From calamari to Green, be thankful for RI

I came across a list of things to be thankful for on America’s 240th birthday, which got me thinking of a list for Rhode Island, slightly older at 340 years:

— The way the people at the First Baptist Church — started by Roger Williams — have fun with their sign at the foot of College Hill with pronouncements like, "Who's your daddy?"

— Not a lot of area codes.

— Edgar Allen Poe's ghost is said to hang out at the Providence Athenaeum, where he romanced a poet who first said yes, then dumped him for drinking too much and he was dead within a year. 

— One of the most memorable modern political sinner-saints, Buddy.

— Folks as far as Germany, France and China eat calamari caught from Point Judith.

— And unless I missed something, we're the only ones who have an official state appetizer, and yeah, it's that.

— Pick the medium-sized NE city you prefer: Worcester, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, Providence.

— Can you imagine hassling Logan every time you fly?

— Local officials so creative that when they can't find an old lady for a press conference they dress up a male bus-driver as one.

— Box seats Fenway: $130. Box seats McCoy: $13.

— Sunday flea market on Providence River greenway.

— Family Guy lives in the city of Quahog.

— Nordic Lodge in Charlestown — with endless lobsters — ranked best pack-it-in seafood buffet in the country.

— More gondoliers than anywhere in the states.

— Does Connecticut even have real beaches?

— Even if they do, they're boring ones that don't explode.

— Pumpkins that weigh more than a Smart Car.

— Viola Davis grew up poor in Central Falls and it didn't stop her.

— Come on, Massachusetts — you call that a State House? And a zoo?

— Strong gravitational pull on anyone who tries to leave RI.

— People from New Orleans come here for an annual jazz festival.

— Patience and Prudence aren't just virtues, they're islands.

— I mean, they've tried to do WaterFire in other places but nobody else has the right river-walk.

— New York Yankees and New York chowder not welcome. 

— Closer to Gillette than Boston.

— The Jersey Shore's got nothing on Misquamicut. Or, if you ask Pauly D, Johnston.

— Most well-known chicken named for us.

— Taylor Swift could've picked anywhere; she picked here.

— Try getting fresh lobster in Nebraska.

— Nation's first foghorn, diner, indoor shopping mall, outdoor polo match, torpedo boat, carousel and golf tournament.

— Human gargoyles.

— Comforting to be among folks who agree Roger Goodell is the anti-Christ.

— Spring trees as good as DC's cherry blossoms.

— Rebellion lives ... the people killed "Cooler & Warmer" as decisively as they renounced the crown.

And finally,

— It's just easier having a state the size of a Texas ranch. 

mpatinki@providencejournal.com

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