New England Trek, Part III: Pieces of Rhode Island

Rhode Island: The smallest state of the Union- small enough that if I were to drive in one big circle around the state, it would probably take me no more than 2-3 hours. (Of course, keep in mind that math- including estimation- has not been my strong suit for many years...)

My primary purpose in spending a day/afternoon here was to check out one of my choices for grad school: the University of Rhode Island.

(Here are a couple of shots of the campus- above, the Student Union; below, the tree-lined Quad, not unlike the one at MU in CoMo)

My impressions of the school/campus: It is a small school, which is part of its appeal. The campus was likewise small and intimate. Despite the overcast, drizzly weather, I thought the campus was lovely and quaint. I had a nice visit with one of the head professors/advisors of the MLIS program.

The problem: URI has so many hoops they expect you to jump through to be able to attend as a resident (and, not surprisingly, the non-resident tuition is ridiculously high...). Thus, while I did enjoy the brief visit, it did not rise to the top of my list like I had thought it might... Oh, well.

Since I was in RI anyway, Sarah recommended a couple of places worth the time to visit.

Mew's Tavern/Pub, where I enjoyed some delicious garlic bread and pizza,
while sitting by this:

(Okay, in case you can't tell, it is a tree growing inside the tavern, heavily decorated in paint and signatures and lit with Christmas lights... I think I was pretty lucky to get a seat by such a popular icon of the restaurant!)

After lunch, even though I was stuffed, I stopped here and got ice cream-

(Because, let's face it- there's ALWAYS room for ice cream!!!)

And then, because Newport is such a historic/famous town, I drove a little out of the way- and paid yet another toll- to check out the town.

Here is the famous and beautiful Trinity Church- very picturesque and used often in pictures of Newport. (In fact, it was a picture of this church that first made me want to see Newport someday.)

Some charming spots in downtown Newport- I especially love the quintessential New England architecture.


A view of the harbor- filled with boats of varying sizes, of course!

Unfortunately, since I was trying to make it to Maine before it got too late, I wasn't able to take any tours of the famously beautiful mansions built in the town and along the cliff by the harbor. I sadly did not have time to walk the Cliff Walk, either, in the hopes of viewing these stunning homes from afar. But I did drive along the cliff, and though I couldn't drive as slowly as I might have wanted, there were a couple of nice lookout spots that gave one a nice view of the Atlantic. So, here is what little I can offer you of Newport's Cliff Walk:

If only I'd had more time. But of the time I had, I felt it was well spent.

(Next week: Maine!)