(It sounds a lot more exciting if you say it in a Don LaFontaine-type voice!)
As I alluded to yesterday, when SFS and I were looking at College Hill, we noticed a beautiful building to our left. With the sky looking ominous, we thought we'd check it out. When we got to the door, we found out we couldn't get in without a RISD ID card... but when we called the front desk, they let us in. Apparently you're supposed to have a reservation to check out the lab, as it's often filled to capacity with students... but lucky for us the place was practically empty!
The RISD Nature Lab was founded in 1937, and houses over 80,000 natural history objects.
But right off the bat, SFS found himself a new girlfriend. I don't mind- she's 107 years old!
But seriously- this place was insane! All these specimens can be taken out for study, and there are tons of tables where students can sketch and draw.
The glass cabinets surround the room and are organized by specie... I think...
And above the cabinets, there are other preserved specimens.
I didn't sign my name, only because I didn't want to get to close to this!
Why, yes, I think that's an otter!
I was only mildly creeped out the whole time we were there. You see, there are a couple LIVING animals in the lab, as well... turtles, lizards, cockroaches... so I kept expecting one of the stuffed ones to move... silly, I know!
I think this bird has been around for a while!
There was a second room that housed all the skeletons.... from human...
To bovine...
It was pretty neat! There were tons of drawers full of bones and skulls of all sorts of animals. I took a TON of pictures, but thought I would share just a few... it was pretty cool!
After that, we continued on our walk through East Providence. I saw this man sitting at a bus stop, and snapped a quick pic. Hey- I was near RISD and trying to be artistic...
As we walked we came across a few sculptures, where SFS played fashion photographer.
Oh- and as a side note, if you ever go to Providence, remember that in order to get the crosswalk light to change, you HAVE to push the button. SFS and I are so used to the old fashioned lights in NYC, we kept forgetting, and we would stand at the crosswalks for ages before we remembered.
For dinner, we traipsed up Federal Hill (better known as the Little Italy of Rhode Island). Apparently Julia Child loved the Italian food in RI so much, she would take regular trips to the area. Here is the entrance to the neighborhood.
SFS and I decided on Cassarino's. It had received rave reviews in RI magazines, and it was pretty full when we arrived (always a good sign). We were ushered to a table on the third floor (yes, the place had three floors, and the poor waiters had to bring the dishes up from the kitchen themselves), and promptly dug into the bread and wine.
We went with the appetizer special- squash blossoms, stuffed with ricotta, fried and served with marinara sauce. SO yummy!
For dinner, I had The Cassarino Special: chicken (you can also have veal), with a saute of roasted peppers, mushrooms, sliced imported ham and eggplant, covered with marinara and mozzarella cheese.
While SFS had the Clams Zuppa. Look how happy he is when he's eating seafood!
And because I thought it was funny, this is what he calls the clam graveyard.
By the time we finished, it had gotten pretty dark, and we made our way back to the downtown area.
On Sunday, we had a few hours before we needed to catch our bus back to NYC. If you couldn't tell already, we happened to be in RI on Pride Weekend!
As we wandered around downtown, we came across this demolished building... SFS took these pics!
As we wandered, we saw this cool space. Unfortunately, they were shooting a movie, and this was the holding place for the extras, so there was a long table down the middle with breakfast foods... but the building was still really neat!
SFS saw this facade- there was nothing behind it anymore!
We ended up having brunch at DownCity. The place was packed, which made sense after we were realized it was a Drag Brunch- to celebrate Father's Day, of course. By the time we were finished, there were 5 amazing Drag Queens mingling with the customers... it was awesome! Later, as we walked down Westminster Street (with all the neat shops), SFS met a new friend.
And we saw this in a window- apparently the company makes these, and their windows are FULL of all sorts of characters!
Last but not least, we headed to the State House.
Completed in 1904, this beauty houses the General Assembly, the office of the Governor, and many other important people.
Sorry, but when you see a podium like that, you have to take advantage of it!
Well, that's it for our grand tour of Providence, RI. Hope you don't mind all the pictures- I obviously have a crazy shutter addiction! Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you have a happy Tuesday!
