spring break vacation, Day 4

Day 4, wherein we visit libraries....

Up first that day, Cranston Public Library. 

We arranged with Ed to drop in on him in at the central library in his city.  The library - and Cranston - were not at all what I had expected.  You think Rhode Island, you think New England, you think lovely old buildings in quaint downtowns, right?  But from Ed told us, Cranston doesn't really have the quaintness.  It has parts that are old and quaint, but there is no real downtown.  The central library is an 80s box that sits near shopping plazas, across a busy street from a Whole Foods.  That doesn't make it a bad library by any stretch.  No, it was a well laid-out facility that was seeing a nice amount of use on a sunny morning.  Ed showed us around, introduced us to members of his team, answered our questions.  I followed in the footsteps (or the bum prints?) of past visitors. 

And then he sent us on our way to see one of the older library buildings in his system, the William H. Hall Free Library.  A fine building, but closed that day because of some work being done.  Still, we got to admire it and snap some photos,

and that made for a nice little stop before heading back into Providence for lunch.

We had plans to visit Jack at his library that afternoon, but they weren't until a little later.  Before heading to the hotel to let Conrad grab a nap, we stopped at the Rhode Island State House, walking around the outside

and spending several minutes inside. 

From the outside, it's a grand building, but the inside felt interestingly close and intimate.  Rather like the state, I suppose.  That short visit left us wondering how many state capitols we've visited, at least on the outside, and I realized I have been to far fewer state capital cities than I might have guessed.  From what I can recall, I have either seen from outside or visited the inside of the capitols of the following states:  Hawaii, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Massachusetts, Vermont, Idaho, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Colorado.  I think that's it.  I have been to Columbus but not seen the Ohio State capitol.  The same goes for Atlanta and Georgia and for Indianapolis and Indiana.  I have flown into and out of Raleigh's airport but never visited the city itself.  I lived in Illinois for a dozen years and never went to the state capital.  Wow.

The afternoon library visit was to Providence Public Library.  Providence has an interesting set-up whereby the central Providence Public Library is an entity now (mostly if not entirely) divorced from the city and the branches of the public library are now the City Libraries of Providence.  I'd be curious about that history.  Jack happily showed around his facility,

which is an interesting building in that it has sections from very different eras.  Harmonizing the spaces as well as ensuring that the older parts are in good condition has been one of the challenges of Jack's leadership there.  But it was interesting to see it.  He led us through the place, point out various features. 

Conrad and I bought a few souvenirs, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap of my own.

I think that day of the vacation was the coldest one we encountered.  I wore the big coat

for heading down to Narragansett for dinner with Ed and Denice. 

Our farthest drive yet in Rhode Island, and I wish we'd allowed at least a few minutes more to enjoy the seashore

and see what we could see of The Towers,

like the tennis hall of fame another old casino (and here I should state that casino as was used back then meant a place for entertainment, not a place for gambling), before meeting them at Celeste.  Ah well.  More reasons for another trip east one day.

We had a good dinner together.  Fresh seafood (flounder for me)

and good company.  Ed and Denice will be this way in August, so I will have dinner with them again, I hope!  We had a lovely evening of it before the drive back to Providence.  I again didn't drink because I was driving, so when we got back to the hotel, we decided to stop at the bar for a drink.  A martini, but served in a white wine glass because they simply didn't have enough martini glasses on hand. 

It was kind of hilarious and a little awful, and I sipped half of it and decided that was fine for the night.  Off to bed - the next day we were hitting the road! 

spring break vacation, Day 3

Ready for a post chock full of photos?  No?  Yes?  No matter.  Here we go.

It was a cloudy Monday morning, some breaks of blue showing through, breezy and not too warm out.  Conrad and I set out on a walk around town after breakfast.  Past old buildings in the downtown core,

through the grounds of Johnson and Wales University,

stopping to admire some more of the murals and such around town. 

What's that?  A Conrad Building? 

Of course we took a photo. 

All in all, it was a couple of miles on foot, a nice bit of exercise before hitting the road south.

The better part of that Monday was spent in Newport.  Ah yes, the town known for its magnificent mansions along the sea.  As with so many things in our experience of Rhode Island, it wasn't all that far to drive.  We were there shortly before our lunch reservation, so we took a few minutes to walk around and grab a photo or two. 

That was about it, though.  I'm sure that there are many shops both cool and quaint, but we didn't allow ourselves the time to browse.  Instead, we were the first to be seated in the Midtown Oyster Bar for small bite of lunch. 

Corn and lobster chowder for me,

clam chowder for Conrad, and a couple of raw tuna tacos to share. 

That sated us nicely, setting us up for the afternoon of being tourists.

The trip to New England was designed so that I could see friends and their libraries.  And yes, it served the purpose of checking off a couple more states on my list to visit.  But one thing I really wanted to get to was the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

It's long been a place I wanted to see, and I have to say, it didn't disappoint.  First off, the grounds are wonderful.  The museum is at the site of the old casino in Newport, a gorgeous, shingled complex that includes lawn tennis courts and more.  The grass was lush and green, the sky was mostly blue, and there were three other people in total visiting the grounds while we were. 

Unobstructed views!  That was a delight.  And if I liked that experience, well, inside the museum it got even better.  I think Conrad and I saw all of two other people inside, and they both worked there.  In short, we had the place to ourselves.  That was so great.  Wandering past the various (and very well done) displays,

the luxury of reading, of moving around, of not hearing other people's commentaries and such.  I don't think we could have had a better experience at the museum.  I can't possibly ever go back because I know I'm not going to have it as good as I did last week.  A highlight of the trip outside of seeing my friends.

The second half of the afternoon was spent over where the mansions are, mostly visiting the old Vanderbilt summer home (no, I am not joking, it really was), The Breakers. 

A recommendation from a local friend (Peter, whom you will meet shortly), but a site Conrad knew of as well.  We had booked tickets for mid-afternoon, and - arriving a little early - we enjoyed the grounds briefly before heading indoors. 

There were other visitors to the grand old home, but not so many that we couldn't easily enjoy the place and take all the photos we cared to.  It really is a fantastic place, so much marble and ornamentation and more. 

Lovely.  But just imagine living there!  It's hard to even conceive of.

The home tour done, we popped over to the Forty Steps to enjoy the view,

then on to a Starbucks for a warm beverage.  We essentially stayed there until it was time to meet Prue and Peter for dinner nearby.

Prue and Peter are a such a lovely couple. 

They were part of the library tour in Ireland I was on a couple of years ago, and I always enjoyed their company.  I had not realized that Rhode Island is truly so very small, so I asked them for an early dinner so as not to be driving back too late.  As such, we met at 5:30 at The Mooring with every intention of finishing at a reasonable time.  I suppose if we hadn't spent almost an hour of chatting before ordering, we might have had a chance of that!  Mind you, and sorry to say, the restaurant was slow at getting food out.  The food was fine (oysters, but no one told us which were which; a roasted cod dish for me; tuna for Conrad; a tasty and large biscuit with a honey glaze to share),

but thank goodness the company was terrific because my gosh, the service dragged out.  I think we finished at about 8:30-9:00, and that was without dessert.  Ah well.  It was a nice time nonetheless.

I didn't drink with dinner other than one non-alcohol beer, so I drove us back to Providence with Conrad navigating us through an unexpected detour (wow, there is a lot of roadwork going on in Rhode Island!).  We got back to the hotel, wound down, and headed to bed.  One more full day in Rhode Island lay ahead!