“What cheer?”
- Motto of Providence, RI
At some point in my Rhode Island trip planning, it became possible that I’d visit Providence. I was somewhat upset that it took as long as it did for me to realize/remember that Providence is home to Brown and RISD. Was Brown to check off another Ivy League visit? Was RISD to appease Sharon Burian, who makes my headers and avatars? Nothing of the sort. I’m a huge fan of The OC and I wanted to see where Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen were to attend college. But Providence is much more than a city referenced in a long-cancelled show. It’s a strange sort of place that mixes a small town feel, a West Coast wannabe vibe and an up-and-coming city bravado.
John McCauley of Deer Tick
I was there during the 375th birthday of the Rhode Island capital. At the celebration at PPAC (pronounced ‘PEE-pack’, standing for Providence Performing Arts Center), the crowd celebrated through performance displays (apropos), including a set by Deer Tick (a band I’d that never heard of, but the crowd clearly had).
On the walk up to College Hill, I noticed that there was an Occupy Providence movement in the local park. I asked them what the biggest difference between them and Occupy Wall Street was. “We weren’t shut down and our police are nicer.”
Brown University
The Museum of Art at RISD is a must-see. If I were to pick one museum for someone to go to as a CliffsNotes experience, this would be it. The variety of eras and styles is curated so well. Not only are the pieces of interest, but the way they are housed is comparable to how I’ve seen them in much larger museums, just in a scaled-down sort of way.
RISD Museum of Art
I also had a chance to stop and eat at a hard-to-pin-down restaurant. I’m not even entirely sure what its name was. The Fez? The Red Fez? Either way, they’re on Peck St. Here’s their Yelp page. I’m not the only one singing their praises. A varied menu with spins on traditional items. Chicken wings and mac & cheese sound humdrum? Not how you get them there. And how many restaurants serve the aforementioned items as well as banh mi sandwiches? Providence in all of its quirkiness.
More pictures of my Providence trip available in my Providence Flickr set.
Tomorrow: My visit the the Newport Storm Brewery.
