Fun Take Four: Historic Pawtucket

I had some lovely childhood friends in from out of town. Since 2 of them were "with child" I tried to think of something that would honor their condition and not ask too much of them physically. But it seems the Gods on Mount Olympus decided that last Sunday was the day to punish me for my life long hubris.

PLAN A)
take a ride on the HISTORIC Slater Mill Carousel.

What Actually Happened: the friggin Carousel is closed due to renovations till late September, renovations that include a small sign warning of lead abatement. what a wonderful combination gestating humans + lead.

all was not lost since, we did bump into a wiffle ball tournement in Slater Park


(yes that bouncy tunnel does say "strong communities")

Dagget Farm. a sleepy little petting zoo, which you are not allowed to pet the 5 grizzled animals trapped in the faux farm setting. our favorite was the fabulously chubby pig.

(this is a pony the pig was sleeping by the time i got close enough to snap a photo with my camera)

we also found this non-academic representation a dinosaur or a stumpy stumpy giraffe.


also noteworthy was the graphic design displayed at the attached snack bar.



PLAN B)
a tour of the HISTORIC SLATER MILL HISTORIC SITE, historic historic historic
I think Slater Mill is awesome, my summer reading is focused on the huge cultural change that happened because of the industrial revolution, esp. the labor history of Rhode Island and the southern slave labor that fueled all that darned technological innovation.

having said that i assumed that the tour would be an hour tops. but no no no no.
my third trimester friends were forced to stand for two hours in the August sun.
I mean we learned a lot.
but it is weird to interact with people in historical costumes who kinda go in and out of character as they feed you tid-bits of information.

this is the pre-industrial new england farm house

How to make linens.

Beat the flax.


this is what flax looks like up close.



make flax into thread on the little spinning wheel



or on the big spinning "walking" wheel


(please note the non-historic motion detector and electric wall outlet).

On to the MACHINE SHOP

the coolest thing ever. is seeing how the water wheel worked.

the water turned the wheel. the wheel turned the stick thingy that went upstairs. the stick thingy turned and turned a metal rod that went the length of the machine shop-when belts are connected to the turning thing they run the machines.






no rest for the weary.

and on to the MILL
but first lets take a moment and consider
The River that changed the world
THE MIGHTY BLACKSTONE


inside the mill we learned how to make thread from cotton. from our guide and a carved 10 year old boy.


what you should know is all the machines in the mill are killers, they killed children they pulled out their hair, tore off their limbs, decapitated them and/or just crushed them into impoverished slurry. our guide told us this and made us sad.


making thread
you take the cotton fibers and you beat the crap out of them, comb them.
and you pinch them, you humiliate them.

this machine is rad it makes shoe laces for lucky shoes.

ever wonder how come your tshirts don't have side seams? its cause they knit them in circles.


after this we were tired. we were weary. we were grateful for our clothes. our thread-filled clothes with zippers.

Fun Take 3:Foster/Gloster

You are gonna be jealous. There is no way around it. I was lead to a magical land that looked like this:

And found blueberries as big as grapes and as sweet as me.
I love about Pick-Yr-Own is you pay to labor-and you are always happy you did. So now, I am freezing a lot of my 11 pounds of joy.

The keyboard in the back is for writing love songs to blueberries. I hope to learn how to make preserves and enjoy summer goodness all year long.


We took the long long long way home and past by the Shady Acres Dairy Bar, which we made the car turn around to go to.
The wait staff stared at us as if we were festering sores. We were they youngest people in the place by at least 30 years. I am pretty sure everyone else was ordering off the senior citizen menu. We got some fried food. The Codger in the booth behind us commented loudly "you can't order anything bad here." I have my doubts.
So the new goal was George Washington Management area.
People have I told you that Rhode Island is a magical place? Despite the fact that we turned into the wrong driveway and disturbed 3 ambiguously uniformed young men checking out a large shot gun and a possibly naked man in van with a custom paint job depicting a human skull engulfed in blue flames-GWM was pretty inviting.



I am up for camping soon.

I will let the pictures tell you why.



Upper Rhode Island really reminds me of my youthful meanderings in rural Wisconsin.

Not technically a Sunday Adventure

I stopped by the Ye Olde Dexter Armory to see a Puppet show by New Urban Arts
What I saw was lovely and straight up charming. The Sky opened up about 2 minutes after the final curtain sending everyone scrambling, and canceling the student films that were to follow.

