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Rhode Island —

The Littlest State with Oodles to See

Just an easy ferry ride away from Long Island, but a distant shore nonetheless! Rhode Island, nicknamed the Ocean State, with Hope as its motto, is a study in contrasts. It’s not an island, despite its name, but it does have around 400 miles of coastline. 

Quaint and understated in places; Rhode Island is also home to the uber rich, with extravagant and ostentatious mansions. Its rivers come to life in a fire and water display like no other!

 

Visits to three key cities that are as different from each other as possible demonstrate "Little Rhody's" diversity! 

Providence

In 1636 when Roger Williams, banned from the Massachusetts Bay Colony due to his religious beliefs, established a settlement he called Providence. The name reflected his belief that God had saved him from prosecution in Massachusetts. In 1644 he was granted a charter by the British Parliament, bringing Providence and other area settlements founded by fellow religious dissidents, together as an official British colony.

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Williams acquired land from the Narragansett Indian tribe, at a cove where small rivers converged. With easy access to and from the settlement by water via Narragansett Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, Providence became a major New World seaport. As the city grew over time, the cove disappeared to make way for business, and the rivers were diverted underground. In the late 1980s, a $40-million waterfront renewal project got underway and long-buried rivers were excavated and rerouted to wind gracefully through the heart of the city. Throughout the summer, and into the fall, these waterways burst into life with 100 bonfires in a spectacular event called WaterFire.

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Downcity is the city's historic center. Filled with beautifully restored turn-of-the-century commercial buildings and the richest concentration of arts and culture in the city. Public art is visible in many forms, from colorful sculptures to larger-than-life murals.

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Little Providence is also home to a plethora of colleges: A favorite of mine in Downcity is business and culinary arts staple, the famed culinary school, Johnson & Wales University. Among other famous colleges are Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Click on the pictures above for a closer look at Providence sights.

Bristol

Along the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, about half-way between Providence south to the better known town of Newport is Bristol. Here the main road, Hope Street, is lined still with homes and churches dating back to the 1700s. The town prides itself on being designated a “Distinctive Destination” in the US by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which declared it the “quintessential New England waterfront town.” Another moniker it proudly bears is “the Most Patriotic Town,” and its patriotism is on full view for visitors – the typical double yellow street lane dividers in the picturesque town are instead painted red/white and blue. Bristol boasts being home to the country’s oldest 4th of July parade, which it started hosting back in 1785.

Map of Cape Ann

Click on the pictures above for a closer look.

Along the shoreline of Bristol are some truly beautiful scenes: Colt State Park with its graceful stone bridge; the absolutely stunning Blithewold estate, with its 45-room mansion fully furnished as it was when last owner Marjorie Van Wickle Lyon died in 1976, and of course the graceful boats bobbing on Narragansett Bay.

Newport

Newport, on the Naragansett's largest island, Aquidneck has been a draw for the rich and famous for ages; they’ve flocked here since the mid 19th century to build “summer cottages” – their term – ours would be supersized mansions. Showing off their wealth often came in the form of imitating – yet outdoing – old world European moneyed estates.

While many of these McMansions are still privately owned, some by inherited money; some by new – several are part of the Preservation Society of Newport County and open to the public. The exteriors can be viewed for free by hiking along the Cliff Walk. Along the path, paved in some places while rough in others, passes through 64 private properties along a 3 ½ mile long National Recreation Trail. 

Click on the pictures above for bigger views.

For more details about the 13th of the original 13 states to join the Union, check out my video or in--person presentation through your local library or community center. For a listing of programs and places I'll be, check my Programs page.

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