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Save the date for our annual fall festival! Stroll around town, grab a bite to eat, view open artist studios and demonstrations, shop the sidewalk sales and nibble on samples at the Taste of Warren and at eateries around town… #WarrenWalkabout

Check out the event on Facebook for more details and updates.

By E.A. Mann

Advanced Moves shines a light on the smaller, lesser-known joys of living in Warren.

For almost ten years I’ve lived down the street from Belcher’s Cove. In a realty listing, I would surely lie and say that I have a water view. Which I do…if I open my upstairs front window and lean out a bit.

But despite this panoramic oceanfront view, for years I never knew how to actually get to the cove. The strip of Market Street I live near doesn’t have any public access that I know of, and trespassing isn’t in my plans. One early summer night, with the sun setting and the cove smooth as glass, I saw a kayaker calmly paddling around. I grabbed my wife, pointed toward the kayaker and said, “I want to be that guy!”

Eventually I found my way to John Pesce Memorial Park, a calm spot to watch the water or drop in a kayak. From here, you can paddle right until you hit Market Street or go left as far as Swansea. You’ll rarely see another boat. For bonus points, find the small island twenty minutes north of Pesce Park, land your boat and pretend you’ve been stranded at sea. The island is a hundred or so feet across with a few trees and traces of illicit high school drinking. Ah, memories.

Your seafaring complete, stop in at the German American Club that abuts the park. This gem might own the best piece of real estate in Warren. It’s a private club, but be nice to the members (read: buy them drinks) and they may sign you in as a guest. And don’t worry about your lack of German blood; this full-blooded Italian was welcomed with open arms. After a half an hour there, you’ll be asking everyone in view how to become a member.

I took my first few trips with a kayak I rented from Steve’s Marine (this could be its own post) but I’ve since bought my own inexpensive vessel which I’ve christened The Ocean State Job Yacht. I’m ashamed it took me eight years of living in Warren before I went out on the water. I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you see me at Pesce Park with your own boat, give me a wave. I’ll show you the island.

Got an Advanced Move? Message the Discover Warren page or share it in the comments.

It is no secret that Warren has a vibrant culture and is populated with a distinct group of people. Yet, the town’s diversity begins first with its physicality. It is only a short walk from the shops and restaurants of Main and Water Streets to the East Bay Bike Path, which allows residents and visitors an intimate look at Rhode Island’s environment. Right alongside the path is the Jacob’s Point Salt Marsh, which plays an important role of which many residents are unaware.

A type of wetland situated between ocean and land, a salt marsh sustains many different types of plants and is one of the more productive of ecosystems. Warren’s Jacob’s Point Salt Marsh borders the bike path and measures 47 acres along the Warren River. It is one of many that are monitored closely by Save The Bay as part of their marsh restoration programs. Restoration includes strict water quality monitoring, as well as combatting invasive species that attempt to take over the marsh. Different types of plants can endure different levels of salinity, so keeping track of the levels of salinity is key step in protecting the salt marsh.

Salt marshes are a crucial part of any coastal area as they help to filter run off water and provide protection from various threats, such as storm surge or erosion, as well as offer support for different types of fish and plant species.

This is just another part of the town that makes it so special. The beauty of Warren is that it is so many different types of places wrapped into one town. Warren may be a small town in the tiniest state, but it surely is unique.

– Annabelle Everett

A native of Rhode Island, Annabelle is a summer intern for Discover Warren. She studies Writing & Rhetoric at Hobart & William Smith Colleges.

by E.A. Mann

Advanced Moves shines a light on the smaller, lesser-known joys of living in Warren.

For years I’d heard of a mysterious second bike path in Warren. Details were vague. For every ten people I discussed it with, only one brave soul had actually walked the path. Every time I was given directions, I listened intently to the words, then immediately forgot them. Over time a mythology built up around this second bike path for me, and I wondered if I would ever actually go there. If it even existed.

Finally, on a recent, perfect summer day, I decided to avoid the inevitable crowds on the East Bay Bike path and search for Atlantis. Rhode Islanders don’t usually like long journeys, and I’ve found Warren-ites to be a particularly concentrated form of them. I wasn’t born here, but I fit right in. The Warren Bike Path is up Child Street, near Kickemuit Middle School, off of Hugh Cole Road. Living, as I do, near the Main and Water Street corridor, it may as well be the Arctic Circle. But I must admit, it wasn’t hard to find. And it was worth the long journey east.

Calling it a bike path may be a bit of a misnomer. At 1.2 miles, a speedy biker can cover it in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee. But as a walking or running path, it’s a beautiful piece of land, and in a town known for water and density, it’s a welcome stretch of shady, idyllic woods. Trees arc over the path, filtering the sunlight down into pretty patches. One side terminates in a nice water view with benches on either side (there is some water, this is Warren after all…). If you’ve got kids, the path abuts the Warren Recreation Park, making for a nice detour into playgrounds and sports fields.

But the path’s best attribute might be the same obscurity that kept me away for so many years. You can jog this path in the morning and not see another soul. Even on a peak summer day, you will not encounter hordes of families taking up both lanes of the bike path. For most of my walk, it was just me, my ten month old napping in her stroller, and the sounds of the woods.

Unless I lose the map, I’ll be back often.

Got an Advanced Move? Message the Discover Warren page or share it in the comments.