I noticed this shallow relief scratched on the outside wall of my work. Which entertained me. Especially cause the building used to be a Church before it was a library.

Fun Take Two: Woonsocket

I have heard about this place for ages. I finally conned someone to drive me to Wright’s Dairy Farm. Which you know is authentic cause it has a website. It technically is in North Smithfield, but that means little to me.

It is a small scale Dairy Farm that makes most from the Bakery attached to the farm. Inside is dairy bomb after dairy bomb. In addition, sales people with the disposition of camp counselors-young, peppy and vaguely entertained by our not-from-around here antics.

I was with a lactose intolerant, so I ate most of the glory.
I had what they termed a small cream puff. I had to open my mouth as if I was at the Dentist.




I had some Coffee Milk, cause its Rhode Island. Made with whole Milk-so its totally good.


I went back for a bag of Hermits cause while waiting for the bathroom, I read an article that they were on the food network, and I am a sucker.
They were good by they had nonhippy-hydrogenated oil, a dairy farm that does not use butter is sketchy.
I also bought a Napoleon, but I could not do it by myself and ate it a couple days later.




Nevertheless, it smelled authentically like poop. We nosed around a bit and met these fine ladies.



In the maternity ward. They were very pregnant and very uncomfortable, they snorted and just seemed so ungodly huge, with their spindly little legs and couch potato attitude. We were charmed bye them and half convinced they were going to give birth right then so we started at them for awhile, they did not give birth so we content ourselves at cooing at the new calves who were only a few weeks old and again, ungodly huge.


When they calves get a little bigger they stay in these igloos, which is what you see when you drive up. We kinda thought that they were icky veal containers, but they are kinda like nonmobile RV’s for little cows.



They do the milking from 3-5. You are invited to watch. We had other adventures to get to.



NEXT STOP
The Museum of Work and Culture
in DT Woonsocket

The museum is an experiential museum, which means it is kinda like you are in a large diorama, sometimes surrounded by freaky life-sized figures. As an amateur student, I am always interested in learning more about the history surrounding me. And the museum has a very specific subject the experience of the French Canadians who immigrated to work in the textile mills in Woonsocket. From the late 1800’s until the 1930’s. What me and the companion were most interested in was the history of the textile unions vs. the Catholic Church/the Mill Management. (People got excommunicated for striking!)
The museum presents the concerns of all three sides. Sheesh! Life is/was hard.


There even is a Catholic School Memory Archive, where anyone who has ever attended a Catholic School can add their 2 cents. If my mom ever gets wind of this they are gonna have to add a new wing for all she’s got to say.

They also recreated the UTI union hall which is so creepy accurate, I swear I could smell old man bouncing off the faux-asbestos tiles and wood paneling.


Things we didn’t get a chance to see/enjoy

-the Ye Olde Fish Shop

Fun Take One: Bristol

we started at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
We took a gander at the collection, learned some stuff about nonwestern cultures. And we took a spin around the grounds, we didnt last too long since it was over 90 degrees.

This is the summer to visit the Haffenreffer Museum, it is closing in the Fall due to fire code violations. Here is a projo article about it.
which might not be a huge deal, you could argue-the ethics of anthropology as a practice, blah blah blah. BUT the land that the museum sits on is culturally significant to history buffs and according to the museum brochure the first nation people who continue to use the land for ceremonial purposes. Mount Hope or Mountaup was once Wampanoag land. It holds a large rock formation called King Phillip's Seat. The Moutaup Swamp was the site of the death of King Phillip or Metacom during King Phillip's war of 1672.

So, I worry what Brown University will do with this piece of land. Especially since a large swath it is beautiful southern RI coastline, ripe for development.

I hope they will do the honorable thing and allow it to remain accessible and wonderful.
I will monitor them for updates.





a full scale tipi next to the parking lot.


and the awesome restroom door

We took the scenic drive back were lucky enough to stumble upon the Quahog Seafood and Art Festival in Warren.


it was a pretty chill little fest sponsored by the Rotary Club. Yay!

My first Stuffie. Nothing like reconstituted clams stuffed back into their shells with hot sauce.


Warren does not water the Grass. But it does have a blow up Castle.


always a line for Del's





Across the street was a scrappy little beach, populated by authentic judgmental yankees, but no Life Guard.


