Providence is both the capital and largest city in Rhode Island. Of course, that doesn't say a lot as the entire state can be traversed in a mere 45 minutes. It's also called the Ocean State, as you can see why below.
| The teeniest state |
Apparently Providence later on acquired quite the Italian population, and back in the not-so-distant future, the city was actually run by the Patriarca crime family, aka the mafia. Since 1990 this activity has settled down, mostly due to police arresting the majority of the family, but many Rhode Islanders we met still believe they operate quietly behind the scenes.
Since mafia times, Providence has undergone quite the Renaissance, if you will. They wanted to create a better image for themselves and have really developed their arts scene and their downtown. A big part of what makes them a thriving city, I think, is that they have 3 major institutions in the city's borders: Brown University, Johnson and Wales (a college and culinary institute whose chefs like to stay in town and start awesome restaurants), and a very famous art school called RISD.
Now, on to our journey. We flew out of Pensacola with a layover in ATL. All things went perfectly with our flights, and we landed in Providence with time to spare. I just have to add that while we were consuming lunch in the ATL airport, we sat next to a middle-aged man dressed as an almost-convincing woman. I couldn't help but stare as he applied his lipstick after the meal. Anyway, once we safely landed in Providence, we went straight to the rental car counter. There, the service rep tried to scare us two Southerners with the threat of snow and convince us to rent an expensive 4-wheel drive. Since only a dusting was predicted, we rented a sweet Kia instead and felt pretty smart for avoiding his scare tactics. We took off in the Kia, found our hotel, and then headed to the College Hill neighborhood (where Brown is) to meet some of the residents there for dinner. As we drove we got to appreciate some of the colonial architecture and pretty older homes in the neighborhoods we passed.
| Most of these old homes have been turned into single-floor apartments |
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| Love! |
Dinner was nice, and we got to meet the owner of the Italian restaurant ... an older gentlemen with a bit of a potbelly, some gold rings, and a super fancy cane. I fancied that he may have been a retired member of the Patriarca family with a passion for cooking ... who knows?!
As we left the restaurant the temperature was in the upper 20's and we started to see some snowflakes falling!! We went back to the hotel so I could rest up for interview day, and when the morning alarm sounded I ran to the window to find all the cars covered in 2 inches of snow! A bit concerned that we would be driving 20 minutes to the hospital in these horrid northern conditions in our newly rented Kia, Stuart and I trudged outside. While Stuart was being the gentleman he is and scraping the snow off the car with his ARMS(!!), I seriously considered skipping the interview to play in the snow. After all, we're used to seeing snow and having it disappear an hour later. But I made the right decision and we decided to brave the drive for the interview.
Once we found the hospital and Stu dropped me off, I was excitedly greeted by one of the residents. He was so happy I had made it to the interview because he was considered we two Alabamians couldn't drive in the snow! How nice - and also hilarious! Then, while on my best Southern-accent-minding behavior, I met another applicant from New York who laughed and said, "I've never met anyone that talks like you." But no worries, the interview day actually went really well and I had a great time!
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| Stu being a gentleman. We later found an ice scraper in the car. Also note the New York tag which we thought was hilarious. |
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| Not your normal interview day! Also, leggings under the suit? Smartest decision I've ever made. |
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| Yes, 27 degrees. With snow. And drivers going too fast! |
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| Drive up to the hospital - how pretty! |
After the interview was over, Stuart and I had a few hours to kill before our dinner reservations. We decided to drive about 40 minutes to a town called Newport, RI. Newport is a gorgeous coastal town that's pretty touristy. There are cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks, hinting to the fact that there are some fancy-pants people that live here. For instance, the Vanderbilt and Biltmore families had their summer homes here. These summer homes looked like the average gulf coast summer home. NOT!
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| Vanderbilt's summer home |
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| This was a strange sight to see. |
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| My first rocky beach |
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| Um, freezing |
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| View of the cliff walk, with one of those mansions in the background |
After our excursion we headed back to the hotel to warm up a bit, then drove back to Providence to eat at a restaurant called Chez Pascal. I do quite a bit of restaurant research before we travel, and I must say this place did not disappoint! They had a special for 3 courses for $30, which really can't be beat! They describe themselves as a restaurant that is French-influenced and New England grown. I kind of wish I was "that girl" that took pictures of her food, but I am not. So I have to tell you in words: I had a squash chowder with a goat cheese stuffed pastry to start, followed by seared scallops with chard and a citrus compote, then a pear upside down cake with cinnamon ice cream to finish. Stuart started out with a squid salad, then moved on to a skirt steak on potatoes with a fig sauce, then of course had the chocolate cheesecake to finish. It. Was. Delicious.
