Rhode Island Town 13: Warwick - 7/9/2020

Hello, hello, hello and welcome to you all. Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone, welcome to Warwick! My name is Aemila and I will be your tour guide today as we take on the city of Warwick!

I see you all have chosen the classic Rhode Island tour… excellent selection. Well, if we’re all set to begin, right this way folks. Watch your step, and we’ll be starting at Oakland Beach, so I’ll see you all there.

ALL RIGHT. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you made it. Hopefully you didn’t get stuck in any Rhode Island traffic. My (grumpy) mother says that you can’t get anywhere in Warwick without getting stuck in traffic. Isn’t she a joy to have around? Sounds like someone didn’t eat enough clam cakes.

Speaking of clam cakes, on your right, you can see the lovely little restaurant of Iggy’s at Oakland Beach, Warwick. What would Rhode Island be without Iggy’s?  Probably sad, miserable, and full of bad vibes. We wouldn’t want that, would we? Feel free to eat as many clamcakes as you like. Or doughboys, if that’s more your thing. You can’t go wrong with either, and you might want to try the chowder too. While you wait for your food, you can check out the beach.  You can swim, or go over to the rocky section to look for crabs.  Take your food over to a nice grassy spot on the bike path to practice social distancing. When you’re done, I’ll meet you at Rocky Point....

Iggy's at Oakland Beach

Clamcakes, Doughboys, and Stuffies

Picnic along the bike path

Rock crab caught by Tarynn

Oakland Baech

Smile!

I see you’ve all arrived at Rocky Poi--YOU SIR, PUT ON YOUR MASK! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 
My apologies, here we are at Rocky Point State Park, site of a former amusement park also called Rocky Point. Quite the coincidence. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been an amusement park for a while, so I don’t have any stories about it. But if you go up to LITERALLY any Rhode Islander on the street, they will tell you a story about when they went to Rocky Point. They will probably point out where a lot of things used to be, which you can also do on your own if you know how to read a sign. The signs here are actually quite interesting - they include old photos of different sites around the park along with some of the history of the area.

The shoreline at Rocky Point

History of the iconic arch

Rocky Point Arch selfie

New fishing pier at Rocky Point

We left a painted rock by the beach at Rocky Point

Remains of amusement park rides in the background

That concludes our tour for today, unless you’ve added on the bonus stop of Ruby’s Candy Store and Gelato in the Grotto…

After our “official” Warwick Tour, we stopped by the house of some friends for a socially distanced visit. We were able to “purchase” sweets from 10 year old Ruby’s candy store on the porch, and marvel at a campfire with colorful flames alongside the brook in their backyard.  We also had fun watching their dog’s antics playing in the brook and their garden and pet chicken were also very fun to see. Aside from the pleasure of getting to catch up with friends who we hadn’t seen in awhile, the other highlight of the visit was that Ruby’s family has transformed their root cellar into a grotto, and we were invited to partake of “gelato in the grotto”.  It was such an enchanting visit, and we had a magical time chatting with friends and eating delicious gelato. :)

Ruby's candy store

Buying candy from the best shopkeeper ever

Aemilia in the lovely grotto

Gelato in the Grotto

That’s it for now, see you soon!

Other places we've enjoyed in Warwick: 

• Pawtuxet Village - Lovely historic homes, parks, restaurants, and small businesses along the water. We have strolled through this area many times, and have enjoyed the Gaspee Days festival here as well. 
• Conimicut Point - A great escape from the commercial congestion of Warwick, go here for beautiful views of the lighthouse
• Warwick Center for the Arts - Community focused art activities, classes, and events, and also a small art museum.  We've enjoyed holiday open houses here. 
• City Park - This large park has athletic fields, a beach, and three miles of paved bike/walking paths.  We have geocached here and have also participated in fundraising walks for A Wish Come True here.