We drove back on 114 with a map a slight idea of where in Riverside was the famed Crescent Park Carousel.
Where for a dollar you can expierence pure joy. The Carousel goes surpassingly fast, and if you are lucky enough to score an outside horse you can try to grab and toss a brass ring into the terrifying mouth of a painted clown.

and if you are over the age of 16 the wary eyes of urban parents.
There was a guy all in black wearing noise canceling headphones who never got off the carousel. It is safe to say he was either High or Crazy, either way I salute him.

(this is not him)

Leather Straps must be worn at all times.

the magic band with naked white lady carvings.
the robed lady shakes her finger at you in time with the music.


Last stop Dari Bee, which we thought was the place with the magic homemade popsicle stand. But it was your standard ice-cream stand. I got a Kiddie frozen yogurt with a butterscotch dip cause I am classy.

Summer fun the real to do list

View Larger Map

This is a Map of many of the things I would like to do in Rhode Island this summer.

so far the list is:

Gov. Stephen Hopkins House
15 Hopkins St Providence RI 02903

Museum of Work & Culture
42 S Main St Woonsocket, RI 02895 (401) 769-9675

Sodom Trail
Exeter, RI 02822

Slater Mill Historic Site
67 Roosevelt Ave Pawtucket, RI 02860 (401) 725-8638

Glocester Heritage Society
1181 Main St Chepachet, RI 02814 (401) 568-1866

Swan Point Cemetery
585 Blackstone Blvd Providence, RI 02906 (401) 272-1314

Point Judith Lighthouse
1460 Ocean Rd Narragansett, RI 02882 (401) 789-0444

Rose Island Light House Foundation
365 Thames St Newport, RI 02840 (401) 847-4242

Patience Island

Goddard Memorial State Park

Drew Frosty Nature Center
Ninigret Park Charlestown, RI 02813 (401) 364-9508

Great Swamp Monument Dr
West Kingston, RI 02892

Smith's Castle
55 Richard Smith Dr North Kingstown, RI 02852 (401) 294-3521

American Textile History Msm
491 Dutton St Lowell, MA 01854 (978) 441-0400
Lowell, MA 01854

Fort Adams State Park
Fort Adams Drive, Newport, Rhode Island

Haffenreffer Museum
300 Tower St # 1 Bristol, RI 02809 (401) 253-8388

Norman Bird Sanctuary
583 3rd Beach Rd # 2 Middletown, RI 02842 (401) 846-2577

Coggeshall Farm Museum
Colt State Park Bristol, RI 02809 (401) 253-9062

Colt State Park
(401) 253-7482

Redwood Library
50 Bellevue Ave Newport, RI 02840 (401) 847-0292

Purgatory Chasm

Green Animals Topiary Gardens
380 Corys Ln Portsmouth, RI 02871 (401) 683-1267

Old Stone Mill
Bellevue Ave Newport, RI 02840 (401) 846-1398

Cliffside Inn
2 Seaview Ave Newport, RI 02840 (800) 845-1811

textile warehouse?
111 India St Pawtucket, RI 02860 supposedly sheets by the pound.

Goddard Memorial State Park
1095 Ives Rd East Greenwich, RI 02818 (401) 884-0088

Observation Tower
Provides excellent view of the building.

Crescent Park Carousel
145 Taunton Ave East Providence, RI 02914 (401) 435-7518

Slater Memorial Park
401 Newport Ave Pawtucket, RI 02861 (401) 722-6931 more info » CAROSEL


Beavertail State Park
Beavertail Rd Jamestown, RI 02835 (401) 884-2010

Newport Exploration Center Aquarium
175 Memorial Blvd Newport, RI 02840 (401) 849-

Ye Olde English Fish & Chips
25 S Main St Woonsocket, RI 02895 (401) 762-3637

Lincoln Woods State Park
2 Manchester Print Works Rd Lincoln, RI 02865 more info »

Arcadia Management Area
Ten Rod Road, Exeter, Rhode Island

Cape Verdean Museum Exhibit
1003 Waterman Ave East Providence, RI 02914 (401) 228-7292

Carrs Pond

Wright's Dairy Farm Inc
200 Woonsocket Hill Rd North Smithfield, RI 02896 (401) 767-3014 CREAM PUFFS!

Ryan Park
Oak Hill Road, North Kingstown, Rhode Island more info » Secret Lake!

