Best cheap and fancy date

Though pizza might seem as humdrum as sandwiches for a romantic evening, you could very well change your mind after a nibble or two of Pizza Pie-er's specialty pizzas. Napolentana has a caper and anchovy-studded red sauce with chicken and roasted peppers; al noci sings its ode of the night in a walnut sauce with mushrooms and spinach; romano has a white sauce with artichoke hearts. You can create your own fancy pizzas from four crusts (try the seven-grain!), nine sauces (puttanesca and cilantro pesto are winners), premium toppings of shrimp or sun-dried tomatoes, 14 gourmet toppings (e.g., ricotta, feta, chourico, prosciutto), and 15 fancy toppings (e.g. green olives or pineapple). Pizza Pie-er also makes pizza sandwiches, such as calzones, and dessert pizzas, such as a walnut and honey variation. Best of all, there's free delivery with a $5 minimum. So snag a video and order in. Cheap and very cozy. 374 Wickenden Street, Providence, (401) 351-3663, www.pizzapieer.com. Recycling tip: turn in any store's used pizza box for a $2 discount at Pizza Pie-er.

Best use for an old shoe

Don't throw it at your loved one in a pique. Take it to Elaine Godfrey at Weedweavers and she'll plant it up with a bit of ivy or periwinkle. Then it can take root in his or her garden or get tossed at season's end (read in your own symbols). Godfrey specializes in unusual containers, often cast-offs in which she sees possibilities that others don't. A leaky watering can might have blue lobelia flowing out, suggestive of water. A galvanized bucket on rollers reincarnates with red impatiens. And if your lady love (or gentleman caller) is impressed enough with tidbits from Weedweavers, you can hire Godfrey for your wedding flowers. She'll fill in bouquets with tiny, oft-overlooked wildflowers or tuck in an herb or geranium leaf for aroma. And her reception designs roll with the seasons, whether they be summer fruits or autumn gourds. Or even old shoes. 48 Columbia Street, Wakefield, (401) 789-1453.

Best sweets for your sweetie

If the flowers don't work, you might try an additional sensory route to her heart. The advantage of the goodies available at Sweet Cakes Bakery & Café is that not only do they look pretty and small nice, but they also taste swooningly grand. There's no combination like butter and sugar to bypass critical faculties and go straight to the brain's smile center. If only minor sucking-up is required, for 95 cents you can get a tangy lemon-curd heart or a yummy Scottish truffle, with chocolate-almond surrounded by shortbread. Major making-up might require a whole $30 cake. Their most aphrodisiac-chocked one employs dense flourless chocolate with sour cherries. Also popular is a raspberry-lemon buttermilk cake topped with fresh berries. At no additional charge, the cakes can be drizzled with the lovey-dovey inscription of your choosing. 1227 Kingstown Road, Peace Dale, (401) 789-5420.

Best can't-miss romantic date

Even if a gal isn't ready to handle your swelling affection, there are times when a really good date can temporarily induce a potent romantic trance. Just pick a brilliant early summer day and make the short drive to Ocean State Adventures, which rents kayaks and offers excellent access for launching them into Bristol Harbor. It's great to get out on the water (proceed to Hog Island if you have the ambition), and even if you're not the most graceful guy in the world, it's pretty difficult to tip one of these babies over. A novel and pleasant mode for bantering, kayaking is best countered by a relaxed and restorative meal. Nearby Colt State Park, with water views and vast expanses of grassy lawns, offers a superb setting for a picnic. Just unload a big cooler laden with various goodies and set out a blanket under a shady tree. Treated to this kind of attention, even the most elusive chick can't resist some nice smooching. Ocean State Adventures, 99 Poppasquash Rd., Bristol, (401) 254-4000. For info on Colt State Park, check www.riparks.com.

