Road Trip: New England
Day 11: Wednesday, May 04, 2022 - Providence, RI
Day's statistics:
Weather: Light rain
Steps: Steve 7,990; Linda 7,547
Drove: 374 miles
As mentioned in yesterday's entry, we were staying near Boston due to limited availability
of a hotel in Providence. So we had breakfast again at the hotel, checked out, and started the half hour drive to Providence.
Breakfast was an untoasted bagel with cream cheese.
We packed the car, checked out, and headed out to Providence.
It was a quick, uneventful trip south to the Rhode Island capitol, taking about a half-hour to get there.
We were on the look-out for the state line marker - the "Welcome To" sign - but didn't see one. This was the best we could do.
Not only was it markedly faster to get to Providence than Boston, had we been in our original hotel north of Boston, it
might have taken considerably more than an hour to get to Providence. So even though the motel wasn't great, its location
turned out to be rather serendipitous.
Our first stop of the day was at - the capitol!
Diagonally across the street from the capitol was a mall. It turns out that the first two hours of parking are free,
and for between two and five hours, it was only $2. Quite the difference than Boston.
We were early and decided to get a coffee - we NEEDED coffee - at Panera.
We sat inside and drank it before heading over to the capitol.
It was, again, overcast, and it started to lgihtly drizzle.
The capitol from across the street, then closer, a close-up of the statue and the very top of the dome, and a
close-up of the carving in the stone on the front.
As the statue faces this direction, one would think this is the front of the capitol.
We also got our selfie.
From this direction, we had to walk completely around to the other side of the building to enter.
We went upstairs to the second floor, to the library to meet our guide, Nick, and waited just a few minutes
for our tour to start.
When everyone was present - all four of us: there were two others, coworkers, in town for business that had
the day off and took a capitol tour too.
We left the library, but for some reason the tour didn't actually start in the library, even though we eventually
return to the library later as a stop.
Some of what we learned that is not picture related.
1) There were once five state houses, one for each county in the state. They were all eventually consolidated into the
current state house.
2) The solid gold statue on top of the dome is called "Independent Man". In 1976, the statue toured the 39 cities and
towns of the state. And in 2026, he will tour again.
3) The statue has been struck by lightning 27 known times to date.
4) The capitol's dome is one of the four largest self-supported domes in the world. The Taj Mahal, St. Peter's
Bascilica, and the Minnesota State House, are the other three.
5) This building was one of the first public buildings in the country to have electricity.
We were in a hallway along the main central staircase, and looking down at the state seal.
Two items of note in this image:
1) There is a tiny little compass to the lower right of the seal showing North.
2) Note the name of the state. The full name "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations", was only changed in...
ready? 2020. So this seal will need to be updated. Eventually.
From this vantage point, the central chandelier, and part of the dome.
Some architecture.
First up was the Senate chamber, from the gallery, showing most of the 38 seats.
They are in session Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, January through June.
This is the original federal green paint. There were 26 layers on top of it, hiding it.
The senate skylight, and some of the tray ceiling. Also notice some of the woodwork around the skylight.
The House chamber, also from the gallery, showing most of the 75 seats, down from 100 in 2000.
The speaker of the house's chair.
A close-up of the clock and gold ornamentation, behind the speaker's chair.
The house skylight and ceiling.
On either side of the house, on the second floor level, are these two tapestries - they are not paintings.
One of the representative's desk from above.
This small sculpture is "From the people of Liberia to the people of Rhode Island in greatful appreciation for their
support during the Civil War Crisis."
We finally returned to the library. Here are a couple shots inside, including a portion of the ceiling.
Note that the spiral staircases are cast iron, but painted to resemble wood.
The library skylight and ceiling. The ceiling is supposed to be modeled to look like the back of an old leather book.
We were told that somewhere in this section is supposed to be (but might not be) the oldest book in the collection,
one from 1750. Did Nick know exactly where? Sadly, no (one would think there'd be a Post-It® or even
a piece of ribbon on the shelf showing this precious artifact...).
The library clock.
This small flag travelled to the moon on Apollo 11. These tiny fragments are pieces of moon rock from the first moon
landing. Supposedly every state has some, though this, after visiting 20 capitols to this point, was the first time
they were ever mentioned. (And I don't mean to imply they are on display at the capitols, but unless there are Air
and Space museums in a state, where else would these be displayed but at the state capitol?).
After the library, we proceeded to the first / ground floor.
We returned to the House chamber to get a view from the chamber floor.
Here is the speaker's seat, again. The sunflowers are in honor of Ukraine.
There were dedications to each of the four branches of the military. This is the Army's.
The Governor's reception, and the seal in the carpet in the room.
The portrait of Washington in the first image above is suuposedly the basis for his image on the US currency.
The ceiling.
The balcony, with a view of the foggy city beyond, was off limits today, but here is what it looks like through
the closed door. The brown building to the right is the mall where we parked.
Some of the architecture in the room.
There was a locker in one corner of the room with some artifacts relating to Iwo Jima in it.
