From center of Newport, take Memorial Drive east and you’ll notice the beach on your right called Easton’s or First Beach. Continue driving along the water into the neighboring town of Middleton and you’ll reach one of my favorite beaches in all of New England, Second Beach, a stretch of sand so sublime we think nothing of making the 90-minute drive from our house in Boston for a day visit. Everyone rides the waves at Second Beach. Surfers are found to the right of the beach, near Purgatory Chasm, a deep cleft in the bedrock that rises above Sachuest Bay. Families grab their boogie boards and head to the center of the beach to try their luck. Singles and college kids can usually be found to the left, using their body to ride the crest. After swallowing gulps of the Atlantic, the crowds retreat to the spacious shoreline, only to jump back in the ocean when their bodies wilt under the relentless sun.