If you’re in Providence or Newport this week make sure you stick around because it is the time to taste Rhode Island. As you are probably sick of Halloween candy, Newport and Providence are showcasing delicious food, menus and entertainment that illustrate the taste and culture that compose our state. On November 2nd, the Botanical Gardens at Roger Williams Park Zoo will come alive with a fantastic blend of cultural food inspired by the Federal Hill House Association, whose efforts serve one of the “largest multi-ethnic communities” in Rhode Island.

The “Taste of the Hill” event has several restaurants teaming up to make this a delicious and cultural experience for you to enjoy, but also support the FHHA’s efforts to help people, help themselves integrate into the community. Started in 1887 as a home for recent immigrants, the multi-cultural nature of FHHA inspires “The Taste of the Hill” ethnic blend of eating and entertainment.
If you happen to be in Newport, you don’t have to miss out either. This Friday, November 4th, is the opening day of Newport’s Annual Restaurant Week that feature many of the restaurants in Newport and Bristol counties. A prefixed lunch and dinner menu offer a delicious ten-day opportunity to experience some of Rhode Island’s finest, and please your taste-buds.

Ed Hardie, our Providence Manager and Newport boater, recommends either of these events. “They offer the perfect way to try new restaurants to which you have never been at a fantastic price. What better way to be adventurous.” Note that these are both paid events.

This week on my radio show, Rich and Steve are in the studio with Max Brickle, CEO and President of The Brickle Group. A third generation industrialist (and grooming a fourth generation), Max runs a consortium of companies that manufacture woolen fabric, polyester fabric, and non-woven materials used in uniforms, blankets, and berets. But on Sunday, he will be wearing his real estate hat—the company also invests in the re-development of land owned through these manufacturing operations and other investments.

Their latest real estate initiative is a residential housing project in Lincoln. Across the street from the pond and land of the same name, Handy Pond is a 55+ condominium community that they developed with a local builder to supply a housing niche that was missing in Lincoln. This adult community is in an almost rural setting, yet it is set along a good access road to major highways. In this development, they focused on high-end housing with a community feel.

The current batch of units should be available within 60 days. They feature multiple floor plans and upgrade options. More information is available on the Handy Pond website, but you can also learn more by tuning into my radio show.

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger William’s Park Zoo displays a Rhode Island autumn in all it’s glory. This year’s presentation of Halloween bliss features over 5,000 carved pumpkins that describe a “Journey Around the World.” That’s the theme. The scenes are set to music, and spectators can enjoy designs of everything from the Seven Wonders to representations of nations around the world.

This is one of those Rhode Island traditions I can’t help but love, and apparently, I’m not the only one—the event attracts over 80,000 visitors each year. There’s nothing that says ‘welcome to autumn’ quite like the bold glow of a Jack-O-Lantern, and the intricate carving on display at this event doesn’t hurt either. The Spectacular can’t quite be defined; it’s at once artistic, spooky, and agricultural, but incredibly goofy and light hearted at the same time. This may explain the mass appeal—it speaks to that je ne sais quoi at the heart of Rhode Island culture. The birthplace of Pauly D, H.P. Lovecraft, and Mr. Potato Head, the state also bore the World’s Biggest Pumpkin in 2006 and 2007.

And that is what the Roger Williams Park Zoo asks us to remember at this year’s “Journey Around the World.” Diverse populations can exist in harmony, with the help of the pumpkin medium. Perhaps Rhode Island is something of a pumpkin itself? Regardless, the October-long Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is definitely worth the trip.

Here’s some good news sailing into the West Bay. It is the arrival of NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer, which is planned to dock on October 17th at Quonset Point. Pier One in Davisville will be the home port for the research vessel for at least the next ten years. The ship is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s joint effort with URI’s Inner Space Center and other centers, like the Institute for Exploration (IFE) in Mystic, CT, throughout the US to explore the depths of the ocean. URI’s future Telecommunications Center, positions this area as a leader in developing in scientific and technological advancements. The satellite communications will enable information and research to be accessible to an expansive group of people. Scientists and the university population that will be able to participate in this new interesting exploration as the ship explores many different areas.

This is the start of a new frontier for Rhode Island based exploration and culminates the work over the past decade by Senator Jack Reed. Saturday’s expected docking is the first time the ship will nestle up to its home port. Work on this area employed several folks over the past years and has brought several full time jobs to the area.

According to NOAA’s site, “Okeanos Explorer, “America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration,” is on a course to be the only U.S. ship assigned to systematically explore our largely unknown ocean for the purpose of discovery and the advancement of knowledge. Telepresence, using real-time broadband satellite communications, will connect the ship and its discoveries, live with audiences ashore. Visit the NOAA Marine Operations Center Okeanos Explorer page for the latest operations and crew information.”

This area of Narragansett Bay has continually been making efforts to be on the cutting edge of marine and aquatic research and technology, proving that there is more to the Ocean State than just beaches and surfing. We should keep an eye out for more of these developments with the Inner Space Center as it paints a new light on the area. This should make Narragansett Bay even more of a destination than it was before.