Endangered stone walls; Matunuck Oyster Bar; clam shack winner: Top stories this week

• A UConn professor is advocating for the preservation of New England’s historic stone walls.
• A visitors guide to Rhode Island’s 21 lighthouses.
• Matunuck Oyster Bar reopened under a temporary tent after a fire, with plans for a full rebuild by May 2026.
• Rhode Island restaurants share their coping strategies amid inflation, tariffs and other economic challenges.

Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of June 30, supported by your subscriptions.

• The Ocean State is naturally proud of the 21 lighthouses that dot its rocky shores, from its first – the 1749 Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown – to the sparkplug-style Plum Beach Lighthouse that graces one of Rhode Island’s specialty license plates. Here’s our guide to all 21, and how you can visit them – including one where you can stay overnight.
• Film fans have been keeping tabs on Rhode Island’s latest brush with Hollywood: the shoots that have been popping up for M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural romantic thriller “Remain,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Ashley Walters. Here’s a rundown of where it’s filmed so far, and what we know about the plot.
• Terry Francona’s return to Fenway Park this week has been a wistful reminder of a better Red Sox era, says Journal sportswriter Bill Koch, who looks back at the heady time of curse-busting World Series wins and a fearless front office and asks: Is there hope to regain that winning culture? For that and more sports news, go to providencejournal.com/sports.

Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:

New England once had 240,000 miles of stone walls, enough to wrap around the Earth 10 times. But these iconic structures, woven into the region’s history, environment and identity, are endangered, according to stone walls expert Robert Thorson, who spoke about them at a special program in Little Compton on July 2.

Thorson, an Earth Science professor at the University of Connecticut, said that stone walls reveal geology, provide habitat for plants and animals, and even have military significance, as New England Colonists used them for cover when fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Yet they lack legal protections from those who would “strip mine” them for profit.

Read on to find out how Thorson is spreading the word as a “stump evangelist for stone wall conservation” and advising communities on what they can do to protect these threatened landmarks.

Local news: One man’s quiet war to save New England’s oldest landmarks

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – With pomp and politicians, Matunuck Oyster Bar reopened under a tent on June 30, across from the scene of a devastating May fire on Succotash Road.

The new dining space, offers breezes from the water, as it is set on the channel between Point Judith and Potter Pond, in front of owner Perry Raso’s new shellfish hatchery. With a wood floor, tent lighting and service stations, it feels well thought out and more like a restaurant than one would imagine, says Journal food editor Gail Ciampa.

Gail was there for the opening and heard Raso talk publicly for the first time about the May 20 fire that destroyed the restaurant, and his plans for the rebuild, which he hopes will be ready to reopen by May 20, 2026.

Dining: Matunuck Oyster Bar raises a tent as it rises from ashes. Go inside the interim restaurant

The restaurant industry is unlike any other when it comes to navigating razor-thin profit margins, bouncing back from a volatile economy and finding ways to keep people fed.

Restaurant patronage is still below pre-pandemic levels, and restaurants have a new battle to fight as well – inflation.

Since the late 2000s, the cost of dining out has risen faster than supermarket prices. In a recent survey of more than 500 U.S. restaurants, more than half of all respondents ranked food inflation as their top challenge.

We talk to the owners of several Rhode Island restaurants to find out how they’re adapting to keep customers fed and keep the lights on.

Local news: Caught between inflation, tariffs and egg prices, how do RI’s restaurants survive?

What are Rhode Islanders’ favorite places to fly to?

The federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics keeps track of such things, so we checked to see what the 10 favorite nonstop destinations in the United States for flights originating from Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (excluding charters). 

Read the full story to check out our list of favorite destinations, including a couple that might surprise you.

Travel: Is your favorite place among the Top 10 destinations for flights from T.F. Green?

Voters have spoken.

They overwhelmingly chose Roy Boy’s Clam Shack as the best clam shack in Rhode Island. The vote was 84.92% for Roy Boy’s over Champlin’s Seafood Deck, which received 16.02% of the vote in the final round.

In all, the North Kingstown restaurant bested 15 other clam shacks in The Journal’s bracket voting, which began June 11. Along the way, Roy Boy’s defeated some of Rhode Island’s best clam shacks, chosen for their locations, menus and specialties.

It was a real roller-coaster ride for Roy Boy’s upset win. Read on for more on this relative newcomer, which opened only three years ago.

Seafood: Roy Boy’s Clam Shack wins bragging rights as RI’s best clam shack. How they got there

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