You can drive across the whole state in under an hour, and residents will mention it before you ask. Small doesn't mean dull.
Newport is the draw. The Gilded Age robber barons built their summer "cottages" here, and the grandest of them, The Breakers, is open to walk through. The sailing is some of the best on the East Coast.
Providence holds the culture, with Brown, RISD, and the WaterFire bonfires that light up the rivers on summer nights. The food even has its own vocabulary: coffee milk, clam cakes, stuffies, and Del's frozen lemonade.
Around 24% of Rhode Island homes heat with oil, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration survey. Comparing local quotes is an easy way to trim the bill.