The city constructed this "Venice-like" water way through downtown Providence, which includes walking paths along both sides of the river, an amphitheater, several bridges, and more. Plus, do you see those black things in the water? They're a part of WaterFire, an art instillation. Once a month during the summer, wood is piled up in those grates and set fire, creating a line of bonfires down the river. They weren't lit when we were there, so I can only imagine how cool it would be to see the river lit up with fire!
We walked along the river for quite a ways, stopping here and there to admire the buildings and other architectural items.
I though the seals on the bridges was a nice touch...
We eventually left the river and made our way to East Providence, home of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design.Our first stop was Brown, where we ran into their mascot. The Brown Bears! (I think that's funny!
There was a nice family also admiring the campus (a pre-college tour, perhaps?), and they offered to take our picture after SFS took theirs. Please ignore the fact that my rolled up jeans are not the same length... apparently I'm a 5 year old and can't dress myself! At least SFS and I took the time to match color-wise! (Don't worry- we really didn't!)
Brown had some really beautiful buildings. We spent a good chunk of time in their quad, which housed these beauties:
I think this was one of their libraries....
Pretty, right?
Surrounding the quad was this fence- each segment boasted this decoration with different dates in each... it was very pretty!
After Brown, we desperately needed some lunch. As we window shopped (and regular shopped, in my case) down Thayer Street, we came upon Paragon. Does anything sound more delicious on a muggy morning than a cold iced tea?
SFS had this yummy burger with Vermont cheddar cheese... I might have stolen a fry... or twenty...
While I had this scrumptious salad!
After that, we continued our walk up Thayer Street. It's considered the 'trendy' area of East Providence, and reminded me of a cool street in any college town. I took some pictures as we walked... do you know what this is?
Yep- those were staples on a telephone pole. Obviously it's a favorite spot for posting fliers.... right?
After Thayer Street, we wandered around East Providence. SFS saw this- a bunch of aphids and a ladybug!
East Providence is apparently known for their huge, beautiful homes. Of course, I took a pictures of a million of them, but I narrowed it down to a few for the blog! You can thank me later!
I really like this fence- I believe it surrounded a building that was actually a part of Brown.
This church was really pretty- I think it was a Church of Christ...
SFS was being entertaining, as usual, and showed me his banister sliding skills! Pretty impressive while holding a hot coffee, right?
As we walked, we came across this building, which is part of RISD. There was a walkway behind the building that lead toward the river, which we followed.
Not bad for a backyard, right?
Awww... self portrait time! (It only took a few takes- really!)
And there were pretty flowering trees all over the place! (I thought this was a dogwood, but after a little googling, I'm clearly wrong on that... Dad? Mom? SBV? Anyone want to tell me what it really is?)
This one just makes me laugh!
More pretty flowering something-or-other...
And finally, the First Baptist Church in America. It's situated right on the bottom of College Hill and is really pretty.
This is the backside of the church- see the storm rolling in?
Ok, I think that's enough photos for one day. I have a few more, including some shots of RISD's Nature Studio that I'll post tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful Monday- thanks for stopping by!
