Sunday morning we indulged ourselves in a two-hour shopping rush at the Merrimack Premium Outlets closeby Manchester. Since there is no sales tax in New Hampshire we got good deals at Levi's, Jockey, Under Armour and GAP and were happy. On we drove then through the Blackstone River Valley - wanted to check out what's offered there - and, though there are many old industrial structures, signage and "real sights" are pretty rare and route wasn't too exciting neither. Now we know.
Providence, the capital of and the largest city in Rhode Island (180,000 people), was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the English Massachusetts Bay Colony. Providence became famous for its textile manufacturing and machine tools, today's key industries are hospitals and universities.
Flagship is Brown University, founded in 1764, a member of the Ivy League, highly recognized and very selective. On the main campus in the College Hill Historic District, passing by the Atheneum (*1753), a historic library (pic), we watched part of the graduation celebration, saw some of the illustrious high society - consisting of many Asians - young people celebrating their degree in the traditional dark gowns and big hats together with their proud families. The academic year (one year!) at this school costs about $ 68.000 including room and board. Wondering, who can afford to study here... not us, that's for sure.
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is another well-renowned institution in town, occupying several buildings. The RISD Museum, which we visited, houses about 100,000 objects, ranging from ancient art to work by contemporary artists and designers from all over the world. The collection is spread out in different buildings, partly modern, partly historic. The first public galleries were created in 1893 in the Waterman Building and it was added on to that.
We explored downtown, with a nice promenade along the Providence River, and would have loved to stay in town overnight, but due to graduation celebrations on this day, we were moved south, to the coast of Rhode Island, in South County Rhode Island, about one hour driving time from Providence. Before arriving there, we had dinner planned in East Greenwich and this was a one-of-a-time experience!
At Red Stripe Restaurant we not only met the raising executive chef, Rachel Klein, but also got the royal treatment: four different appetizers - crispy artichokes were our fav - followed by four entrées - bouillabaisse was to die for, salmon and cod shined with unique sauces and sides and ribs at the end were terrific, too - finished by two desserts and paired with great wines, what else could we have wished?
... perhaps a doggy bag (we were stuffed at the end!) and not to have to drive another 35 minutes to our B&B which, on the other hand side, showed to be a unique place. In the Admiral Dewey Inn, located closeby the beach, owner Lev, of Lebanese origin, welcomed us warmly, room was spacious, beer was cold and owner and guests were really good company. Only after 9 pm we finally retired (to work some more in our room), tired to the bones.
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