My month in Rhode Island

where I went this month

My take on Rhode Island

I loved Rhode Island, though I wasn’t always convinced that it loved me.  It does need to label its roads better, but honestly, I’ve seen worse.

One of the things I liked best was what a lot of Rhode Islanders like about it too, and that is that it’s not a big state, so the whole state is relatively accessible.  Everybody can get to the coast or to Providence or wherever they  want without a lot of trouble.  Of course, everything’s relative, and every single person I talked to said such-and-such seemed a long way away to them while they also acknowledged it wasn’t far away at all.  And then they’d always say distance is different in Rhode Island.

An example was a woman I talked to who was thrilled to have moved from some city or other (in Rhode Island) down to a coastal community, because now she had the coast right there.  She loved being so close.  You see, it takes maybe a little more than an hour to drive from far northern RI to the southern RI coast.  That’s indeed a long time.  (I’m being sarcastic.)

I think Rhode Islanders must just be spoiled by having everything so close together – they’ve gotten so used to it that it doesn’t feel close together any more.

And the fact is that they’ve got a tremendous variety in the small space they’ve got – everything but mountains.  They’ve got some wonderful coastline areas, lots of pretty, sandy beaches.  They’ve got history everywhere they turn.  They’ve got lots of art – museums and galleries and art colonies.  They’ve got lots of small farms and fresh farm products.  They’ve got quite an amazing number of colleges and universities, considering the state’s size.

And the RI drivers are, hands down, the most polite drivers I’ve encountered yet.  They don’t just stop for people in crosswalks, or to let other drivers into traffic or out of parking places.  They also stop to let me turn around, even when I’ve pulled over to let them go by.  As I’ve mentioned, they’ll let me flag them down to get directions for how to get un-lost.  They never tailgate.  Ever.

Actually, I don’t remember if I mentioned the one time I did get tailgated – I couldn’t believe it because it was the first time it’d happened here.  I was in the left lane because I knew I had a left turn coming up but wasn’t sure where.  But this guy kept sitting on my tail and finally flashed his lights so I pulled over – and it was a cop who wanted by.  That’s my one RI tailgating experience.

Nobody even once honked a horn at me the whole month.  They’re just really nice drivers here.

I guess I’d have to say I got cozy here.  It’s comfortable.  I don’t really understand what it’s like to live in the really small villages, where all the houses seem to be strung along a narrow 2-lane road.  I mean, how do you go visit people when there’s no place to park and you’re too far apart to walk?  But the towns and cities are walkable and attractive.

I liked the whole state, and especially the far north and the coast.  It was a nice month overall.