Happy Wednesday, Rhody-Ohs!

NEWSFLASH: You’re going to need a bigger weekend.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Festival in Warwick

• Boiled Bounty Served By Seaside Sunset

• Food Truck Feasts in the Field

Introducing “Pizzadocce Reviews”, our new RI-only pizza review section, by yours truly! First up, Pizza Marvin.

Got Biz? In Rhode Island, it’s all about relationships. That’s why we are starting a Rhody Weekender Business Meetup. Business owner? Sales? Future entrepreneur? Founder? Let’s meet and chat. Super low key. Details below.

Rhody Moments: The loss of Matunuck Oyster Bar (for now). Scroll for more.

Let’s get into planning your weekend around the best of the best activities we found for you this week.

Outdoor & Nature

🐄 Spend a spring day on the farm: Open Farm Day at Butterfly Farm. Meet calves and lambs, explore the greenhouses, and get a peek behind the scenes. $8 adults, $5 kids, free for under 2.

🌕 Paddle into the moonlight: Horseshoe Crab Moon Paddle and Spawning Walk at Weekapaug Inn. Experience a guided evening paddle on Quonnie Pond, followed by a beach walk to witness the ancient spawning ritual of horseshoe crabs. Reservations required.

🌿 Wander through garden rooms: Sakonnet Garden in Little Compton now open! Explore themed spaces, rare plants, and a pollinator haven. Reservations required; Click through for days/times, and details!

🧚 Parade through the azaleas: Flower Fairies Music & Parade at Kinney Azalea Gardens in Kingston. Harpist Mary King performs; kids (and adults!) dress as fairies or gnomes. Scavenger hunt and picnic-friendly.

🐘 Start your day with giants: Breakfast with the Elephants at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. Enjoy a hot breakfast buffet, meet the elephant keepers, and help prepare the yard for the day. Limited to 30 guests.

🌿 One hour, many plants: Plant Swap at PVD Things. A casual Saturday event for gardeners and plant lovers. Share extras, learn techniques, and meet other growers. Rain or shine!

🛥️ Cruise the Blackstone on Sundays: Explorer River Tours on the Blackstone. Relaxing, scenic, and perfect for families or nature lovers. Launches weekly from Madeira Ave. in Central Falls.

Li’l Rhody Business Mixer

In business, it’s all about who you know. This axiom is truer in Rhode Island than any other place on planet earth! That’s why The Rhody Weekender is starting a business focused meetup series: Li’l Rhody Business Mixer. Meet, greet, chat, and make things happen, or just see what happens. We are going to keep it very low key and informal. No agenda, but probably some beer.

We are going to kick it off June 4th @ 6pm, and see how Wednesdays go. Location TBD, but it will be casual. Probably West Bay.

RSVP is very simple: just email me here right now while the link is under your finger, and say hi while you are at it. Even if you are tentative, drop me a note. Just do it. I’ll keep all of us on track for a great first meeting!

Li’l Bulletin Board

Want to spread the good word about your business, a project you’re working on, or a hire, to 22,000 friends?

• Opening Day Returns June 1 at the Providence Flea The Providence Flea kicks off its 13th season on Sunday, June 1 from 11am–3pm at 195 District Park on Dyer Street, launching a summer-long celebration of vintage, handmade, and local goodness. Held every Sunday through October 26, this vibrant riverside market draws passionate crowds and top-tier vendors. Opening Day is your chance to be part of the energy, the view, and the tradition. Mark your calendar now—Opening Day only happens once!

• Gaspee Days 5K Foot Race – June 14, 2025 Rhode Island’s oldest foot race returns on Saturday, June 14 at 9:30 AM, launching from 2052 Broad Street in Cranston and charging down the historic, red-white-and-blue-striped Parkway. With over 2,000 runners, cheering crowds, and $500 prizes for top male and female finishers, this fast, flat course is a legacy race with serious local energy. Space is capped and there’s no race-day registration, so once it’s full—you’re out. Register now before it sells out and claim your place in this iconic summer tradition!

Food & Drink

🍝 Click to crown Cassarino’s: Vote Cassarino's for Best Italian Restaurant! Nominated in the 2025 Community’s Choice Awards, a Federal Hill Favorite. There are a bunch of other categories to vote on, too, which is fun. Bakery, coffee shop, Asian, etc. Can we deliver them a win? The owners are big fans of The Rhody Weekender, so I figured we could get our gang to show some Federal Hill love with this important community award.

🪴 Sip a beer, pot a plant: Hops & Pots with Sassy Succulents at Tilted Barn Brewery in Exeter. Create a succulent arrangement while enjoying farm-fresh brews!

