Downtown Westerly-Pawcatuck

It’s the day after Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring. Let’s hope that comes true! It can be difficult to find things to do during those cold winter months. One really cold weekend, I found myself in Westerly, Rhode Island. Westerly is known for the beaches (Misquamicut in particular) and Watch Hill. It’s probably not a place one would think to go during winter, but I realized that there’s plenty to do!

Westerly is on the border of Connecticut/Rhode Island neighboring with Pawcatuck, CT. There’s a river splitting the towns. I first came across Westerly-Pawcatuck when they hosted their River Glow event during the summer time. River Glow is like an outdoor festival with music, entertainment and vendors centered around bonfires floating in the river. River Glow type festivals are common in the state of Rhode Island including the well known WaterFire in Providence, RI. The downtown Pawcatuck is within walking distance of Westerly’s main street. There are many stores, restaurants and local businesses. While you do have to be outdoors to walk the downtown, the stores are close in proxy!

Pawcatuck, Connecticut:

Get Fired Up is a paint-your-own-pottery studio. It’s a fun place to go to especially when it’s cold or rainy outside! It’s also perfect for the ideal date night (Valentine’s Day is coming up!!). You don’t need to be an experienced artist to go there. They offer a huge selection of pottery for painting. It varies on the season too. As you walk in, the folks will help you out and guide you through the process. There are multiple tables for you to pick where you want to paint. When I went there, I picked a vase to make for the Ireland-themed room in my home. I painted sheep and shamrocks on it. I had so much fun painting it, and it was super relaxing too! The vase had to stay at the studio to be glazed and was ready to be picked up within a week. I highly recommend a visit to Get Fired Up!

*At Get Fired Up with my completed vase (painting isn’t my strongest suit!).*

Cottrell Brewery is known for the Old Yankee Ale beer. Their microbrewery is located in the back of a warehouse. For the first timers, you will be questioning yourself if you’re driving in the right direction but you will see signs to guide you to the brewery. The brewery itself is also a warehouse, it’s cool to walk around to see the equipment that is used to make beer. I have only went there during the summers when my dad is in town. We have been fortunate to have Shelley as our bartender every time we visited. She is amazing and so much fun to chat with! She is one of the biggest reasons why we love visiting Cottrell. It’s also a bonus that we get free samples of the beer. My dad is one of their biggest fan! It’s always a must stop for us and you can take a growler home. My dad always gets his favorite, Old Yankee to take home! The brewery is opened during the winter on Fridays-Sundays. Be sure to check their website or Facebook for the hours.

*My dad is practicing for his retirement job at Cottrell Brewery!*

C.C. O’Brien’s Sports Cafe is an Irish sports bar down the street from Cottrell Brewery. This is where Cottrell Brewery actually introduced the Old Yankee ale! I always enjoy going there for the food. They offer burgers, sandwiches, wings, nachos and many more. I was quite the chicken tenders connoisseur as a kid. Once in a blue moon, I have the craving to relive my childhood and eat some delicious chicken tenders. I’m telling you that this spot has the best ones in the area. The sports bar is very spacious with many TVs to watch, perfect for big sporting events. There’s also pool tables and darts to play with.

*My favorite Irish sports cafe, C.C. O’Brien’s!*

Westerly, Rhode Island:

Christina’s Ltd had been a long time favorite store of mine in Watch Hill. They have since closed that location but still have the main store in downtown Westerly (phew!). Christina’s offers women clothing mostly with a mix of beach and bohemian style. I always love going in the store each time, its well organized and beautifully decorated. There’s also fun gifts to purchase (there is a big funny socks selection!).

*My pup posing in front of Christina’s Ltd store (how gorgeous are those tiles?!).*

The Eagle’s Nest Gallery is the largest gift shop in Westerly’s downtown. They offer a variety of items from home decor items, artisan goods, women’s apparel and many more. I noticed there were themed gifts for specific occupations such as nurse, teacher, etc so it’s good place to get a gift for someone in those professions! There even was a section for wedding/engagement and baby gifts. I loved that this shop had a lot of nautical themed home decor items, I ended up purchasing a wooden sign to put on my fireplace mantle at home. If you’re a Vera Bradley fan, they also carry their products!

Black Duck Gallery has a gallery full of beautiful watercolor and oil paintings. There were many art works to admire! I enjoyed looking at all local art that included Watch Hill Light, Ocean House, residential homes from Watch Hill area and Block Island. If you want a Watch Hill/Westerly painting, this is the place to get one! They also do custom framing work.

Rhode Island Surf Co. is one of the newest shop in downtown Westerly. This took me back to my childhood days when I had my surf obsession! I had a bedroom decked out in surfboards, palm trees and waves. The shop is owned by a surfer family, so the shop is inspired by the surf lifestyle. There is men and women’s clothing, clothing for youth, accessories, surfboards, arts and home goods. Wanna know something cool?! They are DOG FRIENDLY! I fell in love with their tees, I have to swing by to grab one for myself!

