Tag: Rhode Island

Road Trip – No Bike!

Driving Me Mad

Last Thursday my wife and I drove to Norwalk, Connecticut to visit our daughter Lily. With me behind the wheel, the drive, especially the 30 miles on either side of the George Washington Bridge was quite a shock to my two-wheeled brain. It boggles my mind that people do this crossing on a regular basis.

Some Good Eats

Once we recovered we drove to nearby Wilton for dinner at Orem’s Diner. This place has been in business for over 100 years and is always packed. For good reason.

On Friday morning we drove to West Hartford for a late breakfast at another diner, Sally and Bob’s. We ate here whenever we visited Lily when she was in the University of Connecticut’s law school in Hartford. The diner is an institution and well worth its reputation for good eats.

Lily’s an Attorney!

Our next stop was the Connecticut Supreme Court building where Lily and a hundred or so other folks who passed the Connecticut Bar exam this summer were sworn in, officially becoming attorneys. Woot! Suffice it to say, we were wicked proud of our baby girl. After the ceremony we attended a reception across the street in the Capitol building.

Attorney Lily at the Connecticut State House

More Good Eats

We drove back to Norwalk and had dinner at a local Italian place. Both the pizza and the rigatoni ala vodka hit the spot. Oink.

Saturday began with an obligatory trip to Dunkin Donuts. I honestly think there are more Dunks than cows in New England. They are everywhere. You could entertain kids with a Dunks version of Eye Spy. For some reason Dunks in New England is much better than Dunks in Northern Virginia. Sadly the Dunks in Norwalk did not have honey dipped sticks which were my go to when I lived in Providence. Nevertheless my tummy was happy for the ensuing two-hour drive to Rhode Island.

Trolls!

Primed with caffeine and sugar, we drove to Rhode Island to check out some of Thomas Dambo’s trolls. Dambo is a Danish artist who uses recycled materials to create these incredible works of public art. Rhode Island has five (with a sixth in the making). We checked out four of them.

The first two were in Ninigret State Park near Charlestown. This is located near some beaches on Rhode Island Sound so it’s a good idea to go when the beach season is over. The first troll was Greta Granit. It’s off the road about a hundred yards down a well maintained windy path through some bushes. The second troll was located a half mile away just off the road near a small observatory. Erik Rock sits comfortably next to Little Ninigret Pond.

Greta Granit
Erik Rock

Our next troll was next to Browning Mill Pond near Arcadia, Rhode Island, about ten miles to the north. We had to walk about ten minutes on a path along the water to find Young Boulder, sitting in the woods looking out over the water.

Young Boulder

Our fourth troll was Iver Mudslider near Belleville Pond in North Kingstown another 10 or so miles to the east. Getting to Iver involved a half mile trek down an unpaved road. It was well worth the effort. During the walk we passed the site of another troll in the making.

Iver Mudslider

Dambo’s trolls are all over the world. This map will help you find them. We met people who go all over checking them out. Now that I think about it, a troll bike tour would be an excellent excursion. Hmmm.

Old Friends

We ran out of time so we skipped the troll in East Providence and headed back to Norwalk. After cleaning up we headed out to dinner at Barb and Andy’s, friends who live in nearby Westport. We hadn’t seen them in over 10 years so we had a splendid evening of fine food, wine, and conversation.

More Orem’s, a Beach, and the Drive Home

On Sunday morning we headed back to Orem’s for breakfast. The place was packed but apparently Connecticutters eat fast and we only waited ten minutes for our pancakes and eggs. Fortified, we headed back south to Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk. We only stayed a few minutes as the cold wind off Long Island Sound convinced us we were underdressed

At the Beach. Not Too Crowded..

We said goodbye to our new attorney and headed back. We made it across the bridge smoothly, mostly because my wife was driving. Near the southern end of the New Jersey Turnpike, the road lined up with the setting sun. The road turned away and the sun set just before we were incinerated. The remaining 120 miles involved super strong cross winds. I believe the weather gods want me back on two wheels. And so I am.

Posted an album of troll pictures on my Flickr page.

Why Run? The East Bay Bike Path

Back in the Reagan administration, I was a marathon runner. At the end of one of my years in grad school we had a picnic to celebrate. It was in Colt State Park about 15 miles southeast of Providence on Narragansett Bay. I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone by running to the picnic. Much of the run was on an old rail line.  That rail line is now the East Bay Bike Path.

The path begins in India Point Park at the head of the bay in Providence.  The path crosses the Seekonk River leaving Providence. Although it sounds awful, this section of the path is alongside I-195. I hardly noticed the cars because the path was separated from the road by a short wall with a tall metal fence on top. Walkers had nothing to worry about. They had their own path on the opposite side of the path.

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After riding a few blocks on side streets in East Providence, the path begins again. Mostly it runs along the edge of the bay. From time to time it moves away from the bay to pass a town or some private homes.

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The path has some shortcomings. It crosses scores of mostly small streets which gets annoying, For about a mile there are small expansion gaps across the trail that jolted me on Little Nellie with its little wheels. And in other spots surface tree roots gave me some jolts. These are quibbles. It’s a beautiful path. Which leads to my last complaint: it’s crowded!!

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The views are pretty darn spectacular. Whether you’re looking at the bay, the gorgeous houses, the inlets, or the occasional picture postcard towns of  Barrington, Warren, and Bristol.

My side trip through Colt State Park was delightful. From time to time, the smell of the place reminded me of Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia. No wallabies here though. I rode around the perimeter of the park ending up riding along the bay for a half mile or so.

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On the way back to Providence I stopped for a frozen lemonade at Del’s. This is a Rhode Island institution. If you drink one too fast, you’ll get a wikkid brain freeze. I did. Stand up and bend over. Lick the roof of your mouth. Slow down.

DELS Lemonade

With the temperatures in the 70s and light breezes coming off the bay, I never felt the slightest bit uncomfortable.

My Flickr page has lots of pictures.