Rhode Island

Greetings,

I just returned from a trip to Providence, RI and there are a few things I’d like to share.

As you probably know, Cathy and Kathleen drove to Providence to get Kathleen settled into her new apartment as she begins her first semester at Brown University. We prepared for the trip as all parents and students prepare for such trips. We packed clothes, lamps, shelves and even a bike. We also prepared for the drive by visiting our library and selecting a number of audio books. Cathy and Kathleen’s trip went well and Cathy flew home.

I flew out to spend time with Kathleen and drive the car home. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to prepare for the flight. Even though it was only a three hour flight, it was probably one of the longest flights ever. While others around me read books, listened to their ipods and watched movies on the laptops, I sat there with my hands folded on my lap and waited like a dog at feeding time for the flight attendant to offer me a bag of pretzels. I had purchased a Time magazine – which I had already read. Lesson learned: Prepare for the flight.

I easily found the car at the airport and drove to Kathleen’s apartment using only a GPS! Lesson Learned: The inventor of the GPS should win a Nobel Prize.

Kathleen’s roommates had not yet moved in so she and I went to a hotel that Cathy had found for us. As we checked in, it became evident that the person checking us in was not accustomed to people getting a room for the whole night. Lesson learned: check out the hotel in advance.

Providence is known as the “Renaissance City”. It should be called the city of one way streets. Its motto seemed to be, “Do not enter”.

The Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line is only about 15 minutes away, so we went out to Martha’s Vineyard. It was a beautiful, yet warm day. We had been there years ago as a family and have fond memories of a 22 mile bike ride to various towns on the island. That time we left the island exhausted, sore and sunburned. This time we discovered that there is an all-day bus pass for $7 per day. This time Kathleen and I left the island tanned, rejuvenated and relaxed. Utilizing the bus even allowed us time for a trip to the beach for a swim. We decided to catch an ice cream cone before returning to the mainland. Proving that it truly is a small world, we saw the paint guy from Fish Creek’s Nelson Hardware store. Turns out his parents live in Massachusetts.

A runner up in the “It’s a small world” category is our story about a Greek restaurant on Thayer Street in Providence (think State Street in Madison). Kathleen and I were eating outside feeling very happy about the fact we were not participating in the dorm move-in parade, when what to our wondering eyes did appear, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins!! All but Tim Robbins got close-ups the very next
night at the Emmys. I guess Tim probably had to drive the mini-van back to California.

During our time in Providence we also took a trolley ride of the city and went to an event downtown called “Water Fire”. Downtown Providence has a narrow river running through it and several times a year they light a series of about 50 large bonfires in the middle of the river while gondolas row up and down the river. There are speakers built into the banks of the river and on this particular night they were playing opera music. At various spots along the river a man would periodically light a torch and under the torch a woman would stand and sing along to the opera music. Off to the side there were vendors selling food and beverages. Two of Kathleen’s roommates, Corona and Lena accompanied us. What a great night.

If you ever get to the Providence area, a side trip to Newport is recommended. There are a number of mansions (they call them cottages) that are open for tours. Our cottage (including the garage) would fit into the Vanderbilt’s foyer and they’d still have room for a few marble statues.

Brown University is a beautiful campus steeped in history and traditions. Among the traditions is that new students enter the campus for convocation in a procession through the VanWikle gates. It is considered bad luck for Brown students to walk through that main gate again until their graduation when the gates swing out allowing the same students to process out to the Baptist Church where their degrees are conferred. Remembering not to pass through those gates is easier than you would think as after the opening procession they are locked and are not unlocked until graduation.

My 1200 mile ride home was wonderfully uneventful. As always thanks for reading about this trip. It gave me a chance to relive it.

Best wishes,
Ken KBlaney55@hotmail.com
Kathleen Kathleen.Blaney@gmail.com