A Westerly Ramble In Salt Air

One sunny winter weekend, our friends at Vancrafted decided to go on an adventure– and they invited us to tag along. The feat: an AWD trip through Weekapaug and out to the end of Quonnie Beach. The ability to drive onto the beach and make tracks is such a rare treat, and only available in Westerly in the winter. Taking advantage of the opportunity on a bright Saturday, we embarked on a windy, sandy 4x4 journey. 

The day proved to be spectacular and was filled with our favorite color palettes and textures: brown and blues, water and grasses. The long expanse of beach was nearly empty and the day was filled with possibilities with nothing but open beach ahead and in the rearview. Of course, for us the objective was to drive as far out as we could, stopping along the way to take photographs of weather-beaten summer cottages and piles of sun-drenched driftwood. We basked in midday sun and soaked in the beautiful melancholy of a windswept marsh.

They say if you don’t like the weather in Rhode Island, wait a minute. As we were taking pictures and temping soggy shoed fate by the water’s edge, the wind suddenly shifted and the air became heavy and damp. The fog crept in slowly at first, but picked up pace, couriered by a stiffening offshore breeze. In minutes we were shrouded in dense fog and previously turquoise water turned dark grey. The sharp edges of our surroundings became blurred, giving a new sense of depth to objects directly at hand. Instead of squinting through crisp angular shadows, we charted our course back through pea soup, played off by a cacophony of crashing waves we could no longer see.