Rhode Island - Day 5 - Providence environs

Crowne Plaza Hotel parking lot, Warwick

Friday, 5 October 2018

today's route

It took a while to get out of the campground this morning, because I knew I wouldn’t have hookups for several days and I wanted to get chores done: dishwashing, sewage dumping, trash disposal.  But not having many miles to cover (this being Rhode Island) meant that didn’t matter.

My first stop was on the southwest side of Providence, maybe in the town of Elmwood, at the AAA office.  I wanted a Providence map and anything else they had.  Which turned out not to be anything I didn’t already have, but I got the map.

As far as I can tell, this map includes about 90% of RI's population, because it covers everything from Scituate (the "c" is silent) in the west to Newport in the east, and from Wooksocket (emphasis on 2nd syllable) in the north down to East Greenwich (pronounced GRIN-itch, except by my great-aunt Alice) in the south.  About all that's missing from the state is what's called South County (technically Washington County) and the western 1/3 of RI.

As an aside, RI has a full 5 counties: Washington (aka South) County that stretches along the southern 1/3 of the state; Kent County, a narrow strip across the middle of the state including Warwick, East Greenwich and Coventry; Providence County, the top half of the state; Bristol County, a tiny peninsula narrowly attached to the rest of the state south of Pawtuxet; and Newport County, attached not to RI but to Mass. south of Fall River and includes Tiverton, Middletown and Newport. I see no logic at all as to how these counties were formed, though I’m sure there’s an explanation back in the mists of history.

So back to this Providence map.  It was an immediate help in trying to maneuver around this area with changing town names and roads that may or may not keep their same name or post their route number in useful locations (or ever).  I kept getting lost but, thanks to the map, got found again right away without wandering all over.

I went from the AAA office over to East Greenwich and the Post Road, aka US Rt. 1 (that runs from Maine down to Florida).  First to the post office, where my sweet brother had sent me my absentee ballot c/o General Delivery.  I really didn’t want to miss this election.  Then I went farther down Post Rd. to a CVS to pickup up a prescription refill I’d called in.

I went a little farther down the road to a grocery store, where I got supplies and walked the dogs and ate a belated lunch.

By then I thought I’d better head back up north to the airport at Warwick – I wasn’t sure how difficult it’d be to find a place to park even for a night and thought I’d better get it nailed down before I tried anything else.

I’d made a list of hotels and addresses from the internet.  The first couple I drove by had very small parking lots so I didn’t even ask.  I stopped at the Holiday Inn Express, where the lot looked big enough and was nearly empty.  But at the front desk they told me they’d be full tonight, and so would their parking lot.  But they gave me directions to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, their sister hotel (they said), which they were sure would have room.

Yeah, you could sure say that.  In addition to their regular parking lot, and the regular lot they reserve for ballroom functions, they have another paved lot that’s as big as a football field.   And when I asked at the desk they didn’t hesitate to say sure, no problem, anywhere.  What luck.

But by this time it was mid-afternoon and I decided to call it a day.