A day in weird Warren with Patty

About 45 minutes from home, heading northeast, is Warren, RI. I haven't had a reason to go there in many years--I think it might have been a funeral last time--but each time I go I feel like I'm in a time warp, except I can't figure out which decade it is. Warren is a jumble of working-class tenement homes cozied up to gothic, Victorian and Colonial homes--some in states of total disrepair and others perfectly coiffed and ready for a photo shoot. The restaurant scene covers everything from old coffee shops with chrome swivel stools, to Portuguese cuisine, to fine waterfront dining. This is a very eclectic town.

Patty read an ad lately for a new shop called Farmstead. It's in a perky yellow barn and full of antiques, vintage clothes and new--very nice--gift items. We headed out with a plan to check out this shop and then parked in the commercial district of town, where we stopped in at several antiques shops. One place had a going out of business sign in the window so we opened the door and were met with a scene from the show "Hoarders." Yikes! This guy specialized in antique and new textiles and was a tassle and trim collector and also an interior designer. Based on the complete mess, I couldn't imagine what kind of design scheme he'd come up with, and my internal voice was making nasty and unflattering comments, even though he was quite charming. 

We found a gift shop in an old movie theatre, called "Imagine,"which was laid out on many levels of the original orchestra, mezzanine and balcony floors. They carried everything from penny candy to an array of colorful umbrellas to kitchen tools. Their collection of painted cows, which once decorated the city of Chicago, provided quite a Kodak moment.

After we were sick of shopping we went to the Wharf Tavern for lunch. This place has been on the waterfront since 1955 and used to be my grandmother's favorite summertime restaurant when I was a kid. It looks pretty much the same since the last time I ate there in the early 1970s, and was full of senior citizens, talking too loud and happily munching on lobster rolls. I had a lobster roll too. It was delightful.