PROVIDHENS, ROAD ISLAND

Hi everyone!  Eunice and I just came back from a trip. Wow, it's been awhile since we traveled anywhere other than stuffing our tummies.  You remember that we have been renaming places since we are "discovering" them the way Chris Columbus did.  Our destination was Providence, Rhode Island and now renamed Providhens, Road Island (as in "why did the chicken cross the road" fame).

We took a bus.  Company is called Megabus.  Cheap travel but the buses are really nice.  Comfy seats (even have seat belts), free wi-fi and the cost was $0 each way because that were doing a special promotion.  We asked the bus driver if we could work the wheel.  Couldn't make it happen because neither Eunice or I could reach the foot pedals.

Arriving in Providhens and checking in at the Hotel Providence.  Jim, the bellman, told me that the hotel allows pets.  Kewl.

Nice room. There was a concern about having a feather pillow.  I was a bit upset and simply wanted to hide. Eunice talked me out of it and said that we should just go out there and have a great time.

We wanted to get some ideas as to where to go.  The Visitor's Bureau had an office in the Convention Center, which wasn't that far away and we later returned there for some shows.

This nice lady, Kristen, couldn't understand how we got on top of the sign, since we can't fly.

By this time lunch was in order.  We went to a most fab seafood restaurant called Hemenway's and had a sandwich.  Even though we made nice to the Executive Chef, he told us that we could not rename the place, "Henenway"s".   Food was good!

It was quite cold outside but it didn't rough our non-feathers.  We wanted to go to the zoo.  Tried talking with the giraffe but couldn't yell loud enough for it to hear us.   Saw these poor birds who apparently each lost a leg.  I did get to talk with what I think is a baby wombat or wallaby (not sure), part of the family of Marsupials. I told her that we would try our best to get the "red eye" out of the photo.

Rested back at the hotel and then had dinner at a restaurant called "Local 121".  Loved the food. Did not order chicken. 

We took in a few museums.  One was the Museum of Art, Road Island School of Design.  Eunice got a hold of a book and described what we were seeing is this particular gallery.

We then saw some sculpture that must have cost an arm and a leg.  Hmmm...I wonder why they call this thing a "pecker".

The other museum that we went to was the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson and Wales University.  We made believe eating the make believe food and checked out some fellow chickens. I told Eunice to check out this old meat grinder and tried turning it on, but I really knew that it wouldn't work.  Eunice then threatened to dump me into a pot.

That evening we ate at an Italian restaurant called Pane E Vino noticing that this area was called Federal Hill and having a large Italian population. 

We returned the next day for a tour of a bakery called Scialo Brothers Bakery.  Wow those ovens sure looked hot!  It was someone's birthday so the tour was special.

We wanted to make sure to check out this book store run by Brown University. Eunice said that in no way would we enroll here when it would be much easier for us to get a scholarship to Perdue!

Our last stop was back at the Convention Center where they had two shows.  One was their Spring Flower and Garden Show and the other was a Food and Wine Festival.  

I was going to taste Dave's coffee syrup but there was alcohol in the drink.  We wanted to make sure we stayed sober as it was time to pack up and go home.  Great time and thanks to Kristen Adamo and Brian Hodge from the CVB. 

DINNER AT BICE

Eunice and I went to this delicious and fabulous Italian restaurant in Manhatttan called Bice.  The food was really good but we noticed that there were no female waitstaff.   Tara, Pamela, Rachel, Serene and Laura seemed to be having one of those "Girls Night Out" so we went over to the table hoping to join them.  All tey did was...wine....ha ha.   They were friendly but there didn't seem to be enough room.  We got our own table.

We started with a glass of Pinto Grigio...something about Abati...

Eunice munched on their signature salad

While I dove into the Burrata

Eunice and I shared this ravoili made with veal

I had a fresh pasta with seafood

Eunice said that she loved the carpaccio, especially the "shell" made from parmesan cheese

I was off to the bathroom wen the Osso Bucco came and found Eunice having devoured half of it already.

One of the managers came over to the table.  His name was Angelo Alban.  He has a thing for rubber chickens as well.  I'm sure we will hear from him.

We avoided having a menu item that featured chicken.  Instead we tried to share some fish dish called Branzino. We were a bit surprised to see the fish being served in a filet form as it is usually served whole and sometimes "fileted" at the table. Some restaurants even bring out the whole dead fish for you to look at before it's cooked.  The menu says that they are served with a side of vegetables.  We both hate brussel sprouts. We should have asked first.

Of course we saved room for dessert.  Gelato and Italian cheesecake.

MOVIES AND LUNCH

Eunice and I have been hanging around the house partying with Marilyn and Minerva.  After months of conversational clucks and guffaws, we decided to take a beak...I mean, break and see a movie and do lunch.  We came across this really fabulous AMC movie theatre located in Fresh Meadows...which we renamed Fresh Beakows.  It was before noon so the theatre was charging only 6 dollars to see Les Miz.

We had to purchase reserved seat tickets as if we had gone to a Broadway show.  After handing over the tickets to the nice lady, we went over to the vending machine that dispensed a variety of Coca Cola companies carbonate and noncarbonated products.  The special thing about this was that we could even choose an added flavor as well as go back for free refills.  I guess that resolves the issue here about having 32 ounce drinks. 

The chairs are totally awesome as they are these plush leather recliners and so easy to fall asleep in.  In fact I had to wake Eunice up because she was snoring too loud!   The movie was great!

Afterwards we went to a restaurant called Bud's Ale House for lunch.  I realize that there are certain items at a restaurant that are extremely popular but we were not too keen when the waitress brought out a plate of chicken wings!  We were first shocked and couldn't believe our eyes!

It was replaced by a pile of nachos made from potato chips that had a whole bunch of delicious stuff on top.  We will probably be back and perhaps bring are new friends with us. 

In the meantime, we got word that our friend Merle did go there and have the chicken wings.  We all read it on her blog, especially after the first ordered some at some Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.  Marilyn and Minerva were shocked, Eunice and I fainted!

PET APPRECIATION IN PECKTOWN, MEGGSACHUSETTS

Eunice and I went to Provincetown, which we renamed, "Pecktown"as we overheard that the town would be celebrating pets.   P'Town is supposed to be the most pet friendly place in the United States.  From our observations, "pet" equals "dog".  We did not come across either a cat or rubber chicken park!

The first part of the week was devoted to a Tennessee Williams Festival.  We saw one play at the Provincetown Theatre and met some big shot who runs something.

Dinner was at a new restaurant called Hot L Bar and Grille just steps away from Eastwood at Provincetown, where we stayed.  Checked out their lounge, too...we thought it was a rest room....ha ha.

We met the President of the United States!!!  I guess if we're rubber chickens then the prez could be a cardboard man.

Off to McMillian Pier where we went on a Critter Cruise.   Saw teeny critters and some crabs.

There's a new "doggie park" in front of Town Hall.  Some benches and a fountain with three sized fountains; the bottom one for doggies....but P'Town doesn't discriminate.

Eunice and I had a hamburger at one joint and then saw a Doggie Dining Area, so we chomped on some greens for dessert.

Another day, we went to a place called Sage Inn where we met the chef and had lunch.  Then we took a tour of the herb wall.

The week went on and dinner was at a place called Local 186

The last place we went to was the library where we got a view of a replica of a ship built inside the library....way cool!!

Going through security in P'Town to go back, the lady found us in someone's backpack and was quite surprised.  We explained that we lost our ticket so she let us on as long as we stayed in the backpack.  It was owned by our friend Merle.