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If, like me, you find yourself in RI this holiday season, here’s an enjoyable lineup to beat the winter blues.  I love the winter, I do, but I always find myself staying in the comfort of home. Here are a few ideas to shake off a case of cabin fever!

winter farmer’s market

The Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers Market at Hope Artiste Village is open Saturdays during the holiday season. The market is open between 9am and 1pm. The market boasts over 80 vendors selling locally produced goods. In addition to local produce and animal products from local farms, expect to find baked goods from local bakeries, all things preserved, pickled, and fermented, condiments, chocolates and other confections, flowers, local hand made cosmetics and soaps, and artisanal cheeses. There are a few shops inside as well, a cool but somewhat sparse bookstore, florist, and a couple others.

Don’t worry about hitting the ATM before heading there - Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers Market accepts cash, check, credit, debit, and SNAP/EBT. 

Some vendors featured this season include Fully Rooted (raw cold-pressed juice), Poor Boy Sharpening (in case you need any knives sharpened while you shop!), Great Harvest Bread Co, Rhody Fresh, RI Mushroom Company, African Alliance Community Garden, Celebrated (plant-based desserts), Meadow Stone Farm Artisan Cheese, Matunuck Oyster Farm, and so, so many others.  

Other things worth noting - Parking is a bitch.  This place is packed, to the point that a sign exists saying ‘keep going!’  And it’s an uphill walk.  Ass on the way up, quads on the way down.  I picked up some CBD/Spirulina Snack Clusters for my dad for Christmas, someone notoriously difficult to shop for.  Fear not if you get the munchies, there is plenty of hot, fresh prepared food and coffee available. You can drop off any fruit or veggie scraps to be composted!  Lastly, leave the pups at home - due to health code regulations they’re not permitted at the market.

snow sports

Snow sport of choice?  If it’s sledding you’re after, look no further than Diamond Hill in Cumberland.  In fact, the area is so optimal for sledding, that it used to be a mini-ski resort.  There are pretty steep hills, be careful with the little ones.  

If you’re looking to hit the ice, Alex and Ani Skating Center in Providence will surely have you covered. With ice skating and ice bumper cars (that’s right), the kiddos will have a blast. The rink is open to skaters 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm. Check the weather first, they sometimes close. The bumper cars have special hours here

Have little ones who want to try out skiing? Yawgoo Valley will be perfect for you, and they have great tubing with enough snow!

yoga

Need to de-stress from the overwhelm of the holiday season, or just need a few hours to tune inward? The Woods Yoga in Lincoln offers heated and hot classes 7 days a week. Whether you want some solid body-mind conditioning or just need to thaw from the icy New England winter, you’ll find what you need at The Woods. Heated classes not your thing? Non-heated classes are offered 7 days a week as well.

There are some great local offerings in addition to regular studio classes. Laughing Elephant Yoga in East Greenwich is holding a Holiday Socks Slip n Slide with Dee Picone Sunday 12/16 11-1. Your abs will have a love/hate thing with you for a while! From LEY:

This vinyasa class will stretch and strengthen using your childhood secret weapon, fuzzy socks! Think sliding across the floor after a full tilt run on a slippery floor and the lightness you felt!
There will be options of sliding into flight ( arm balances) with modifications offered.
Come find your inner child and play!

Saturday December 8, head over to All That Matters in Wakefield for a Holiday Stress-Soothing Retreat with Jenn Thomas to fill your cup and reconnect with yourself. 9am-12pm, $49. Jenn is a wonderful teacher, with an ethereal voice to bring you out of the stress that so often accompanies this otherwise magical season. From ATM:

Move beyond the harried holiday pace with this sweet morning retreat exploring yin yoga, mindfulness meditation, and the richness of quiet. No matter our current conditions, it is possible to find the thread of love and let it infuse our thoughts, actions, and feelings. It takes time, quiet space, and the desire to turn towards the heart.

Through long-held Yin poses we meet ourselves as busy bodies, frantic minds, and as feelings - worried and overwhelmed. In those same poses we can slowly let go of outcomes and explore ease in extended holds, followed by quiet space for integration. Balanced, grounded, and heart-centered, we’ll allow stress to float away. Grow to see beyond the ordinary into your own deep reservoir of love, and connect with yourself there.

seal cruise & nature tour

Seal tours! Seals are so damn cute, I just adore them. These migratory harbor seals come around between November and April, an excellent excuse to stay near the ocean despite the chilly temperatures.

