Rhode Island

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, all in one day!

Our show today was in Rhode Island.  Last night we stayed in Massachusetts, not far from the show.  Normally we would leave after the show and drive as far as we can, so that there are no issues with arriving in the next state in time for the show.  With these New England states, however, you could almost ride a bike and still make it in time!

Before leaving Massachusetts, there was a burger joint that Paula really wanted to visit:

That's the original "Wahlburgers".  It's a burger restaurant run by Paul Wahlburg, brother of Donny Wahlburg (New Kids on the Block, actor) and Mark Wahlburg (singer, actor).  Apparently there's a TV show called Wahlburgers.  I've never seen it but supposedly it has to do with the day to day antics of the Wahlburg family.  They truly can make a show about anything these days...

The food was actually affordable and quite tasty.  Burgers are a staple for me so I was perfectly fine with trying this place out.  Everyone else agreed.

We headed on into Rhode Island for today's show.  Rhode Island is only 37 miles from one side to the other and it feels like even less.  It's a beautiful area, though.  As we approached the state, I asked Paula to check and see about famous movie filming spots.  Ever seen the movie "Dumb and Dumber"?  It has to be one of the funniest movies ever made.  The movie begins with the main characters living in Rhode Island, and I was curious as to whether there were any recognizable spots from the movie.  It turns out that the only one is "The Big Blue Bug".  We found him- here he is:

This is a GIGANTIC 58 foot blue termite located atop an exterminator building.  It's a well known Rhode Island landmark, and can be seen in Dumb and Dumber.  They made sure to include it in the movie to establish the Rhode Island connection.

Our show was in downtown Providence.  There was a huge festival going on and this show was outdoors.  As with most all of our shows, it was open to the public.  Here are some of the folks in attendance:

As well as a shot from within the crowd:

This was lots of fun!  Rhode Island may be small, but in the evening there sure are a lot of people in downtown Providence.

After the show, we went to get our trailer.  Remember the parking issue in New England?  Well, it totally holds true in Rhode Island.  You're on your own for parking, and we tried forever to find a spot to park our trailer that didn't cost a fortune.  The lot we finally found was going to cost $10 (a bargain here, actually).  Well, after the show, we went to drive out and the parking machine, which was credit card only, wouldn't read any of my cards.  So, the attendant came on the speaker and said "No charge, have a nice day"!  Awesome!

Guess what else is everywhere here?  Dunkin Donuts!  In Cincinnati, we went through a spell of several years where I thought Dunkin Donuts was all but extinct.  They came back strong, though, and slowly but surely they've been popping up all around Cincinnati.  But here... they're literally the most plentiful business you'll find!  As for gas stations- it's strange, as there aren't all that many of them.  We got off at one exit where there were three big hotels, several restaurants (including a Dunkin Donuts, of course) but no gas stations.  We had to drive more than a half mile down a small hidden road before we found the only one.

We drove on to Connecticut.  Tonight we're staying in Willimantic, CT, the site of our show tomorrow.  We also get to stay here tomorrow night, which means NO DRIVING AT ALL tomorrow.  That's a first, and I'm sure the Jeep will be happy!