Look familiar? a mini US Capit It’s ol!
free). I was hungry, and walked across the busy street to the Shannon View Inn, a very friendly Irish bar with free wi-fi and, a great idea this, plug and USB sockets under the counter at every stool.
Over a burger and a few beers, I planned my next day in Providence itself ($12 away in an Uber). It is in many ways an unremarkable town, but the Providence Place Mall has all the big stores you would expect (including Apple, thronged as always).
It is beside the Rhode Island State House, completed in 1904 and boasting the fourth largest self-supporting marble dome in the world (St Peter’s, the Taj Mahal and the Minnesota State Capitol beat it to the tape). It looks like a smaller version of the US Capitol in Washington DC, and indeed ‘played’ that building in the Steven Spielberg slavery drama, Amistad.
My pal Feargal O’Toole drove an hour from his home in Boston (and Norwegian touts Providence airport as a gateway to the most Irish of all American cities) and treated me to lunch in Caserta, a legendary authentic Italian pizzeria famous as the home of the Wimpy Skippy, a delicious spinach pie stuffed with mozzarella, pepperoni and black olives. The only problem was that having had one of those each, we couldn’t get through the pizza, which was the size of a doormat. Feargal had the lefto- vers boxed, and texted me to say he got his dinner out of it too.
After a brief rest back at the hotel (torrential rain scuppered my plan to walk around the campus of Brown University, which has given the world Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners), I returned to the city for the highlight of the day, the dazzling WaterFire. Created by sculptor Barnaby Evans in 1994, it consists of 86 braziers placed in the Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck and Providence rivers.
At dusk, the braziers are lit and you can pay to sail past on a boat, chucking fresh wood in as you go. Music plays through speakers all along the route, and there are food stalls and bars along the way too. I sat mesmerised for over an hour nursing a Jameson and ginger, transfixed by the interplay between the primal elements of fire and water against the backdrop of skyscrapers and the modern world. The display is presented on select dates between April and November and I strongly recommend you build any planned trip around this magical work of public art. The 2018 schedule will be posted soon on waterfire.org.
On the Sunday, I hired a car and drove first to Narragansett, and a spectacularly good New England clam chowder with a glass of crisp sauvignon blanc at The Coast Guard House (thecoastguardhouse.com). Then I drove across a bridge to Jamestown on Conanicut Island, and from there across another bridge to Newport, long the home of the Americas Cup yacht race and also renowned for its jazz festival.
It also boasts some of the world’s most spectacular houses, built by millionaires during the so-called Gilded Age in the late 19th century. Eleven of
these now are open to the public and the most famous, The Breakers, is quite astonishing. Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II between 1893 and 1895 in the Italian Renaissance style, it frequently takes your breath away as you walk from room to room on the self-guided tour with headphones. You can book tickets on newportmansions.org – the best value is a five-mansion ticket for $35.
After an overnight in the charming Hotel Viking (hotelviking.com) and a wander through the atmospheric streets and lively bars of Newport, I drove on the next day into Massachusetts, and stayed in Hyannis. I visited once before, in 1996, and had forgotten how unremarkable it was; nothing on this visit changed my mind, though the coastal scenery, and shingled houses in classic Cape Cod style, compensate for what the town itself lacks.
Tuesday was my last day, and I had more shopping planned, so I headed for the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets. I bought so much there was no way it all would fit in hand baggage, so I bought a new suitcase and paid €30 more to check it in. That meant my €192.30 flights, with luggage fees and selected seats, now totalled €282.30 – still great value but not quite the bargain I initially signed up for.
In fairness, I didn’t care. Rhode Island was never really on my radar as a state, even if it is a favourite for celebrities (Taylor Swift loves the watersports there) and I never would have visited at all were it not for the direct flight. As so often is the case, I found it utterly charming, especially Newport, and I plan to return as soon as possible. If I get the right deal, of course.