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The State CapitolCity/Region: Providence
Rhode Island's magnificent white marble Georgian state house was inspired by London's St Paul's Cathedral and the US Capitol. It has the distinction of sporting one of only four self-supporting domes in the world, the others being St Peter's Basilica, the Taj Mahal, and the Minnesota State Capitol. The beautiful building in Smith Street houses the original Rhode Island Charter of 1663 and an historic portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart, a Rhode Island native. The
Washington portrait is renowned for being the one used on the American dollar bill.
Address: Smith Street
Phone Number: (401) 222 3983, or 222 2357
Website: www.state.ri.us
Hours: Guided tours of the capitol are by appointment Monday to Friday, on the hour every hour from 9am; last tour at 1pm. Self-guided tours can be undertaken Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm
John Brown HouseCity/Region: Providence
The three-story mansion on Power Street, designed by Joseph Brown for his brother John, in 1786, was once described by John Quincy Adams as 'the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent'. Indeed the formal Georgian style mansion is breathtaking, with its elaborate woodwork, French wallpaper and 18th-century locally made furnishings. The house also features silver and decorative oriental objects d'art, gathered by John Brown who made his fortune trading with China, as well as the slave trade.
Address: 52 Power Street
Phone Number: (401) 273 7507
Website: www.rihs.org/Museums.html
Hours: Tours Tuesday to Friday from 1.30pm, Saturday from 10.30am (April to December), and from 10.30am on Friday and Saturday only (January to March)
Admission: $8 (adults), $4 (children 7-17)
Waterplace ParkCity/Region: Providence
Providence's renovated downtown waterfront is known as Waterplace Park, a haven of romantic Venetian footbridges and cobblestone walkways that has won national and international design awards. The river walk was the center of the shipping trade in the city's early years, sited at the junction of three rivers. Today it draws enthusiastic crowds to the popular Waterfire events, held several times a year. This multimedia festival involves nearly 100 blazing braziers that rise from the river, seemingly to dance atop the water to the tune of rhythmic music. Waterfire events are not held to schedule and visitors can find out from the visitor information center in the clock tower (open daily from 10am to 4pm) when the next is to be held, or consult the Waterfire website www.waterfire.org Free concerts and plays are also frequently held in the Waterplace Amphitheater.
Phone Number: (401) 272 3111
Rhode Island School of Design MuseumCity/Region: Providence
The small but comprehensive museum attached to the Rhode Island design college features many changing exhibitions, particularly relating to textiles. The museum's permanent collection includes the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller collection of Japanese prints, Chinese terracotta, Greek statuary and some French Impressionist paintings. Highlights are works by masters such as Monet, Cézanne, Rodin and Picasso. There is also an American section containing paintings by Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley and John Singer Sargent.
Address: 224 Benefit Street
Phone Number: (401) 454 6500
Website: www.risd.edu/museum_visit.cfm
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm; third Thursday monthly until 9pm. Guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays 2pm
Admission: $8 (adults), $2 (children 5-18). Free on Sundays 10am to 1pm; Fridays 12pm to 1:30pm; the third Thursday monthly 5pm to 9pm; and last Saturday of every month
Roger Williams Park ZooCity/Region: Providence
Providence's zoo is situated in a beautiful 174-hectare (430-acre) Victorian park accessed from Elmwood Avenue on the south edge of the city. The Roger Williams Park also contains two other popular attractions, a museum of natural history and a planetarium, as well as offering a relaxing spot to picnic, feed the ducks, ride a pony or rent a paddleboat. The zoo is home to more than 900 animals from 156 different species, with display areas divided into different habitats, including Tropical America, the Plains of Africa and Australasia. Special features are a walk-through aviary and underwater viewing areas for polar bears and seals.
Address: 1000 Elmwood Avenue
Phone Number: (401) 785 3510
Website: www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org
Transport: Bus 12 or 20 from Kennedy Plaza
Hours: Daily 9am to 5pm (mid-April to October); 9am to 4pm in winter
Admission: $12 (adults), $6 (children 3-12). From 2 January to 31 March entry is half price
Benefit StreetCity/Region: Providence
One of America's most famous walks is down Providence's Benefit Street, lined with an impressive concentration of original Colonial homes. The 'mile of history' takes in all the well-restored buildings that were home to merchants and sea captains. The street, overlooking the city's waterfront, also features churches and museums. The area is cared for by the Providence Preservation Society, which provides information about the buildings and escorted tours from their office at 21 Meeting Street.
Phone Number: Providence Preservation Socieity: (401) 831 7440
The Astor's BeechwoodCity/Region: Newport
Just one of about a dozen summer mansions of the rich, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and that is open to the public in Newport's 'Cottage District', is Beechwood, former holiday home of the Astor family. Mrs Caroline Astor, doyenne of the homestead, was recognized as having the definitive word on who was and was not socially acceptable in Newport high society, and she was credited as being the architect of the famed '400 List' of acceptable folk that is still given credence in some quarters today. Being invited to Beechwood was a sure stamp of approval; today it is open to the public staffed by a troupe of actors who recreate scenes from the gilded age. Roarin' Twenties Tours celebrate Newport during the Jazz Age, while Victorian Tours take guests back to life in 1891.
