Weekend in Rhode Island: Providence

Rarely have I received such bank for my buck as I did this past weekend in Rhode Island.

I'm not talking money, although everything was pretty cheap. From our $60/night hotel room (thanks, Priceline!) to our $4.75 22-ounce beers, I could never complain. But really I'm talking about how little effort I put into the getaway compared to how much I got in return.

We decided to take advantage of the three-day weekend only last Tuesday, hurriedly booked a room and spent two nights "planning" the vacation. And by planning, I mean that I chose a couple of brunch spots, and Paul picked out where to have a few evening drinks.

That's it.

Our base was Providence, the capitol. The city has fewer than 200,000 residents, and I was happily surprised that the downtown area was so lively and active. The Providence River cuts the city in two, with downtown proper on one side and Brown University on the other. Riverside restaurants were full after the sun went down, and we certainly weren't the only ones taking an evening stroll along the water.

Providence wasn't impressive so much for its tall buildings, but for the way it mingled modern architecture with historic structures. The city had an excellent designer: It seemed that down every street you could see an old-timey steeple, monument or building. There was a surprise at every turn, like:

The Statehouse

Signs

Views

Reflections

We spent all day Saturday and then Sunday evening exploring Providence by foot, even catching the fireworks from afar, on one of the city's several bridges.

We spent Saturday and Sunday evening at two microbreweries within walking distance of our hotel. We were quite amused at the chalkboard at Union Station Brewery. If the beer would've been holding another beer instead of a drink with an umbrella, would it have been cannibalism?

The location of our hotel couldn't have been more convenient, but the view certainly could have been better-- we couldn't see much more than another wall of the same building. All was forgiven, however, when I saw that we had been assigned to a handicapped room. I think the bathroom was bigger than our entire apartment.

Providence was pleasant, but I feel like I saw all that I wanted to in about 10 hours. Next stop: Newport. But first, more of Providence ...

Chinatown's Charming Fire Escapes

Courtesy of my cousin, Emily K.

Most New York City tourists keep their eye on the sky. Whether it's midtown's skyscrapers or Times Square's neon lights, all heads are tilted up, up, up.

Not so in Chinatown. Everything to see is much closer to the ground. Live fish flopping for their lives in bodegas. Hawkers setting out their fake purses on crowded sidewalks. Food carts whipping up some unknown concoction that smells terrific.

There's so much to see so low, that maybe I just never realized that Chinatown's buildings have more than one story. At least, that's my excuse for never having noticed some of the neighborhood's elaborate fire escapes.

Yes, fire escapes.

I was shocked when I first saw them. Some of them even look charming enough to be balconies.

Made me think: If you have to escape a four-alarm fire anyway, you might as well do it in style.

Wall Street on the Weekend

Showing my family Wall Street was a little like giving them a tour of our apartment, only more exciting. After all, I spend the majority of my waking weekday hours in the Financial District, and I think I know it pretty well. I must look like I know it pretty well, too -- a few weeks ago I was standing outside of the stairs to my subway tapping out a message on my phone, and three different people approached me with questions.

In any case, no visit to Lower Manhattan is complete without a look at the New York Stock Exchange. Sorry, no tours since 9/11, but it's still a sight to see.


We were there on a Sunday afternoon. Dozens of people milled around Wall Street's pedestrian-only zone, but it was a far cry from the weekday crowds of tour groups and school trips. You can probably find Paul in the photo below; on, say, a Monday afternoon it would have been much more difficult.


Paul is regularly in the area for work meetings, but both he and I discovered something new on this trip: the four-story J.P. Morgan Building, once the home of J.P. Morgan & Co. It doesn't look so grand now. It's actually empty and rather drab. It didn't even occur to me to take a picture of it. In any case, the photo on Wikipedia makes the building look nicer than I remember it in person.

Reason #523 that I love New York: You can learn something new, even a hundred visits later.