Next week I will visit my native state of Rhode Island. If you don’t want to hear about the quirks and attractions and history of RI, then just skip this entry, but RI is a pretty cool place and if you’re ever driving from any point in the southeast to any point in the New England northeast, you wouldn’t want to blink your eyes and miss it.
Many people do not know what Rhode Island is, where it is, nor do they care. A few years ago I wanted to buy a gift for friends who had cared for my car and taken me to and from the airport when I visited my family in Rhode Island. I thought that some chocolate and a bottle of wine from Sakonnet Vineyards (a Rhode Island winery) would be a fitting gift. I went to a local Whole Foods grocery store and asked the “wine guy” if they carried wine from Sakonnet Vineyards in Rhode Island. He said, “We don’t carry wines from New York.” I said, “No, Rhode Island.” He said, “We.. don’t.. carry.. wines.. from.. New.. York,” as if I was stupid or deaf. I said, “Rhode Island is a state all by itself and it’s not anywhere near New York.” He said, “Well, we don’t care about those places up there.” (I am not making this up).
Rhode Islandahs are very proud of their rebellious heritage and history. These are just a few of the more widely known (and little known) facts about Rhode Island:
* Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams who fled Massachusetts to escape religious and political persecution. He purchased the land from the Narragansett Indians and also established The First Baptist Church of America. Rhode Island and Massachusetts have since made up.
* Rhode Island is home to the first town established by a woman, Anne Hutchinson, who founded Portsmouth, RI. Doire tangent: According to Harvard folklore, Anne Hutchinson also played a prominent role in the establishment of Harvard College at its site in Cambridge, MA. The story goes that John Harvard intended to found his college (to train young men for the ministry) in the city of Boston. But Anne Hutchinson (before she fled to RI), held weekly gatherings of women in her home to study and discuss religion and the Bible. John Harvard thought that the women’s ideas and Anne’s rebellious religious spirit would negatively impact his young men’s education so he moved the site away from Boston, across the Charles River to Cambridge, where it now, according to one of my professors, stands at the Center of the Universe.
* RI was the first to renounce allegiance to Britain and declare its independence, thereby inaugurating the Revolutionary War.
* RI was the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify The Constitution because it demanded that The Bill ofRights be added (thank you, Rhode Island).
* RI is considered the “birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution” because in 1790, Samuel Slater opened the first water powered mill on the shore of the Blackstone River.
* Rhode Island’s Capital Building boasts the fourth largest marble dome in the world after the Taj Mahal, Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Minnesota State Capitol (again…NOT making this up. Who could?)
* RI is home to the oldest surviving synagogue, Touro Synagogue. Doire tangent: If you are ever in Newport, RI and visit Touro Synagogue, make sure you cross the street and say hello to my brother. He is the proprietor of the only flag store in Rhode Island, Ebenezer Flagg, which is named for a Revolutionary War officer who commanded the First Rhode Island Regiment, one of the first colonial regiments comprised of enlisted black freemen (if they were slaves and wanted to enlist, they would be awarded their freedom) and Native Americans. You can’t miss the flag store. It sits on the corner of Spring and Touro Streets and is built in the architectural style known as a “flatiron building,” which means the structure was built to maintain the integrity of the natural triangle formed by the meeting of the two streets. Colorful flags, banners and wind socks hang from the awnings. My brother’s specialty is custom made flags however, which he can be seen diligently (usually) sewing in the back of the store. If you go to Ebenezer Flagg, he’ll be the one who’ll greetyou with a nod of his head. If you’re lucky, he might even look at you and say, “Hey. Howz it goin.” But I guarantee, you will NOT hear, “Hello! How are you today? Is there anything I can help you find?” He’s not unfriendly; it’s just the Yankee way. Well, ok, maybe it's just HIS way. But tell him you know his sister, or you love the Red Sox and he’ll be friendly as can be. Doire tangent off a previous tangent: My two (older) brothers are the only people on this planet allowed to call me “Lou,” though my oldest brother more frequently calls me “Kid,” than Lou, as in, “Hey, Kid,” “How’s it goin’, Kid?” No matter how old you get, everyone should have someone in this world who still calls them “Kid.” Anyway, they’ve been calling me Lou for so long they don’t even know I don’t like it, so I let ‘em. That’s how much I love them.
To be continued….
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