Address: 580 Bellevue Avenue
Phone Number: (401) 846 3772
Website: www.astors-beechwood.com
Hours: Daily with tours every 30 minutes from 10am to 4pm (Mid-May to October). Dates and times vary depending on the season. During November and December various Christmas events are scheduled
Admission: Living History Tours: $18 (adults), $8 (children 6-17); other concessions available
International Tennis Hall of FameCity/Region: Newport
Tennis fans are inspired by Newport's Tennis Hall of Fame Museum, but even those who do not follow the game will enjoy visiting this historic sporting venue, which was a premier gathering place of Newport society at the turn of the 20th century. The building, built around a large interior piazza for lawn games, is festooned with turrets and verandas and was commissioned by wealthy publisher James Gordon Bennett as a private social and sports club that became known as the Newport Casino. Professional tennis tournaments are now hosted at the venue, and the courts are open to the public for play by reservation. The Hall of Fame museum presents an exciting chronology of the sport's history, from its origins to today's superstars. The collection contains more than 7,000 objects, including historic tennis equipment, period clothing and a tennis library.
Address: Bellevue Avenue
Phone Number: (401) 849 3990
Website: www.tennisfame.org
Hours: Daily 9.30am to 5pm; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas day
Admission: $9 (adults), $5 (children under 16)
Touro SynagogueCity/Region: Newport
The oldest Synagogue still standing in the United States, the Touro Street building, was designed by Peter Harrison and dedicated in 1763. The synagogue has, in its time, been used as a venue for town meetings and for sessions of the state supreme court. George Washington, who visited Newport in 1781, attended a meeting in the synagogue and afterwards sent a letter to the congregation, which has become regarded as a classical expression of religious liberty in America - a copy of the letter is displayed on the wall of the synagogue, which has been designated as a National Historical Site.
Address: 72 Touro Street
Phone Number: (401) 847 4794
Email Address: info@tourosynagogue.org
Website: www.tourosynagogue.org
Transport: Bus to Newport's Gateway Center
Hours: Open for guided tours beginning every half hour. Daily except Saturday 10am to 5pm (1 July to 3 September); Monday to Friday 1pm to 3pm, and Sunday 11am to 3pm (4 September to 31 October, and 30 April to 30 June); Sundays 11am to 3pm, and only one tour on Fridays at 1pm (17 December to 27 February)
Admission: Tours: $5
Museum of Newport HistoryCity/Region: Newport
Visitors interested in history will find the Museum of Newport History an excellent place to begin a sojourn in the city. The museum offers a comprehensive overview utilizing the decorative arts, artifacts of everyday life, graphics, old photographs and audio-visual programs to bring the past to life. The museum is maintained by the Newport Historical Society and is housed in a restored 1772 building in Thames Street (off Touro Street). Highlights are an interactive computer tour of Newport's historic district and a video tour of historic Bellevue Avenue presented on board a reproduction 1890s omnibus.
Address: 127 Thames Street
Phone Number: (401) 846 0813
Website: www.newporthistorical.org
Hours: Daily 10am to 4pm (mid-June to 4 September); the rest of the year is 10am to 4pm Thursday to Saturday and 1pm to 4pm on Sundays
Admission: Donations of $4 (adults) and $2 (children 6-18) are suggested
The Museum of YachtingCity/Region: Newport
Proud of its heritage as a sailing Mecca, Newport is equally proud of its museum dedicated to the sport, which has been acclaimed as one of the top sailor's museums in the nation. The Museum boasts a variety of artifacts and exhibits such as a vast collection of classic power and sail yachts, a gallery devoted to chronicling the America's Cup competition held in Newport between 1851 and 2000; a single-handed sailor's hall of fame; and a glimpse into the sailing lifestyle of the Bellevue Avenue Mansions 'gilded age' brigade.
Address: Fort Adams State Park
Phone Number: (401) 847 1018
Email Address: museum@moy.org
Website: www.moy.org
Hours: Daily 10am to 5pm (12 May to 31 October)
Admission: $5 (adults), $4 (children)
Block IslandCity/Region: Newport
Barely 12 miles (19km) from the shore of modern east coast America lies a tiny 'treasure island' virtually unspoiled by progress, where the main past time offered to visitors is peaceful pleasure and kicked-back relaxation. Time seems to have stopped on Block Island in the Victorian era, particularly in its main, and only, urban concentration, known as Old Harbor, where ferries from Rhode Island arrive several times a day. The island abounds with quaint architecture, spectacular views and delicious native seafood. Charming inns, beautiful beaches and bike trails is the entire tourist infrastructure required to lure holidaymakers here in droves every summer to spend long indolent days splashing and sunning themselves. Winter brings some savage storms and life is fairly tough for the 800-odd permanent residents who depend not only on each other, but also annually warmly welcome the summer visitors, for their survival. Block island, named for a Dutch navigator who found it in 1614, is only seven miles (11km) long and three miles (5km) wide, but boasts a unique array of flora and fauna, a varied terrain of hills and freshwater ponds, and the spectacular southern Mohegan Bluffs that rise 200ft (61m) above the sea.
Phone Number: (800) 383 2474
Email Address: info@blockislandinfo.com
Website: www.blockislandinfo.com
Transport: Accessible by ferry
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