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Continuing Last Year’s Quest To Get To Know Our Neighboring State Of Rhode Island

Last spring and summer, my husband, Jay, and I made a number of day trips to various parts of Rhode Island in our quest to get to know the “Ocean State” that borders MA. Since our focus was on some of the less-well-known and less-touristy parts of RI, we didn’t focus on, nor visit, Providence (even though we have visited RI’s capital city countless times for a variety of reasons and did drive by it or thru it on some of the day trips we blogged about last year). You can read these blog posts by visiting the first of our blog posts about RI and scrolling to the bottom of the post to access the second.

But, since Jay and I visited Providence last Saturday, and had a great time — as we always do in the capital city of Rhode Island — I’d be remiss, when singing the praises of this state that borders our home state of MA, if I didn’t share some of our favorite things about and places in Providence.

Fortunately, we were blessed with a nearly-80-degree day the day we visited, which made it a fabulous day to be walking around the City and enjoying all the sites, smells, and sounds, and those who follow this blog, know we love to walk!

This image shows a plaza like the ones you might see in Italy -- beautiful brick buildings that house various cafes and restaurants surround the plaza and there is a foundation in the middle it and the blog post's author's husband is sitting on the edge of the fountain.
The author’s husband Jay sitting at a fountain found in the middle of a large plaza (Depasquale Square) accessed via Atwells Avenue and Spruce Streets, Federal Hill, Providence

Providence: Our Favorite Places and Things

  • Federal Hill – what’s not to love about yummy Italian snacks, entrees and desserts and the friendly store owners who sell them? This past weekend we visited a couple of favorite “deli” type places on Atwells Avenue (the main drag in this Italian section of Providence where many businesses, particularly restaurants, are housed) which serve a large collection of Italian prepared and packaged food, including Constantino’s Venda Ravioli, and Tony’s Colonial Food. But, we also discovered Roma. The people at Roma were so friendly and happy, and the meatballs and roasted vegetables were so delicious, we’ll be back for both of these yummy food items!
  • Benefit Street/South Main Street/Brown University and RISD Area – if you want to get some great “hill work” in, walk up one of the many streets in the downtown area of Providence that lead to beautiful, historic Benefit Street (like we did on Saturday) to check out the wonderful old homes and buildings, plus properties owned by Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
  • Providence Bruins Arena/Amica Mutual Center – we enjoyed the lively, fast-paced, last-regular-season hockey game at this home of the Providence Bruins and the home team’s WIN against the Bridgeport Islanders. And, before the game, we ate dinner at Blake’s Tavern (great Irish pub feel and food was delicious – I got a grilled chicken and hummus wrap – and the waitstaff and hostess were very friendly and nice)
  • 195 Distinct Park – as explained on this new Providence park’s website, “195 District Park is a seven-acre waterfront park located on the east and west sides of the Providence River, connected by the iconic Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Pedestrian Bridge.” We so enjoyed walking over the Bridge at night after the Providence Bruins game. Since the evening was one of the first warm ones of the spring season, numerous groups of people and individuals were hanging out on the Bridge, and we loved all the blue lighting and seeing some kind of musical group setting up their equipment — we don’t know if they planned to perform and/or to record a video on the Bridge. 
This image shows the hockey/sports arena where the Providence Bruins play and was taken from the stands so that you see hockey players playing on the ice as well as the jumbotron with someone flexing their muscles shown on it, plus the back of a shirt of a fan sitting in the stands that says "McAvoy," the name of a Boston Bruins player.
Cheering The Providence Bruins On To A Victory!

Earlier in the day, we also checked out two other landmark places on Federal Hill that we’ve visited a number of times — Pastishe (fabulous home-made desserts) and Caserta Pizzeria (wonderful Sicilian pizza). But, because we knew we’d be eating Easter treats the next day, we did not buy any of our favorites at either place. Next time!

This is an image of Gail Snow Moraski, the blog post author and owner of our Boston digital marketing agency and SEO company standing on a bridge and beautiful wooden walkway that goes over a river in Providence, and it is nighttime, so you can see all the lights in the City buildings in the background and reflecting on the river's water
The author, and Results C & R’s Principal, Gail Snow Moraski, on Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Pedestrian Bridge

We’re sure this first spring trip to RI will be like last year’s first spring trip — the first of many trips to come later in the year. So, check back for information on more fun day trips to the Ocean State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!