🎉 Kick off Gaspee Days with a party: Gaspee Days Block Party at Pawtuxet Park in Warwick. $5 entry, 21+ only. Live music, drinks, and good community fun!

🚚 Food trucks, music, and wide-open fields: Chase Farm Food Trucks & Fun in Lincoln. Memorial Day post-parade celebration with live music, mocktails, beer, and a full lineup of local food trucks to kick off the summer!

🌭 Craft beer & community market: Juicy Market at Newport Craft. Enjoy street food, shop handmade items, and hang with friends—on two legs or four. Free and open to all! (scroll down)

🦞 Classic Memorial Day Boil: New England Lobster Boil on the Pavilion at Newport Harbor Island Resort. Lobster, clams, mussels, strawberry shortcake, and live music with a bay view.

I visited Pizza Marvin this week on the East Side in Providence. In our Rhody Weekender onboarding poll, Marvin is consistently in the top 5. It’s a classic New Haven style with some additional personality, so be prepared for a little char. The flavor profile overall was like if you tried to recreate Papa Gino’s at home, but it came out way, way better! I like a little thicker crust like you can get in other areas of New England, but that’s not what this pie is all about. Sauce had a wonderful tomato forward flavor with a balance of other flavors. Seasoning was just right. Crust was crisp with a slight chew, plenty of air and crunch at the same time. Perfect no flop pieces right out of the oven. Cheese amount was perfect.

But Marvin is now my personal current top pick in RI. And the final grade is:

NEXT UP: Frank Pepe’s

Highs & Lows

Entertainment

🦈 Celebrate summer with a classic: JAWS Summer Parties at Jane Pickens Theater in Newport. Memorial Day Weekend screenings with live music, beer and wine tastings, and a shark touch tank. Tickets start at $15.

🎸 Dylan goes bluegrass in South Kingstown: Saddle Up the Chicken – The Music of Bob Dylan at Pump House Music Works. A live tribute with folk, rock, country, and gospel flair.

🎶 Sunday night jazz performance: The Parlour Jazz Series: Ryan Peterson Trio - From NYC to RI, award-winning jazz guitarist, Ryan Peterson, brings his acclaimed trio for a night of inventive jazz. Experience fresh takes on standards and originals from Peterson, Bish, and Reid.

🎷 From Providence to Rio and back: Anchors Away Brass Band. Check out this eclectic brass band as they bring their genre-blending sound to Myrtle. Expect funk, disco, and a whole lot of brass. ✴️ STAFF PICK ✴️

🎸 Raise a glass to live country: Country Music Festival at Phantom Farms Brewing. Outdoor stage, three live acts, and beer flowing all day. Celebrate the season with music and friends in the fields.

Arts & Culture

🎖️ Walk among 7,000 stories: Boots on the Ground for Heroes Memorial at Fort Adams in Newport. Each boot honors a U.S. service member lost post-9/11. Free and open to the public.

🎨 Shop the Parkway with 60,000 others at the famous Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Festival in Warwick. Over 100 artisans, food vendors, live music, and kids' activities.

⚓ Honor a maritime legend: Life and Heroism of Ida Lewis Honored at Graveside Ceremony at Common Burying Ground, Newport. Free event with U.S. Lighthouse Service marker placement by the USCGC Ida Lewis crew.

🎖️ Join the town in remembrance: North Kingstown Memorial Day Parade. A heartfelt tribute to service members, featuring community participation and patriotic displays. Thinking of all those family members who have served our country.

🎨 Celebrate regional artists in Warren: South Coast Artists’ Spring Members’ Invitational Exhibit at Imago. Juried show featuring diverse mediums—wood, clay, encaustic, mixed media, and photography. Awards are given to the top three pieces.

🖼️ Opening night spotlight on summer: The Effects of Sunshine at Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design. Opening reception May 24. Enjoy an eclectic group show of paintings, mixed media, and ceramics celebrating seasonal themes.

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Rhody Moments

• Terrible news for Matunuck Oyster Bar. We are all waiting for more details on what happened and for what the future holds. Making a trip down, I’m sure, was on so many people’s spring bucket list. Will they rebuild quickly?

• Cool cat hanging out: “Just saw a bobcat outside my house in Lincoln”. Look at this absolute unit. Beautiful. It always feels like such a special treat to see wildlife, especially bobcats, up close and personal like this. Glad the homeowner got this shot! So many upvotes and comments! “If not friend, then why friend shaped?” and many more LOL.

• It’s a hit! Time capsule uncovered at McCoy Stadium as search for second one continues. Demolition crews at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, uncovered an 85-year-old time capsule embedded INSIDE the stadium's cornerstone, laid on November 3, 1940. I love time capsules! What's it look like? The hunt is on for the second time capsule! It might be under the pitchers mound. Check out the photo gallery.

See you next week!

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