Yesterday we motored over to Ashaway (technically a village within the town of Hopkinton, in case you were wondering), and it was so nice to zip over to our destination without having to sit and stew in bumper to bumper beach traffic.

I mean, I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating — an afternoon in that neck of the woods during the month of September, provided the weather cooperates (translation: no rain or flurries), can be a real mood lifter.

Since we were in the vicinity, we decided to dial up The Cooked Goose, nearby on Watch Hill Road in Westerly.

For those who have never been (gasp), they are the ultimate in non-touristy casual food in one of the loveliest locations in the whole entire state.

The wonderful news is that right now they have a number of tables on their screened in patio and if you time it correctly, you can secure one for your next breakfast or lunch excursion to Washington County.

If you can’t get seats on the patio, definitely don’t despair because they also have at least a half dozen tables set up in front of the restaurant with the expectation that you can run in (masked up of course) and grab some takeout, then enjoy it out front at one of those tabletops.

Their takeout selection is something to write home about too: I lived on their lemon angel hair pasta a few years ago, while recuperating in Watch Hill (not a bad spot for some R & R) after some emergency surgery that occurred in the month of August.

We had their veggie burger and a tuna melt (both with side salads) yesterday afternoon and I cannot say enough great things about our meals. The ingredients were fresh and top quality and everything was really delish. Someone even popped over to fix our wobbly table, something fans of HBO’s Curb would no doubt appreciate.

For more info, check out their site.