The flag was flown at Iwo Jima on Veteran's Day in 1994.
The base of a floor lamp.
We continued across the first floor, and back to the Senate.
Here is the senate president's seat from the floor.
A close-up of the Senate clock.
We were at the seal in the center of the capitol.
Looking up at the dome - though I couldn't get exactly straight up because the seal was roped off.
The four core tenets - Education, Justice, Commerce, and Literature - in the four corners below the dome.
We were taken into the Charter Room - it has the original state constitution from 1663.
Two of the three cases didn't have working lighting, so it was REALLY difficult to get a good picture.
Our formal tour was over.
Near the Charter Room was the Gift Shop. It was initially closed, but Nick called someone and she let us in.
We then got our stamp.
The selection was rather sparce, but the woman working there told us about Ocean State Souvenirs where we should be able
to pick up a shot glass. We made a note of it and its location.
I do NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, make it a habit of taking pictures in bathrooms. But looking at this one, well,
I pretty much had to because I had never really seen one like this before. Linda described the ladies room similarly.
Before departing, we did a little more walking around.
Here is an ornamental wall sconce.
And an original, 1200 pound canon from Gettysburg, from the Revolutionary War.
A collection of flags from the war (perhaps replicas, based on the text at the top of the display case).
We were done inside, and headed back outside and to our car. Parked at the mall. The mall...
Here is the other side of the capitol.
And the capitol from an angle.
And some rain kissed flowers near the capitol.
We thought we'd see if there was anywhere in the mall that might have souvenirs.
So we went inside. It was a big, multi-story mall.
A couple curiosities:
1) The escalators for the garage were perpendicular to the escalators for the rest of the mall.
2) I am not an escalator expert, but it makes sense that when a down escalator stops, the next down should be right next
to it. Not here, one has to walk all the way around to get to the other down.
This walkway connected the mall to an adjacent hotel. It traverses six lanes of roadway.
A funky-looking staircase near the walkway.
We wound up going outside - and into the rain - to get to the CVS. They had, literally, one or two souvenirs, but
that was it. A customer mentioned the Ocean State shop also.
An employee told us about an elevator that was sort of out of the way, in order to get back into the mall.
Overall, we spent about an hour walking around the mall, including some time we spent in the food court Googling a
place to eat (yes, ironic, isn't it?!!?)
We already had a location picked out, and it happened to be near our next destination, so we just decided to go there.
All in all, we were parked for nearly four hours - and it only cost $2.
We left the garage and headed out to "downtown".
On the way to our lunch stop, we passed this monument.
We found the restaurant, and the mueseum we were headed to after lunch. We circled the block or five looking for a
parking space. We eventually found a space that may or may not have been located on a street that may or may not
have had a "Permit Only" sign. When I got out of the car, I saw that the car behind us had a violation on the windshield
so we were fairly confident that we may or may not get a violation ourselves...
Our stop for lunch was Harry's Burgers.
Our server's name was Jen. She asked if we had been there before, of course we hadn't, so she told us the low down.
Each meal is a double-slider deal, and fries aren't included.
Linda ordered Harry's Classic Cheese.
I ordered the Double Wide, it's Harry's Classic Cheese with double the meat and cheese.
And we shared a Sweet Fifty-Fifty, which is half sweet potato fries (hence the "sweet"), and half onion strings.
Linda asked for a little more onion strings than fries since I'd be eating more than her. And they obliged.
They were served with Kryptonite Aeoli (for the fries) and Chipotle some-or-other dipping sauces.
On the way to our next stop, we spied this marker in the sidewalk.
As also seen at the capitol, Providence has an anchor on its seal, and elsewhere, because the sea is so important
to its commerce. And it is also called the Ocean State, so there's that too.
Next up was the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum.
There were a LOT of items on display, and the facility was a LOT larger than we expected it to be.
We arrived, paid our entry fee, and proceeded to the third floor - there were six in all.
Some of the art / artwork was... not quite our style. So though we looked at it, it didn't pique our interest much.
Here are the highlights [to us] with commentary.
A ladies writing table and chair, manufactured by Gorham Manufacturing, using more than 10,000 hours of labor, 47.5 pounds
of silver, and a panoply of exotic materials.
An unusual pendant.
Road Hole, different mediums on a blanket, dipicts an aerial view of city street.
Pink Spirea by Georgia O'Keeffe.
Still Life With Lemons by Henri Matisse.
Map Seller and Two Children, ~1775, porcelain wtih enamels and glaze.
Putto Holding a Globe, 1745-1750, porcelain with enamels, glaza, and gilding.
Teapot from 1735-1737, porcelain with enamels, glaza, and gilding.
Name not captured. Picking Apples?
St. Paul Preaching at Athens. William Blake, 1803, pen and ink, watercolor, black chalk with wet brush.
A little less than halfway through the museum, we came upon the museum's cafe. So we split a coffee since we
hadn't had any yet this day - just a bagel, and lunch.
