Tuesday, August 9, 2011

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!)

2 comments:

Amy said...

Oh I'm so envious and in awe of that part of the country. That stuff like that actually exists. Hard to believe it when everything here is brown, dry, and boring. Nothing lush or green or charming or quaint or pretty to look at. Okay, I'm being harsh on good ol' Tucson. But seriously, your pics are so pretty and fun to look at. A sight for sore southwest eyes!

Sarah Lambson said...

This makes me really miss Rhode Island and really sad that I didn't try harder to meet you out there. You went to almost all my favorite places! (I would have also gone south and stopped at Trustom Pond and The Umbrella Factory).