Work has sent me to a number of places, but I've stayed within a 3.5 hour radius of Bloomington/Normal all of this time so far. To be fair, that covers a lot of ground, mostly pretty flat, open ground, but a lot of it. However, this last one took me out a wee bit further than before: Providence, Rhode Island. This is another one with quite a few pictures, my friends.
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| My nemesis... |
So the work itself was a couple shades of difficult, if I'm being honest, where time was against us and there was still a lot of work yet left to do. But my nights were free to my own discretion, meaning that some exploration was necessary.
First thing's first, I had a very harsh reminder that "older" cities are set up a little differently than "newer" ones. Since a number of streets were created before cars were quite as popular, they're simply not wide enough for two cars to pass each other, let alone with another car parked by the curb. Some of the streets are one ways for this reason, some are for preferred traffic patterns, but either way I was less than pleased with the sheer frequency of them. More than once I went past my turn and had to get creative in coming back around to it. Additionally, my GPS signal on my phone went a little squiffy, so I knew the name of the street but not which one. For instance, there were three using the same main name within two blocks, one going one way, one going the other, and another one that was the Ct. version instead. I pulled into a 7-11 and waited for my phone to figure itself out.
Aside from taking the scenic route, though, it was overall a neat place to be, aside from a few places that I was not supposed to go to alone at night. I was told my first day that there was a Dunkin' Donuts at every corner; consequently, each time I saw once henceforth I had to grin. My second full day there, I did make my way downtown to the Dunkin' Donuts Convention Center. These two pictures are from the mall, from either side of it, part of my idle wanderings downtown, sticking with that philosophy that one is never truly lost until one starts to panic.
I had a happy surprise on my flight from O'Hare to Providence. I was approached by this handsome, young sir and asked if my name happened to be Larissa. He was another Skywardian from our main Wisconsin office that I had spoken with a few times but had never met in person. We both happened to be heading to the same city, though different sites. He had also gone through the Providence airport many, many times and was kind enough to lead me through the airport to the baggage claim, car rental area, and even lead me directly to my hotel before heading across town to his own. We made plans to hang out that Thursday night and took an adventure to Newport, RI, which is where that first picture is from. We had a grand time, walking around and talking about everything and nothing (by the end of that week, I was totally on verbal vomit mode) including work politics, life, and a few things in between. It was a fun place to just walk around and enjoy the scenary. At the end, we popped into a toy and candy store and picked up some chocolate-covered Swedish fish. It was the kind of taste that makes your eyebrows knot together as you think very critically about what you have just placed in your mouth. Once Jim described as a chocolate-covered cherry kind of taste, my brain cleared enough to allow continued chewing. We were on the same flight back to O'Hare, too, and it was wonderful to have a friend on the journey.
Jim and I parted ways at O'Hare, flying back to our respective cities from there, though I had met another companion on her way from Providence to Peoria that happened to be on both of my flights that day. We talked a lot about her family and how long it had been since she had been on a plane to see some of these particular members.
I had another surprise centering around my flights. On my trip from Peoria to O'Hare, I sat next to a gentleman named Daryl, and we talked the whole way there. Somehow, I had priority seating on the way back, and I happened to notice the very same man coming down the aisle to his seat. I waved and he smiled back, then looked, confused, down at his ticket. He looked back up, "You're not going to believe this, but we're seat-mates again." And sure enough, I sat next to and had a lively conversation with the same gentleman on my way from O'Hare back to Peoria.
I feel that I would be remiss if I did not talk about food.
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This particular place took their food seriously. Yikes. |
I present to you a study in lobster eating.
Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing.
Then, there was something else that I had to do just for me. I saw a billboard on my way back to the hotel room for Body Worlds. This was something that I did because I wanted to, particularly knowing that I can't always find companions to go with me on this kind of nerdage. If you haven't heard of this traveling exhibit before, they're real, donated human bodies that have been plasticized and posed, allowing you to see their muscles, organs, etc. in real context. It's absolutely fascinating. However, some people get grossed out by this, I gather, hence why I put these pictures last. It's truly a fascinating exhibit, and I would certainly recommend it.
So, in short, I had a good adventure, filled with all kinds of interesting moments. I had a good adventure and met some good people along the way.
**If you do not want to see the Body World's pictures, this would be a good place to stop.**
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Proof that I was actually there.
And, yes, that is a picture of a man holding his own skin. |
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| Nightmare fuel |