Enough food for now. With rumors of more snow circulating about, Stuart and I headed back to the hotel and went to bed. We woke up in the morning and, friends - let me tell you, the snow had begun! The snow was falling, blowing sideways, and flying into our hotel windows! Snowplows were outside (I had never seen those before!) trying their best to keep the roadways clear, but snow just kept piling up behind them. We turned on the TV to discover a new term: parking bans. Apparently in the snow on busy streets in towns, you are not allowed to park so that the snowplows don't run over your car. Weird! So we went downstairs to talk to the concierge to figure out how exactly we could explore downtown and not get our rental kia plowed over. So with her advice, we drove (very slowly, Mom, don't freak out) down the interstate to downtown Providence. We specifically went back to the College Hill neighborhood to get a Brown souvenir for us and Stu's dad at the college bookstore.
Well, that was quite the adventure. Driving 35 miles an hour on the semi-plowed interstate. You really couldn't see lane lines, so we were basically following the car in front of us. All the while, our non-4-wheel drive Kia was making strange noises which I interpreted as "you crazy Southerners, why are you driving me in the snow?!" We finally made it downtown, found a legal place to park, and ran into the bookstore. The lady at the counter wanted to know where we were from as apparently only tourists came to the bookstore in the snow. We told her, and then she exclaimed how proud she was of us for being appropriately dressed for winter! I must say, that was a proud moment for me. Haha!
After we put our t-shirts in the car, we were getting hungry. A nearby restaurant called Red Stripe, recommended by one of the Brown faculty, was only a 10 minute walk away according to our iPhones. So, off we went. First, since apparently neither of us are good at reading maps, we went the wrong way and added an extra 5 minutes of snowy walking into our trip. Lessons learned from walking to the restaurant
- Sperry Topsiders and Nike tennis shoes are not good for walking in the snow. Your little toes will become very red and go numb.
- Women up north don't wear makeup for a reason. Snow makes mascara melt right down your face!
- If you have long hair, and snow gets in it, and there is some wind, your hair will freeze in strange and awful looking patterns.
- Snowplows have right-of-way over pedestrians.
- If you cross the street into a nice restaurant dodging snowplows with mushy shoes, runny mascara, and frozen hair, the smart people that drove to the restaurant will look at you like you just escaped from a mental institution.
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| Windshield, semi-scraped that morning |
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| Rhode Island interstate driving |
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| Normally, I think this street would be cuter, but this is where we parked |
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| Please note runny mascara and frozen chunk of hair on the right side which perfectly stayed in place after hat and scarf were removed. Stu, of course, looks adorable. |
So, lunch proved to be a bit more enjoyable than the walk, but we laughed about it during the entire meal. And, sorry, but I have to talk about food again. Stu had French Onion soup which was good, and I had tomato soup, which was good. But, I also had a grilled cheese sandwich with poached pears and basil which was mind-blowing.
After walking back to the car and my hair freezing yet again, we decided I would leave my Providence itinerary unfinished and just go back to the hotel and thaw out our socks on the heater. We took a long winter's nap and then headed out to Federal Hill (Italian part of town!) for some traditional Italian dining. Since boots are hard to pack in a carry-on bag, I toughed it out with high heels in the ice and snow. Yes, crazy. As I clip-clopped along, we passed a valet who said (accent spelled out), "High heels, huh?! That's haahd to do! Gahhd bless ya!" Again, a proud moment in my tourist life.
The restaurant we chose, Siena, was pretty delicious. However, everyone in the restaurant either looked Italian, or talked like they were Italian. And every male that had hair had his hair gelled up. Strange. I won't bore you with food details I find exciting, but note that I had the first mushroom dish I've ever enjoyed.
After dinner we drove back to the hotel and packed to fly out the next morning. I was a bit nervous about the whole plane on a snowy runway thing, but I guess these pilots have to be pretty experienced guys and the flight was perfect! We landed back in a 73 degree and humid Mobile which honestly felt like a rainforest after what we had just left from. We were a little bummed that we didn't get to do more exploring in the city due to all the snow, but we had a super fun adventure!
We had so much fun during all these interview travels, but it honestly got a bit exhausting. We're glad to be reunited with our pets and our house, even if it is 80 degrees outside.
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