious plate of stuffed French Toast. I’ve made stuffed French Toast a few times long ago, but never thought much of it. When I saw that there were 10 different fillings I couldn’t help myself. After a good amount of thought, Mandy and I concluded that mascarpone cheese & strawberry would be a delightful combination. And delightful it certainly was. Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, this stuff was made to impress.

What I really enjoyed most about this dish was the gentle sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top. In combination with the 100% natural maple syrup and freshly pressed French Toast, this delicious duo is a breakfast I shan’t soon forget.

Smoke House: 31 Scott Wharf, Newport, RI 02840

Smoke House was in Newport, RI on the waterfront, and they couldn’t have a better view and a more organized set-up. Before I dive further into this, I would like to just say BBQ & I are not the best of friends. Maybe I just haven’t found my place, or maybe BBQ just isn’t for me, who knows. Nonetheless, I ordered their burger dubbed “The Smoke Stack”. This burger consists of a: “4 oz. beef patty, bbq pulled pork, smoked gouda, beer battered- onion ring” per their menu. I added bacon which only feels natural to me.

I was not too impressed as far as good burgers go. The burger was cooked too thoroughly leaving it just a tad dry. That said, the pulled pork had a pleasant tang to it (as pulled pork should) and there was indeed bacon on it when the burger arrived (which doesn’t always happen).

Perhaps next time I will go with classic BBQ and get some ribs.

Casa Della Luce: 105 Franklin St, Westerly, RI 02891

Casa Della Luce was an unexpected endeavor that neither of us had planned. Originally, we intended to dine at Maria’s Seaside Cafe or Andrea’s Seaside Restaurant but plans changed. As the kids used to say “survive, adapt, overcome” or something like that. Long story long, we looked up a few places and decided to dine here.

The exterior of Casa Della Luce is quite the sight. With a wooden archway leading into outdoor seating I knew that we were in for a treat. When we walked in, I was greeted by a sense of familiarity. While I’d never been to Casa before, the atmosphere took me to a place that closed a while back. Mandy and I sat down and ordered two small pies: Chicken BBQ & Spinach Artichoke.

From crust to sauce to cheese and toppings these pizza pies were crafted by the hands of someone who lives for the pie. Every bite was crispy, down to the last few bites of crust which finished with a satisfying *crunch* (she didn’t even leave me her crust!) Mandy and I both agreed that this place was a very enjoyable detour that, if given the chance, we would gladly enjoy once more.

Something To Do:

Rail Explorers: 1 Alexander Rd, Portsmouth, RI 02871

Rail Explorers is a delight hands down. We’ve done the night-time tours twice now and can say without doubt that you will have fun. And you will definitely sweat. The premise of Rail Explorers is to convert railways that are no longer in use into a tourist destination. They go about this by setting up tandem (2 riders) or quad (4 riders) on old railways. These railways, depending on where you ride, can go past open fields, across bridges, and even near ports. All of which make for time (and energy) well spent, especially with friends or family.

As was mentioned, we did the night tours. This tour begins just before sunset. Once all of the carts are lined up, you’re sent off one at a time. This timing allows for each of you to see the sun setting over a glistening ocean view about halfway into the ride (~1.5 miles). Once you’ve peddled a whole 3 miles – good on you by the way – you find yourself at a clearing. Bonfires are lit, chairs are pulled up, and you enjoy the next 40 minutes cooking marshmallows over a campfire.

Once time’s up, it’s back to peddling! Fortunately the hard work was done getting here, and it’s downhill all the way back. So strap in, peddle away, and enjoy that late night breeze in your hair.

Treats & Goodies:

The Cheese Corner: 137 Main St, Westerly, RI 02891

Now that we’re on to treats and goodies, I’d like to talk about two places that just stood the heck out to us personally. The first place we barely noticed passing by a wine store. I’m in the passenger seat, as I should be, Mandy is driving and she shouts “CHEESE”. So of course I drop my phone, without hesitation. Mandy then goes on to explain how there is a place called The Cheese Corner quite literally in the corner of a plaza. That’s just too cute to be true, so we made note of where it was and swore to come back at the end of our trip.

And come back we certainly did! Oh. My. Goodness. This place was packed to the brim with cheeses from all over the place! There’s cheese from France, cheese from England, cheese from Switzerland, Whales, ALL OVER THE U.S. We were not prepared for this level of cheese in little ol’ Westerly, RI.

In the end we settled on three cheeses: Hatch Chili, Flinck, and Midnight Moon. Hatch Chili is a cheddar mixed with hatch chili peppers, spicy I like it! Flinck is an aged gouda, with crystals I might add. Finally, Midnight Moon is actually a goat cheese that’s nutty & brown buttery, delicious! We look forward to enjoying all of these cheeses to the absolute fullest in the coming days.

Cupcake Charlie’s: Brick Market Place 135 Swinburne Row, Newport, RI 02840

This, like a few other stops, was an unexpected treat. One of our days would be dedicated to Newport because of Rail Explorers. Knowing this, we planned to not plan that day. The reason we did this was because Newport has multiple strips lining the port with stores and shops alike. If we saw something that caught our eye we stopped and picked something up. Since parking was close by, we just dropped stuff off periodically. That’s a win win win in my book.

