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!
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