August 11-21                     North Kingstown and Providence, Rhode Island

We had consecutive days for almost a week of lovely cool weather with little wind.  Perfect time to take the boat out to the bay but—an engine exhaust problem kept us at the dock.  We sadly watched others leaving and returning from trips to Block Island and places on Long Island and listen to their reports of great days on the water.  We are still waiting on the repairs to our disabled engine.

For several days, we have watched the progress of Hurricane Erin as it moved toward the East Coast.  On August 19, the weather changed and we experienced light rain and wind.  This continued the following day and prompted us to bring umbrellas as we departed for our overnight stay in Providence.  We were celebrating our 71^st wedding anniversary.  Pretzel was being cared for by Cody and his sisters.

We had booked a Providence City Tour to experience some of the sights and history of this beautiful city.  With only six of us on the small bus, the guide was exceptionally helpful in providing insight into the diverse areas and attractions.  The large Italian area was our favorite.  We visited a neighborhood market and bakery that displayed amazing varieties of food and pastries.  Italian pride is displayed in the painting of street lines and fire hydrants in green, red and white, colors of the Italian flag.  Numerous restaurants were in the area and it is a popular busy place on weekends.

As one of the thirteen colonies, Rhode Island has a long history with its founding by Roger Williams.  The beautiful Baptist Church, oldest in America, remains a vibrant part of the city and a tribute to the efforts of Williams to support separation of church and state. We were impressed with the campus of Brown University, an Ivy League school with many notable graduates.  Situated on a hilly site overlooking the Providence River, its many buildings present diverse architectural styles surrounding a lovely grassy quadrangle.

Johnson and Wales is a highly ranked culinary arts school with a downtown campus.  Five other colleges are located in the city and the population will expand soon as the school year begins.

We had reservations for dinner at Al Forno, a highly recommended Italian restaurant.  David was not feeling well.  We booked a later time at the restaurant.  He still was not feeling well.  We missed that reservation so I made another later one at a nearby restaurant.  David rallied and we drove there but found no parking place near.  As it was raining, we did not wish to walk far.  Fortunately, we remembered a favorite place, Capriccio, only a block away with valet parking.  It was almost 9:00 and we did not have a reservation but were greeted warmly and quickly seated in their beautiful dining room.   We had a delicious dinner with great service.  Our anniversary was a lovely success!

Hurricane Erin brought wind but little rain.  As we returned to the boat, we carefully walked the dock as we observed considerable chop in the harbor.  The boat was securely tied but it was buffeted by the waves.  Fortunately, the winds decreased by midnight.  We were greeted by a lovely morning with sun and blue skies.