We explored eastern Rhode Island yesterday. Our primary objective was to catch the thousands and thousands of daffodils in bloom at Blithewold, an historic mansion in Bristol, RI, but I took advantage of the opportunity to explore the Ocean State east of Narragansett Bay. It was a productive expedition!

Walking the grounds of Blithewold worked up something of an appetite. I wanted something Rhode Island, and I got it at Reidy's Family Restaurant in Portsmouth, between Bristol and Newport. Reidy's is a pleasant, homey little place on Rte 138 that proudly advertises their "bottomless coffee cup".

That's a good thing, because I wanted to try their clam cakes, and Lorna had a design on their whole-belly fried clams; all that fried food might grease up the palate without something to cut it. It was too early for a 'Gansett, so black coffee was in order.

Here's what we got:

The clamcakes were light and perfectly cooked, delicately savory and not at all greasy. they came with a New England-style clam chowder that was excellent, perfectly seasoned and not too thick. The fried clams were also perfectly cooked, crispy outside, creamy and briny-flavorful inside. The coffee was exactly what I needed and the cup never did run out (I must have consumed a pint of it).

You'll notice an intruder in the photo: The hot dog is a Coney Island hot dog, which of course I had to try for The Dog Log. The Coney Island dog is not really a Rhode Island classic except that Little Rhody takes her dogs very seriously.

The rest of the day was equally productive. As readers of this journal know, I am a big fan of Cask-Conditioned Ale so when Lorna wanted to explore the shops of Thames Street I took some work with me into the Wharf Pub, the first one I found that seemed quiet enough to make some progress on my projects.

What a pleasant surprise! The cask of Old Thumper was enough to convince me to stay, but the long gleaming copper bar was just the sort of thing to show that I was in a place where people cared about more than just moving beer into patrons.

Eventually we left Newport and crossed the bay at Tiverton and explored down Rte 77 through Tiverton Four Corners and scenic Little Compton to Sakonnet Point and across to Acoaxet through Adamsville. It really is pretty seaside farm country, and it is home to the excellent Milk and Honey Bazaar, a shop full of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie.

At nightfall we turned for dinner to the Moulin Rouge, which was a memorable dining experience, but this is already overlong so that story will have to wait for another time!