Prudence Park
Portsmouth, Rhode Isl

Newport Art Museum and Art Assoc
76 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI

Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown, RI

Wein-O-Rama
1009 Oaklawn Ave Cranston, RI 02920 (401) 943-4990

AW root beer drive in
460 Putnam Pike Greenville, RI 02828


Aardvark Antiques
9 Connell Hwy Newport, RI 02840 (401) 849-7233

BIG ROOSTER
Sollitto's Liquor Mart 905 Narragansett Blvd Providence, RI 02905 (401) 781-2260

Florence Nightingale's Nursing Cap
Westerly Hospital 25 Wells St Westerly, RI 02891 (401) 596-6000

Mystic Aquarium & Institute
55 Coogan Blvd Mystic, CT 06355 (860) 572-5955

Wild Parakeets
Bullocks Point Ave Riverside, RI 02915

Smith-Appleby House
220 Stillwater Rd Smithfield, RI 02917 (401) 231-7363

Butterfly Zoo
594 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown, RI

Save the Bay
18 Market Sq Newport, RI 02840 (401) 324-6020 Seal Watch TOurs

Fort Barton/ Sin and Flesh Brook
Highland Rd Tiverton, RI 02878 (401) 625-6700

Schartner Farms
1 Arnold Pl Exeter, RI 02822 (401) 294-2044
supposedly one of the best farm stands in the state

Middle of Nowhere Diner
222 Nooseneck Hill Rd Exeter, RI 02822 (401) 397-8855

Audubon Society of Rhode Island: State Headquarters
12 Sanderson Rd Smithfield, RI 02917 (401) 949-3870

Rome Point
Rome Point is part of the John H. Chafee Nature Preserve and is a great place to watch the seals in winter.

Rhode Island Resource Recovery
65 Shun Pike Johnston, RI 02919 (401) 942-1430

Arnold House
487 Great Rd Lincoln, RI 02865 (401) 728-9696

Clemence-Irons House
38 George Waterman Rd Johnston, RI 02919 (401) 295-1030

Tiverton Land Trust Inc
Pardon Gray Preserve Tiverton, RI 02878 (401) 625-1300

Watson Farm
455 N Main Rd, Jamestown, RI

Seabee Museum & Memorial Park
21 Iafrate Way North Kingstown, RI 02852 (401) 294-7233

Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Inc The
2636 Kingstown Rd Kingston, RI 02881 (401) 783-1328 more info »

Kenyon Corn Meal Co
21 Glen Rock Rd West Kingston, RI 02892 (401) 783-4054

Casey Farm
2325 Boston Neck Rd Saunderstown, RI 02874 (401) 295-1030

Samuel Whitehorne House Museum
416 Thames St, Newport, RI

Touro Synagogue-Congregation
85 Touro St Newport, RI 02840 (401) 847-4794

Rough Point
680 Bellevue Ave Newport, RI 02840 (401) 847-8344

Rose Island

Museum-Primitive Art & Culture
1058 Kingstown Rd # 5 Wakefield, RI 02879 (401) 783-5711 primitiveartmuseum.org


Helme House Gallery
2587 Kingstown Rd Kingston, RI 02881 (401) 783-2195

Allison B Goodsell Rare Books
196 Potter Hill Rd Westerly, RI 02891 (401) 377-8270

Sweet Berry Farm
19 Third Beach Rd Middletown, RI 02842 (401) 847-3912

19 Third Beach Rd
Middletown, RI 02842
(401) 847-3912

American Diner Museum
89 Industrial Cir Lincoln, RI 02865 (401) 723-4342

John Carter Brown Library
George & Brown St Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-2725

John Hay Library
20 Prospect St Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-2146

Governor Sprague Mansion
1351 Cranston St, Cranston, RI

Killingly Pond State Park
Pond Road, Killingly, Connecticut

Wescott Beach
Glocester, RI

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 (617) 267-9300

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
280 Fenway Boston, MA 02115 (617) 566-1401

Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum
414 Main St Mashpee, MA 02649 (508) 477-3997


New Bedford Whaling Museum
18 Johnny Cake Hl New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 991-2204

Alice M Howland Recreational Area
Ryefield Road, Scituate, Rhode Island

Snug Harbor
South Kingstown, Rhode Isl

The Fruity Cow
7 Turner St Warren, RI 02885 on the bike path homemade popsicles.

Providence-Newport Ferry Service
265 Melrose St Providence, RI 02907 (401) 453-6800

King Park

Mashapaug Pond

River Point Park
Hay Street, West Warwick, Rhode Island

Danielson Pike
RI Covered bridge!

Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum


Have any suggestions?