I work in the biotech field, and I am fortunate that part of my job is to travel. In May of 2014, I was in downtown Providence, RI for a drug development conference. I was excited about this trip not only for the great science, but also because I would find my first cache in Rhode Island. Woo!! As it turned out, I had very little time for caching, so my choices were limited to the ones around the hotel. There were several nanos down by Waterplace Park, so on my last night I ventured out to find them. The first one was “Providence Nano Series #12: Waterplace Park” by Aerial (GC2RG5C: Archived in 2018 after over 500 finds), a tough to find but very well-placed nano near a waterfront basin just rife with muggles! As you can see from the picture below, it was a gorgeous place to see the Woonasquatucket River and the State House. In the basin were a bunch of baskets of firewood, which I thought was rather strange (you can see them in the picture).
I was able to get a closer view of the State House with another cache in this series, “#11 Station Park” (GC2RG42: Archived in 2018 after over 500 finds). This was another well-placed cache that took me awhile to find. I then got a call from the family back home in San Diego, who were dealing with serious wild fires at the time (we wound up being safe), so by the time I was ready for the next hide, it was almost dark. A number of people were amassing near the basin, and music was being piped into the area, so I decided to return to see what the hoopla was all about. What I saw was a true treat, and something I would have missed if it were not for geocaching. WaterFire! I started chatting with the guy standing next to me about what was going on, and apparently his son is a volunteer for this event, which only happens a few times each summer.
I had not waited long before I could see some shadows appear from the edge of the dock area. A procession of people, each carrying a sizable torch, walked silently through the crowd to the edge of the dock. Skiffs glided out of the shadows of the river, piloted by figures dressed in black cloaks. There appeared to be passengers in each boat, and it reminded me of Charon taking souls across the river Styx! Except in this case it was the river Woonasquatucket. The ferrymen guided their skiffs close to the dock and each took a torch to light the wood in the river.
Soon there was a ring of fire pits burning around the basin, with music to fit the mood. The river sparkled from the rippling reflections of both fire and city. Skiffs glided silently from fire to fire, adding wood to keep the flames roaring. It was a really, really cool event. The vibe was very goth and creepy! Apparently, this was the first one of the year, and had been rescheduled based on the weather and the tides through the river, so I was very fortunate to have caught this event. I wound up hanging out down at the basin for over an hour, watching the boats tend to the fires, and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells, while enjoying the company of a few hundred of the locals. For more information on WaterFire, go to https://waterfire.org/.
Speaking of goth and creepy, my last geocache in Rhode Island was also pretty special. I’m a huge fan of cemetery hides, and also a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, so when I saw a virtual cache at his grave (“H.P. Lovecraft” by Julia GC9497), I knew I had to make time for one more cache. I had no idea that he was buried here and so I took an extra 45 minutes driving back to Logan airport (after getting hopelessly lost on the south side of Pawtucket) looking for Swan Point Cemetery (http://swanpointcemetery.com/). What I found was one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen. A truly peaceful place, with interesting markers, blooming trees, and a true sense of reverence. It took me a bit to zero in on where his grave was, and apparently the cemetery folks monitor people who venture into this area. By the time I parked and walked over to his tombstone, security people were coming my way. I got the info I needed to log the virtual cache, but was told by security that no pictures were allowed. Fortunately, I took one before I got to GZ, so this at least gives you an idea of what the general area looked like. As is so often the case, I had two very memorable experiences on this trip thanks to well-placed geocaches.
