Exploring South County Rhode Island- The Daily Adventures of Me

It ended up being a lovely Rhode Island day, but since rain was forecasted, we planned things for inside or out. No matter the weather, it is always a good day for exploring South County Rhode Island.

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The Fantastic Umbrella Factory in South Kingstown, Rhode Island

First, we headed to The Fantastic Umbrella Factory in South Kingstown. Contrary to the name, not an umbrella was seen, but it is a lovely place to spend a few hours with or without kids. On this day, we were joined by another three boys about my son’s ages. There are six shops on the property that have a Bohemian vibe.

My kids love to look through them, but parents of little ones might have a lot of stress keeping little hands off all the unique finds. They have decorations from all cultures- Great, hippyish clothing, modestly priced jewelry.

They have a great little cafe on the property with healthier sorts of offerings- smoothies, freshly brewed ice tea, salads, wraps. We had yummy blueberry and peach pielets and a strawberry smoothie for a snack. The cafe offers almond milk and gluten-free options.

Upstairs in the main shop are unique African instruments that really interested my kids.

Exploring South County Rhode Island — A succulent chair at the Fantastic Umbrella Factory in South Kingstown, Rhode Island

If you are the market for a Buddha, this is the place to go.

Be sure to bring cash as there is a $10 credit card minimum, and In front of the store, you can buy chicken feed to take to the animals in the back. So, that is where we headed next.

The chicken knew the deal and ran right over to the kids to eat out of their cups. They even let the kids pet them.

There were also pens of ducklings with their mom and a partridge.

There is an enclosure with emu, goats, and guinea fowl. The emu also let the kids pet them, but made quite a weird growling noise. Who knew that’s what emus say?

We then walked through their gardens, where they have plants for sale. It’s beautiful and peaceful, and they have many unique specimens.

Living stone plants. I would love to know what these are- really cool.

Fantastic Umbrella Factory in South County, RI. — Carnivorous plant pouches

Crazy Burger, Narragansett, Rhode Island

At this point, we were famished, so we decided to keep the Bohemian vibe going and headed to Crazy Burger in Narragansett. As an aside, we passed one of my favorite RI restaurants, Matunuck Oyster Bar, but decided it was better to go there another day without kids. Contrary to its name, Crazy Burger is an excellent place for a healthy or vegetarian eater to dine at, and all the food is excellent. In agreement with the name, Crazy Burger has terrific, unique hamburgers served on an English muffin sort of bun with homemade ketchup. They also have regular Heinz ketchup if you are a purist. There is always a wait. There is a beautiful patio outside. We all enjoyed our food, and the service was excellent.

Lunch at Crazy Burger Narragansett RI — Scrumptious Asian salad with coconut chicken and Brie. So good!

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice and hot mean, green soup (Really healthy, but not our favorite part of the meal). They serve all manner of freshly squeezed fruit juices, which are good and served room temperature.

3578528_orig — Angie and I split the Moo Moo melt with bean salad.

The Inside Scoop, North Kingstown, Rhode Island

Then on to the Piece De Resistance- The Inside Scoop in North Kingstown. Having lived and traveled around this country, this is my favorite ice cream.

All their ice creams are homemade. My favorite flavors are the Coffee Oreo and Chocolate Brownie. They also have good sorbet and ice cream cakes — another great day of adventure in RI.

For more information on exploring Rhode Island, read 24 Hours in Newport, Newport’s Cliff Walk, or A Local’s Guide to 48 Hours in Rhode Island.