Day Nine … Hartford to Providence (and a few places in between)

We both enjoyed a fairly decent sleep last night and were ready to explore parts of Connecticut and then to head into Rhode Island (our tenth state and the second New England state). Ian began his day checking emails as he does every morning whilst I had a shower in the most powerful shower I have ever had! At times you had to step out because the spray on your head was almost painful. But it was fantastic on sore and weary muscles … so I toughened up and enjoyed the free massage!

We had breakfast provided at our hotel. They call it an American breakfast … eggs, bacon and fried potatoes, make your own waffles, juices, cereals, muffins and some fruit. I decided to make a waffle … thankfully all the steps are pretty easy to follow (my dear US sisters … do not despair at this little Aussie … we don’t have waffles in Australia). Breakfast was yummy and meant we were all ready to start the day.

We began our day with a walking tour of Hartford, while completing an Ad Lab at the same time. The Ad Lab took us through Bushnell Park (right across the road from our hotel), past the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, the Corning Fountain, the Spanish-American Memorial, to the Pond where we saw a statue in honour of the inventor of anaesthetics (who knew) and the old Pump House. 

Our self guided walk took us to many of the notable buildings in downtown Hartford beginning with the State Capital a massive building made from marble and granite and topped with a golden leaf dome. You can take a tour of the building as part of a group or just guide yourself. We collected the information booklet and wandered through … marvelling at the grand foyer, the intricate paintings on the ceilings, the stunning light fittings and carpets. We were able to see the two chambers as parliament is not sitting at the moment. We had incredible freedom to just wander through … no one stopped us from going up stairs or anything. I even popped into the ladies thinking that they would be pretty grand … but alas no … they were pretty simple functional facilities.

We then continued our walk past several other notable buildings including the Wadsworth Atheneum which is the oldest continuous public museum in the country, the ancient burial grounds at Centre Church, and Connecticut’s Old State House which was once the former Capitol building. This didn’t open until later in the day so we went up to peer in the windows, when a security guard came up and looked at us from inside. Feeling a little taken aback we quickly apologised and explained that we were only in Hartford for a few hours and we just wanted to see inside the windows and to our surprise he opened the door and invited us in for a quick look.  

We finished our walk and headed back to the hotel to collect our car and begin our journey towards Providence, the capital of Rhode Island. It will come as no surprise though that this would never be a direct journey … but one filled with stops and mini adventures along the way. So navigating our way out of Hartford we headed to Glastonbury to the Riverfront Park where we completed another Ad Lab that would take us on a short walk through the park which had been built on an old industrial site and opened in 2019. The park is filled with playgrounds, sporting fields, a boathouse overlooking the river and numerous walking paths.

Heading on again we visited Snake Rock in Marlborough and Eagle Rock in Hebron (where we also found a couple of lady bird rocks). We drove through Exeter, Lebanon and Scotland (where we stopped to picnic at the village green on leftovers from dinner last night) before continuing on to Canterbury. Anyone would think we were in Europe and the UK … not in the US.

 

We then visited the Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge … the first covered bridge for this trip but I hope to see many more. Then on to Ponaganset Falls which is a waterfall created by the overflow of  the Barden Reservoir. We stepped over the wooden barriers to get closer to the edge, not realising that there were No Trespassing signs posted further up the path. We snapped our pics, wandered along the waters edge and then climbed back to the falls to be met by security who told us we couldn’t be there and could we move back behind the barriers (oops). 

We then headed towards Providence, crossing the Scituate Causeway which is a roadway across the reservoir which gave us amazing views of the water and also the trees lining the reservoir as they begin their autumn flush of colour. Arriving in Providence we drove to Prospect Terrace, a small park high on College Hill which provides views back over Providence. The houses in this area are very grand and their views are incredible. Through the window of one house we could see straight through to their view which was of the State Capitol!

We then drove down to the Roger Williams National Memorial Park. We had to park a couple of blocks away and Ian executed a magnificent parallel park. Roger Williams was the person who founded the colony of Providence, advocated for the separation of church and state and developed strong and positive relationships with the Narragansett Indians. At this memorial park we completed our final Ad Lab for the day and in doing so learnt more about Williams, his beliefs and the settlement he founded.

We then walked across the canal to the Capitol Building thinking we could just get a few photos of the outside as it closed at 4.30 and we were there at 4.10. We wandered up to the doors (again thinking we would just peer in) but the security guard waved us in and told us to come in and look around. He said we could wander until about 4.35 … so wander we did. You cannot believe how fast two people (who already hobble) can move when there is a deadline! The Rhode Island Capitol is incredible. The central grand foyer that takes in all three floors all the way up to the grand dome at the top with its exquisite paintings and chandeliers left you gob smacked! We were able to see both chambers, some private offices, the Archive Library and another toilet visit (I’m like a little kid … always have to check out the bathrooms). It was stunning … and we feel very lucky to have been able to visit when normally they would be turning visitors away.

We then headed back to the car … which involved a mini hike up part of College Hill (very steep … but not as steep as Baldwin St in Dunedin NZ). We drove down to Pawtuxet Village thinking that we would do one last Ad Lab but we couldn’t find a park close enough and we realised that it was very spread out and would take longer than we had originally thought so we headed on to our accomodation for this evening in West Warwick. We missed one turn with our navigating that meant we had to do a slight detour but arrived at the hotel just after 6.00. We checked in, dumped our bags and headed out to dinner at Denny’s (that’s in honour of our Kim who loved Denny’s when we were in the US in 2012). 

Pawtuxet Village …

Dinner …

We headed back to the hotel, got ourselves all set up, I began blogging, Ian began refining the plans for tomorrow but we kept hearing strange plumbing noises … which turned out to be an issue with our toilet so we have had to do a room move (hey it’s only 8.42 pm … why not switch rooms!) which wasn’t quite what we imagined. Anyway … we did it, we are back and almost done for the day. 

Today’s tally …

Photos - 537

Steps - 19,523

Kms walked - 14.94 km

Miles driven - 120 (about 200 kms)

Capitols visited - 2

Hotel Rooms - 2