It has been a crazy winter here in southern New England – it’s the middle of February and nothing is frozen. Last weekend the forecast was chilly on Saturday, but warming on Sunday, so Sunday was the day to paddle. Fortunately, I have a couple of friends that I can always count on to join me. We wanted to stay local so we decided to paddle the Providence River through downtown Providence, RI.
View of Providence, RI from the Providence River
We put in at the Bold Point in East Providence and headed out across Providence Harbor towards the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier. The water was calm with just a slight hint of wind-blown waves. Rounding Fox Point and entering into the Providence River we passed some tugboats before paddling through the hurricane barrier. From there it is a pleasant urban paddle. Walkways line the river through Providence, and there were a fair number of people out and about, but we were the only ones on the river.
Me and Bill, and another view of the Providence skyline
Can’t compare with the Hudson or East River around Manhattan, but still a nice city paddle. Few more pictures here:
I imagine it would be cool to do that trip on one of the Firefest nights! The bike and walkways, as well as sitting areas, downstream of downtown and RISD have gotten much improved when I was down there a couple of months ago. I stayed at the Hilton at India Point Park and pretty much kickscooted my way around town on the bikeways the whole weekend. I am looking forward to biking the East Bay Bike Path again, now that it is connected to India Point (and the hotel) with the new bike bridge.
I’ve never heard of anyone paddling there during Waterfire nights. There is one night that people paddle around with lighted fish mounted to their boats, but they pay for the privilege.
The Riverwalk is nice, and the RISD campus comes right down to the river now. They are almost done with the new pedestrian bridge across the river that sits on the piers from the old I-195 bridge (you can see it in the top picture above). $2M bucks, but hey its only money. At least our taxes are not subsidizing the PawSox baseball stadium.
I stumbled onto Waterfire one night when I went down there to have dinner with a friend. There were performances by RISD, art displays, etc. Then a boat came down the river, lighting up the intermittent piles of wood on the stands in the middle of the river. Saw the folks going up and down in the gondolas. Was thinking I would much rather paddle myself. Too bad if that is banned. But, probably makes sense. I imagine and idiot in a paddle craft, getting too close, catching fire and needing a rescue! LOL!
Investments in pedestrian and bike infrastructure get poo-pooed by car-oriented crowds, even though enough studies have now show that these infrastructure approaches not only improved the quality of life for those living in the cities but actually generate more economic activities and benefits.
Speaking for me, I go down to Providence for weekend get-aways (if no surfing is available). I rode the length of the East Bay BIke Path a number of times, kickscoot/walk around the city, see the shows at Trinity Rep and have had some great dinners out. I actually enjoyed the city’s changes over the years. It was a much difference place from when I was teen and regularly do down to compete in MA and boxing comps (then, Providence was better known as the home of the New England Mafia).
Made my first visit to Providence since pre-pandemic, for a walk around town and celebratory dinner. Love the the extended river walk on both sides of the river and the new pedestrian bridge.
Also glad to find the Parkside Restaurant still opened. It has a couple of dishes i have yet to find in other restaurants: grilled baby octopi on top of fennel salad and grilled duck breast over beet and arugala salad. To fill out the rest of the meal, had half a dozen oysters, an Orange Cat NE-IPA (local from Ct). The finale included black coffee to accompany the apple tart a la mode.
I could repeat this on an upcoming summer afternoon/eve.
The view from the water on the WaterFire nights is awesome.
…I got invited to work the firewood shift on the supply barges. It was a blast…speaking as an amateur pyro
Providence has come a long way from where it used to be. A couple of the first shows I went to back in 97 and 99 were in Providence and it was rough. Not truly scary like New Haven combat zones around Toads Place back then but nowhere near as nice as now. They’ve really developed the city.
