Strawberry season in Westport
How to have a perfect day in the Bay State’s beautiful SouthCoast.
If you have the good fortune to be in Westport in mid-June, pull off at the nearest farm stand and buy yourself a pint of strawberries. Buy an additional pint for each member of your party - it’s an extravagance only afforded once a year.
While you’re at it, buy a loaf of bread. Look for the Shy Brothers’ Hannahbells cheeses - the shallot is especially fine. Look for honey or a jar of preserves with a handwritten label - that’s the one that will taste of the place. Try to smell the salt in the breeze.
Pack your spoils into the trunk of your car and turn your wheels towards Westport Rivers Winery. You will love it for the picturesque barn against the background of orderly vines. You will love it for its picnic tables and the glimpse it offers of the sea. (I love it for its semi-sweet Riesling and prosecco-style Farmer’s Fizz, which we poured at our wedding; partake in a tasting and see if you love these, too.)
When you’ve had your fill of good wine and cheese and good salt air, amble up the road to the wildlife sanctuary. You will find the boardwalk quite manageable and the views rewarding. Afterwards, trace the shoreline to Gooseberry Island, where every stone seems skippable and the sun seems to set into the sea. Hike out to the old graffitied watchtower, braving a gauntlet of beach roses along the way.
Continue down Route 18 through the marshlands and over the bridge. Look out the driver’s side window, where Westport Harbor sits, grey-shingled and demure, over a shimmering strait. Follow Westport peninsula to its point and park near the Dockmaster’s spot. On one especially fortuitous day, I found seven four-leaf clovers and encountered a flock of fledgeling swans. Perhaps you will be so lucky.
At the sign of the lobster you will find an oyster house that sources South Coast oysters alone. Buy the coastal sampler and perhaps something more on a roll - a lobster, or a hot dog, whatever you prefer. Watch the gentry glide across the water and nestle their boats into the public slip.
Amble up the Main Road before you make your way back to the city. Read the plaques on the weathered houses and think of all the lives that have been lived here. Give thanks that you get to live some of your life here, too.