Best proffered apology

Who says sincerity has to cost an arm and a leg? A rose by any other price would smell as sweet. For tokens of affection on the cheap, the price is right at Stop & Shop supermarkets. They stock lots of different bouquets, so there are always plenty to choose from. (Potted plants are practical, but they are hard to hold forth with one hand for very long. Then if her giggled "For me?" takes too long, beads of sweat could break out on your forehead and be misinterpreted.) Pink Elegance Bouquets ($7.99) have pink and white mums and sometimes roses. Thinking of You Bouquets ($5.99) sometimes have tiny sunflowers or golden asters, and always have alstromeria. The best bargains are the $2.99 Patriotic Bouquets, with red carnations, white mums, and blue-tinted carnations or purple sea lavender. The price tags come off real easy. Fourteen locations are a she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not away.

Best old-fashioned fun for a twosome

This time last century, croquet used to be a big thing among the leisure class at Newport and South County resorts. Think of it as polo for the slower-reflexed and acrophobic. Frenetic tennis and squash have taken over as the Type-A participation sports of choice, but croquet demands a keener eye and the cool of a pool shark. If you've ever played the 9-wicket backyard version and gotten more into the competition than you were willing to admit, you might be interested in the professional 6-wicket court down at Shelter Harbor Inn. It's on a putting green that has to be mowed three times a week, according to owner Jim Dey, who had it installed in the early 1980s. It's yours for $5 per person per hour. 10 Wagner Road (on Route 1), Westerly, (401) 322-8883.

Best 360-degree romantic sunset

The Ocean State being what it is, there are many romantic spots to watch a sunset. But there are few with so many private rocky nooks to snuggle into as Beavertail State Park. The overlooks from Beavertail are awe-inspiring: water vistas in every direction. To the west, the cove at Bonnet Shores and the cottages climbing along the bluffs; to the east, the Castle Hill lighthouse and Brenton Point, at the entrance to the East Passage. And, spread out in front of you, at the foot of the 1749 Beavertail Lighthouse, the third oldest in the country, the wide opening of Rhode Island Sound. Shimmering to the north are the bridges that connect Jamestown to the mainland. The rocks at Beavertail have seen 30 shipwrecks over the past 150 years. But they're best now for surf-casting, bird watching and an early evening picnic, as the sinking sun bathes stones, grasses, and your loved one in a golden glow. Take the Jamestown Center exit off Route 138, follow it south through the village, and just keep going to the southernmost tip of Jamestown.

Best lip-tingling experience

Well, second best. You're strolling down Lower Thames Street in Newport with your honey and you snap into a continental mood. Suggesting a treat, you hang a right into this side street. You step into Gelati per Tutti, which means "gelato for all," the actualized sentiments of the owners, who discovered the dessert in Rome and decided to proselytize. Gelato is soft-frozen to the consistency of sorbet or sherbet, and since it's made with milk rather than cream, it doesn't have as much butterfat as ice cream. It doesn't contain as much air, either, so its texture is denser. What it does contain are intense flavors -- seasonal fruits, traditionally, and imaginative combinations. Chocolate hazelnut is the favorite; also popular are the amerena cherry (with liqueur-soaked fruit) and stracciatella (vanilla with dark chocolate chunks). Gelati per Tutti, 21 Brown and Howard Wharf, Newport, (401) 849-6777.

Best panoramic vista for the mutually smitten

There's nothing for the mutually smitten quite like holding hands and looking out over the world that you're looking forward to sharing together. A view from on high makes it even more appropriate, what with the "head in the clouds" associations. Rhode Island doesn't offer any airy mountain views, but one lofty perch comes close. The wooden observation tower at Routes 1 and 138 in South Kingstown is on what the locals know as Tower Hilll, but is technically called McSparran Hill. Most people assume that the 100-foot wooden tower was constructed as a fire lookout, but its purpose was more romantic than that. Built in 1937, it was intended for no more practical a purpose than to gaze upon the Rhode Island coastline and, in autumn, across the expanse of colorful foliage. Solo observers are not turned away.