To see Rhode Island’s state mammal up close and personal(ish), Save the Bay offers 1 hour long tours, complete with guides and binoculars, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport.  Cost is $22 for adults, $17 for children 3-12, senior/military, and Save the Bay members.  

holiday stroll nights

The annual Garden City Holiday Strolls draw in crowds from all over the state. The outdoor shopping center will look like Santa’s Village as Santa joins live performers to create a festive atmosphere for holiday shopping. There will be store sales and other draws to potential customers to lure them in. This is a freebie, you can come and roam around, shop, and be merry. Bonus, the gin martinis at Avvio are to die for.

indoor rock climbing

Okay, so this one isn’t holiday-themed — HOWEVER — it’s a wonderfully enjoyable activity for a day when it’s too frigid to do anything outside and you’ve got a case of cabin fever.  Plus, all of that movement will be sure to generate some heat.  

Joanna, pictured above, is an avid climber who teaches at Central Rock Gym in Warwick on Monday nights at 6:30. Climbing and yoga? A foolproof fusion of strength and flexibility, and the perfect escape from RI’s next deep freeze.

pvd flea

PVD flea is awesome any time of year, and the holiday markets are no exception.  For the colder months, the flea has moved to Hope High School (324 Hope St, PVD).  There are over 60 vendors that rotate continually, so you’ll very seldom (if ever!) see an identical lineup.  Food trucks park around the perimeter if you need a snack or a cup of coffee.  

The quality of the vendors is very high in comparison to some others I’ve visited.  A self-proclaimed ‘vintage and maker market,’ you’ll never find any knock-off sunglasses or cell phone covers.  You can expect to find hand crafted soaps and cosmetics, antique items, hand crafted jewelry, gems and minerals, a hot sauce booth (!), vintage clothes, handwoven African baskets, among a plethora of others.  If you get as excited about hot sauce as I do, don’t hate me if you go and can’t find him - as I mentioned, the vendors rotate.  For the winter markets, you can also expect to see a substantial amount of holiday-themed goods as well.  

My advice on this one?  Go early.  As a former vendor, I can tell you that 85% of my personal favorite things that I was selling were all purchased before noon last year.  People take these fleas seriously!  If you have any holiday shopping to do, or maybe want to reward yourself for something, it’s a great way to spend a few hours on a cold weekend day.

newport

Glitter and garland and all things Christmas will light up the Newport mansions this year from November 17th to January 1. This is an annual highlight for the city. People come from all over to tour the mansions year round, but something about the warm Christmas spirit and overall holiday energy has these places exceptionally well-attended during this time of year.  

Three of the mansions are decorated this year - The Breakers, The Elms and Marble House  The houses are adorned with lights, poinsettas, evergreens, Christmas trees, dining tables set with period silver and china, candles and chandeliers.  

The hours are from 10am (The Breakers opens at 9) with the last admittance at 4pm, final closing at 5pm.  To visit one house costs $24 for an adult, but if you choose to go with the winter passport option, you have access to all three houses for the season for only $30, $10 for children.

Santa is available and ready for your little ones daily from noon to 3pm which is included in the price of admission.  Something to note if you have small children - strollers and carriages aren’t allowed inside.

If you’re more into cocktail hour than touring the houses, absolutely check out Holiday Evenings at the Newport Mansions. What’s better than seeing these gorgeous estates all decked out in even more opulence? Doing the same thing with a cocktail in hand and something to snack on, set to live Brass Bands and Jazz each night. Select Saturday nights from December 1 to December 29 - click here for more info.

The BIG event at The Breakers this winter is the Holiday Dinner Dance.  So, if you want to splurge (and by splurge I mean $350-$500 per person depending on whether you’re a member or not), the dance is Saturday, December 15th.  If you are able to snag tickets (they do sell out), any amount over $200 is tax deductible.

Whether you’re in the mood to embrace the cold and venture out into the snow, or you want to find something to do indoors to keep warm, try something that lies outside of your comfort zone this year.  Or, if you’re pretty well acquainted with the things listed above, try doing one of these alone - spend some time in self-reflection, being in the moment, appreciating the beauty of the season.

Try something different this winter.  We all have our routines, we all have our customs.  Commit to trying one new thing this holiday season - explore more - it could become your next annual tradition.