We sat for a few minutes with our beverage, and chatted. Then it was back to the exhibits.
The Hand of God (front and back), Auguste Rodin, 1917.
Grand Arabesque, Second Time, Edgar Degas, 191-1922.
There were a hole bunch of paintings, some by easily recognizeable names, that were just hanging on the wall. There was
no barrier, covering, or sheild whatsoever - so one could get up nice and close. A couple had plexiglass on them, but
we were told that was because those were loaned out, were returned, but the covering hadn't been taken off yet.
Young Woman Reading an Illustrated Journal, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ~1880.
Still Life with Apples, Paul Cézanne, ~1878.
La Savoisienne, Edgar Degas, ~1860.
Ladies of the Chariots, James Jacques and Joseph Tissot, 1883-1885.
A Walk in the Meadows at Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1873.
The Basin at Argenteuil, Clause Monet, 1874.
Square at La Trinité, Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1875.
View of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh, 1890.
The Seine at Giverny, Claude Monet, 1885.
Chestnut Trees and Farm at Jas de Bouffan, Paul Cézanne, 1886.
Busagny Farm, Onsy, Paul Gauguin, 1883.
On the Banks of a River, Paul Cézanne, ~1904-1905.
The Green Pumpkin, Henri Matisse, ~1916.
Seated Woman with a Book, Pablo Picasso, 1910.
We progressed to the Roman wing.
"Fragmentary sarcophagus front and lid depicting The Slaughter of the Niobids", end of the 2nd century CE.
Only the fronts of the sarcophagus's lid and chest survive, together they show the slaughter of Niobe's children by the
gods Apollo and Diana.
Sarcophagus.
This piece, partially restored, has some of the work NOT color matched on purpose - this was to help show what was original.
This is one of only a few sarcophagi bearing scenes of the Trojan War, including a scene on the left of the Greek hero
Achilles fighting the bearded Trojan prince Hector, and another on the right of Achilles dragging Hector's dead body
around the walls of Troy, while Athena, Hector's father King Priam, and Andromache look on.
An Egyptian vase.
The Crucified Christ, Spanish, ~1150-1200.
Originally attached to a large cross and hung in a church. There are traces of color indicating it may have been painted at one time.
Diptych with scenes of the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment, French, ~1275-1325.
Birth Tray (Desco da Parto) Depicting the Birth of the Virgin, Italian, ~1430.
Micromosaic Tabletop with Nine Views of Rome, Italian, ~1830-1850.
Depicted are: the Pantheon, Tomb of Cecilia Metella, Temple of Veste, Forum, Colosseum, Arch of Titus, Castel Sant'Angelo,
and Capitoline Hill, with St. Peter's Bascilica in the center. Each image is made from very thin rods of brightly colored
glass cut into tiny pieces and densely arranged, with as many as 1,400 pieces per inch.
The entire piece, and some close-ups showing the detail.
A full gallery. This is NOT the room where the well-known named paintings were above - those were in a couple smaller
rooms. This is just another large gallery room.
On to the Egyptian wing.
Coffin Containing the Mummy of Nesmin, ~250 BCE.
And lastly, the Asian wing.
A couple familiar-looking (to us) works.
The very last artifact that we took a picture of was this Buddha Mahavairocana, ~1150-1200.
This is the largest wooden Japanese scultpure in the United States, carved out of 11 pieces of wood.
It is signifivantly larger than it may appear in the picture - it was about ten - TEN - feet tall.
We are all done at the RISD. We fortunately spent FAR more time at the museum than we thought we would.
We returned to the car to find - NO TICKET! Yay for us.
Across the lawn of the church we parked next to was this unusually looking Tudar, that, due tp the figures toward
the top, are probably the rectory / pastor's house / resident of the religious leader.
We hopped on i95 to head down to Warwick, where the sourvenir shop is. We usually liked taking the back roads between
destinations, but in this case, since this wasn't part of our planned route, we took i95 in order to get it over with
sooner rather than later.
We found the store about a half-hour before their scheduled closing. We picked up any shot glasses we needed, or thought
we needed - Rhode Island, another New Hampshire and another Vermont (having a list, and looking at the list are two
different things) - a couple postcards, and another item or two - and were back on our way.
We took 295 to Route 6 - 6 being a back road - and 6 all the way to Hartford.
We passed this Reservoir in Scituate, RI.
A little further down the road, we entered Connecticut. The phone was focusing on the dashboard. Again. But
the sign is still rather legible.
It was not time for dinner.
While checking in at
HomeSpring Inn & Suites,
I found out where the nearest supermarket was.
We drove the mile-or-so down the road to Stop & Shop, and picked up a chef salad, a nice and squishy roll, and... right, wine.
No picture. We also picked up some bagels for breakfast as this was another hotel that was not serving due to COVID.
We returned to the room, unpacked, and ate our dinner.
After eating, we watched a little TV, washed up, and went to sleep.
Fun fact: Rhode Island shares a water border with New York (because of Long Island - I guess the island really is long...)