Now, we tried four cupcakes from here: Charlie’s Chocolate Chip, Funfetti, S’mores, and Orange Dreamsicle. All of these were very enjoyable in their own right, but Orange Dreamsicle stood out the most in our eyes. The texture was light and fluffy but still cakey. Every bite was refreshing, near identical to that of a Creamsicle on a hot Summer day. But despite all that, one treat stood even further above that.

That would be the Pecan Gooey Butterbar. Described to us as a combination between a Blondie and Cheesecake, these bars are rich in flavor without being overbearing. This bar strips all of the flavor out of cheesecake and somehow infuses it perfectly into the form of a bar without losing that ooey-gooey blondie consistency. As someone who doesn’t like the texture of cheesecake, my mouth is beyond satisfied with how these bars came out.

Vacation in AND out of Rhode Island

Staying in Mystic gave us a bit of freedom in planning out our breakfasts, as well as the inevitable goodie run at the end of a trip. This rundown of ours has become a bit of a tradition and if you do it too definitely let us know!

As for our Mystic rundown: it was going to be Paul’s Pasta & Sift. Bleu Squid we’ve seen numerous times at Mystic Village, but we’ve never been there in the mornings, so we never stopped. Needless to say, (but I’ll say it anyway) these places did not disappoint.

Restaurants

Bleu Squid: 27 Coogan Blvd Bldg 16, Mystic, CT 06355

I know that we’re going a bit out of order here but bare with me. This was our first breakfast stop on vacation. I did not eat much the day before and I was STARVING.

What I set my eyes on here was the Bruschetta Benedict. Two poached eggs with farm fresh tomatoes on top of a sliced, garlic buttered baguette, drizzled with a light balsamic glaze. Serve it up with a side of roasted potatoes and call it delicious.

Did I go overboard by adding an everything bagel and bacon, absolutely. Would I do it again? Without a doubt.

Paul’s Pasta: 223 Thames St, Groton, CT 06340

We’ve gone and saved the best two for last. Both of which, fortunately for us, are actually in Connecticut. Paul’s Pasta is pasta at its finest. On the left hand side is our first taste of what true home cooking is all about. Two big boy loaves of garlic bread seasoned and served with a side of their homemade red sauce. The first thing I do when I order garlic bread is see if the sauce is hot. It was piping hot and that was a sign. A sign that Mandy picked the right place. From there it took one bite of this bread to confirm it.

The bread was crispy crunchy throughout each bite, with the perfect amount of garlic and herbs, and cheese melted to perfection. I could have ended the meal there but we ordered pasta. Let me tell you this, I have never had al dente angel hair pasta. Period. Until this pasta met my lips. I ordered Paul’s Chicken Diablo (Top) and Mandy ordered Gemelli Pesto (Bottom). When I say that I want to be buried in someone’s sauce, know that this is the sauce I’m referring to. And you know it’ll be piping hot.

Before we left we had to ask if pasta was for sale and it was! We asked about the red sauce and that was for sale too!!! So keep your eyes peeled for the next pasta recipe coming your way sooner than you think.

What made this experience all the more enjoyable was the beautiful view of the Thames River:

We couldn’t ask for a more enjoyable last meal before heading home.

Mandy Mentionable: If I’m ever put on Death Row, this will be my last meal.

Treats & Goodies

Sift Bake Shop: 5 Water St, Mystic, CT 06355

Sift Bake Shop is the last on the list of stops we made while away on vacation. I’m going to go through these as painlessly as possible.

Top row Left to Right: Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie, Oatmeal Blueberry Cookie, Pecan Sticky Bun, Vegetable Croissant

Bottom row Left to Right: Strawberry Rhubarb Croissant, 4-way Brownie, Chocolate Raspberry Croissant, Cheddar Chive Biscuit.

When we got home, the family gathered round for our post-vacation sweet treat feast. We’ve made it such a habit to stop at as many places as possible on the way home. What you see above is the result of only one of those stops. We just found so many things that looked so so good that we couldn’t help but buy them all.

If you’re at Sift Bake Shop and for whatever reason, you can only buy one of these. Get the Pecan Sticky Bun. It is a croissant coated in a brown sugar/butter glaze that will take your taste buds for the ride of your life. If I had to pick a strong second and third, the Strawberry Rhubarb and brownie are both just as enjoyable.

Conclusions

All of these places were a lot of fun to visit, albeit some more than others. If you ever find yourself near any of these places, we highly recommend you stop and give them a try. As for Smoke House, it may be time for me to give up the burger for some classic BBQ. I know that if we get another chance, I’ll gladly give it another go.

Even if you’re not in the area, Paul’s Pasta & Sift are two of our new favorites, and we believe that you should try them as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading! If you’ve made it through our tasty tangent, and like what we had to say, please feel free to share this with friends and family for their own travels. Be on the lookout for more recipes, game reviews, and overall shenanigans coming your way.

Talk soon,

Chris & Mandy