Providence
is a city that specializes in throwing festivals.Every third Thursday of the month (except in
December), the many galleries in the city are open, and you can stroll around
or catch a free “Art Bus” to the ones that are a little further afield.May to October, the three rivers through the
city are home to WaterFire, an evening celebration where (contained) fires light
the water, and music enlivens the atmosphere.For an extra treat, you can take a gondola ride on the river.
Providence
has Brown University, but two other schools make
this city appealing to visitors.Rhode
Island School of Design has the RISD
Museum, with a huge
costume collection that children love.The museum also has decorative arts, from furniture to silver, and
Egyptian mummies.On the last Saturday
of each month, there are free workshops, performance and gallery tours for
families.If souvenir shopping is your
thing, the faculty and alumni of RISD have a combination gallery/store,
RISDworks, where you can be further inspired by design elements.
Johnson & Wales University
houses the Culinary Archives & Museum, a must-see for families.Providence
is home to the first lunch wagon, a diner on wheels, and an exhibit celebrates
the great American eating establishment.Kids can play in a faux diner, taking orders and studying diner lingo.There is also an exhibit, ‘On Safari’, where
kids can ‘cook’ over a fake fire, and play in a tent.
Many Johnson &
Wales graduates stay in the city, making dining out a deliciously complicated
choice.Federal Hill has a number of
Italian restaurants, a candy company where you can get fresh homemade
chocolates, and a large piazza where there is music on warm evenings.
The Providence
Children’s Museum is not affiliated with any of the city’s universities, but it
is a great place to learn more about Rhode
Island.At the
new Rhode Island Story Center,
kids can learn about migration to the state.There is also a new Dominican market that focuses on Latinos in the
1960s; it offers a jukebox and vintage games.
One of the oldest
zoos in the country, Roger Williams Park Zoo, has an antique carousel, pony
rides, paddle boats, and miniature golf in the surrounding park.You can follow the Marco Polo Silk Road with
rare animals from the explorer’s journeys, and see animals from the Madagascar
rainforest.
Getting to Providence is extremely
easy — it takes just three hours on the I-95, or by Amtrak.From the train station, you can walk to The
Westin Providence, which is also connected to Providence Place, a huge shopping and
dining emporium that also boasts an IMAX theater.The Marriott Providence has indoor and
outdoor pools, and daily activities including pool games, sand art and a
chocolate fountain.
For more info:
—Gallery Night Providence,
www.gallerynight.info
—RISD
Museum, www.risd.edu/museum
—Culinary Archives & Museum, (401) 598-2805;
www.culinary.org
—Providence Children’s Museum. (401) 273-KIDS; www.childrenmuseum.org
—Roger Williams Park Zoo, www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org
—Westin Providence www.westin.com/providence
—Marriott Providence, www.marriottprovidence.com