*The owner of Rhode Island Surf Co. shop gave us some stickers!*

Watch Hill Designs is the most beautiful nautical boutique in Westerly! It’s a small boutique because they do mostly interior design based work. Clients are able to meet with them in the store to create designs for their spaces. They do an amazing job of staging their store so I only can imagine the beautiful work they do! Few years ago, I came across Cleary’s on Grafton (COG). COG makes adorable New England coastal themed goods such as ornaments, personalized glasses and many more. Many of their items are offered at this boutique!

Savoy Bookshop, owned by the same owner of Mystic’s Bank Square Books. I went to Westerly one afternoon to check out this store for the first time. I felt like I was stepping back in time. The bookstore was beautiful and a paradise for the book lovers! Savoy also has a cafe offering coffee and bakery goods. It was so easy to maneuver through the bookshop, each section was neatly labeled by its category. In the front of the bookshop near the large windows overlooking the downtown Westerly, are comfy couches and seating area. It was not surprising to see every seat occupied! The bookshop is two levels, so the lower level was dedicated to children/teens books. The stairway is definitely an Instagrammable spot! It’s a fun bookshop to explore! It surly won’t be my last time going there.

*Savoy Bookshop, the Instagrammable stairway.*

JonnyCake Center of Westerly is a non profit social service providing food and financial assistance. They have several programs where they partner with other businesses in Rhode Island. JonnyCake has a thrift shop at the headquarter location in Westerly. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. IT IS A WAREHOUSE BIG KINDA STORE! If you’re looking for a random misc item, it’s likely they would have it. There were so many varieties of items from clothing, home decor, kitchen ware, shoes, movies, books, sports equipment and so many more. Even furniture is available. JonnyCake is a short drive from Savoy Bookshop and located in a residential neighborhood, so it may be tricky to find it at first. I had to circle the neighborhood a few times to find it. There’s a huge parking lot across the street from the thrift shop. Be sure to plan at least an hour to give yourself the time to dig through the goods!

*The entrance of JonnyCake (thrift store is the left door at top of the ramp).*

The Brazen Hen is a sister restaurant to Mystic’s Harp and Hound (and The Black Sheep I mentioned in the Niantic blog). Harp and Hound is my favorite Irish pub in Connecticut. Naturally I had to go see The Brazen Hen. It is more upscale and bigger with more seating provided. The menu offers New England fare from fish, chowder, seafood to traditional Irish fare such as shepherd’s pie, bangers & mash and more. The food and cozy setting was good. In the summers, they have a patio to enjoy drinks outdoors.

Graze Burgers may not be located in downtown Westerly, but it’s a short 5 minutes drive. The loyal readers should know by now that I’m a sucker for farm-to-table kind of places (who can deny fresh ingredients?!). I learned about Graze Burgers on Terra Firma Farm’s (mentioned in North Stonington blog) Instagram. I’m so glad that TFF influenced me to try Graze Burgers. The burgers are made with 100% grass fed beef. IT. IS. DELICIOUS! On top of delicious burgers (they also have fries and shakes!), their customer service was so good. The folks were super friendly and helpful with any questions I had. I was back there for the second time within a week. IT IS THAT GOOD. I highly recommend this place. I know I will be coming to Westerly to just grab a bite at Graze Burgers!

*Happy gal with my Graze avocado burger (Joe’s Peach Tea is SO good too!).*

Another interesting thing that I noticed while I was in downtown Westerly-Pawcatuck is that they had many murals on the buildings in several locations. I knew of two murals that are at C.C. O’Brien’s Sports Cafe. I had no idea there were so many more, my curiosity got to me after I spotted one on Savoy Bookshop building. My trusty friend, Google told me about Bricks & Murals - a project that painted 17 murals across the town. Each mural explains the history of the town such as the automatic telephone company, the high school rivalry, Wilcox park, granite industry and more. I’m excited to hunt down all the murals once spring arrives! There’s also outdoors musical instruments on Harmony Trail that is on the map with Bricks & Murals trail if you’re interested in that!

*Mural explaining the history of granite industry in Westerly.*

*Across from Savoy Bookshop, mural reflecting the history of automatic telephone company.*

I also go to Westerly every summer to the library for their annual book sale. Their book sale is one of my top favorites in the area. Plenty of books to choose from! It doesn’t hurt that the Wilcox Park is on the library property too. Wilcox Park is a 14 acres botanical garden. You can’t miss the beautiful memorial foundation to the side of the library which is inside Wilcox Park. Once you explore the grounds more, you will see a fish pond and monuments. I love to take walks around Wilcox Park in the spring or summer time!

I hope you realize after reading this post about Westerly that it’s not just a summer destination! There’s plenty to do there and really good food options. I’m sure I am missing more, there’s a few more restaurants in Westerly that are on my list to visit. Share away your favorites in the comments below! I love trying out new places. I blogged about Watch Hill (which is a coastal village in Westerly) here if you rather visit during the warmer weather.

Westerly is hosting their Chocolate Stroll to benefit light parade this upcoming Thursday February 6th. Unfortunately the tickets are sold out (bummer!). The chocolate stroll sounds fun with 30+ participating businesses offering up delicious chocolate inspired treats and drinks. Let me know how good it is if you’re one of those lucky ones to attend!