Getting To Know MA’s Neighboring State Of Rhode Island: Part 2

July 12, 2024 weathergirl15 150 Comments

Since we’re all about not having any page of our website be too long to scroll thru, or have so many images that it’s slow to load (a huge SEO no-no), we’re picking up our story of visiting the beautiful and hidden-gem state of Rhode Island in this second in a series of blog posts about our quest to get to know Massachusetts’ neighboring state of Rhode Island better.

Read the first in our series of blog posts about visiting the less-touristy spots of Rhode Island.

Pawtucket/Warwick/Cranston

Last weekend, which was my husband Jay’s birthday weekend, we visited an old mill in Pawtucket that he had wanted to check out that we learned about from one of the ghost-hunting shows we like to watch. The mill, Slater Mill, is an old cotton thread mill owned and run by the National Parks Services. The employee or volunteer we met as we entered the mill was so kind, helpful, and welcoming! And, even though we were too late to attend an official tour, she played for us an 8-minute video about the mill that got us well educated about the mill and other buildings on the property. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a New England history buff!

Next we headed to Pawtuxet Village, a smaller village than Wickford Village (one we talked about in our previous post about RI), but still very quaint and worth visiting. The Village spans sections of both Warwick and Cranston. We loved how a local garden club did so much to make a small local park (Pawtuxet Park) look so beautiful because of the unique and beautiful flowers and plantings, and there was just beauty everywhere with the Village being on the water (It is located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.) Loved how the bridges were decorated with flower boxes by volunteers!

We strolled around the Village’s waterfront areas, went into a gift shop with a lot of special items, and had a nice Irish dinner at O’Rourke’s. If it weren’t such a hot night, and one threatened by rain, we would have stayed for live music on the patio!

And, on the way home — for old time’s sake — Jay wanted to check out McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, the former home of the Red Sox minor-league team, the PawSox. One of our very first dates more than 25 years ago was at that park. Jay went out of his way to buy and surprise me with tickets since I had said I was a Red Sox fan and had always wanted to go to a PawSox game. We had many other nice times at games there with family members until the stadium sadly closed (last game played in September 2019)!

While it made me happy to see the stone mascot, Paws, who always welcomed visitors was still at the front entrance to McCoy stadium, it also made me sad to see his paint was peeling…good project for some historical society to take on!

East Greenwich

We drove thru East Greenwich RI on the way home to Braintree MA from one of our other day trips — I believe it was the one to Wickford Village and Jamestown. Even at night, it looked like it was bustling with activity, so I wanted to return, and chose it as a recommended place for a mid-July family reunion on the Moraski side of the family, i.e., my husband’s side of the family. I knew this quaint, seaside town would work well because of it being halfway between where one of my husband’s brothers lives on the CT shore and where Jay and his other brother live on Boston’s South Shore.

Despite it being another pretty hot and humid summer 2024 day, we had a great time meeting up and dining at Blu On The Water for lunch. They have free valet parking and we really enjoyed the “Yacht Music” band that serenaded all of us who sat on the beautiful outdoor deck facing the water. Water that was populated with a ton of beautiful boats to imagine yourself sailing or boating on!

Of course, we all had seafood — what else are you going to have at a restaurant on the water — and I had the chance to try a RI favorite, “stuffies,” something I had heard my brother-in-law rave about related to his former time living in RI. Deliciously seasoned breadcrumbs and various seafood, like clams, shrimp, and scallops are served together in a clam or scallop shell!

After lunch, despite the heat, we walked up a fairly steep incline from the restaurant to the main street (called Main Street, what else?) that boasts lots of shops and restaurants, and even a performance center, the “Odeum.” It was cool and fun to see the tour bus of one of the performing acts parked outside the performance center. Roseanne Cash was one of the names listed on the marquis, so I like to believe it was her bus, since my dad was a huge Johnny Cash fan. But getting back to walking up the hill — it gave us the opportunity to walk under a gorgeous brick arched bridge, and yell “hello” to experience that phrase echoed back to us!

After walking up and down both sides of xx, I had the pleasure of discovering a cupcake bakery, and in keeping with the “cupcake fetish” that I’ve been told by my twin sister I have, I, of course, bought a delicious cupcake with beautiful bright blue frosting from “Silver Spoon Bakery.” The indoors setting and furniture were so welcoming, I would have loved to spend some time just hanging out in this venue with a French feel (remember, one of my first RI day trips earlier this year also satisfied my Francophile needs), but I will return some day for sure, or should I say “bien sur!”

Our family members headed back home after our visit to Main Street, but Jay and I were not done checking out all that East Greenwich offers. We spent lots of time relaxing by the water at Goddard Memorial State Park, after checking out the quaint bridge, and carousel building (it does not currently house a carousel – but was another thing in East Greenwich that reminded me of my dad because of his love of carousels). It appears that the building is now used as a performing arts space.

I loved the fact that the Park was packed with individuals of all ages and there were tons of picnic tables, benches, gazebos, canopies, and other areas where extended families could grab their own spot to spend the day together. Plus, the fact that the sidewalk/boardwalk along the beach/water offered benches to sit in the shade, and there were also shady areas near the carousel where one could look down at fellow Park visitors enjoying the boardwalk and beach below.

Wanting to stop for Mediterranean food on our way home, while at the Park, I typed “Mediterranean food Pawtucket” into Safari on my i-phone, and discovered Shish Kabob. Its hours indicated it was open, so I entered the destination in Google Maps on my phone. But, when we arrived, we were disappointed to find it was closed. Fortunately, we used the same method to identify a place for similar food in Attleboro MA — a city just over the RI/MA border.

Attleboro, MA

We sat out on the terrace at Mediterranean Grill & Pizzeria and I loved how you felt like you were sitting in a garden even though the restaurant was on a busy street. The owner or manager was incredibly welcoming, kind, and friendly, and we experienced the identical with our waitress. We had a fun time chatting with her about how she got into the food business, and filling her in about a favorite Hulu series, “The Bear” (a fictional show that let’s you see the inner workings of running a restaurant and the challenges associated with it. And, the food was quite delicious. I loved the zucchini medley — lots of fresh summer vegetables — plus the vegetable messa platter I ordered, and Jay enjoyed his chicken gyro. I tried some of the chicken in his gyro and the grill and marinade were perfect. Definitely hope and plan to go back to the Attleboro or Seekonk location of this restaurant that makes you feel like family.

What’s Next On The Rhode Island Day Trip Agenda?

Jay and I haven’t decided about the above yet, but we do plan to make at least one more day trip to the Ocean State before summer is over, so stay tuned…