Waterfire

For dinner, Greg brought home some fresh caught lobsters and Sandra had some shark steaks for us to try. YUM. Greg walked me through pulling the lobster apart step by step because it was only the second time I have had one - the first time was at his wedding! Dinner was so delicious and messy.

pyres and waiting people

We headed to Providence for the evening to check out WaterFire an installation on the rivers in downtown Providence that is lit a couple times over the summer. We didn't know much about it and Greg and Sandra had never been - but it was in all 4 of my travel books for Rhode Island - you know the like four pages in each book devoted to this tiny state.

We found it easily enough and parked at the top a steep hill and walked down. There were people milling around and we could see the braziers in the river chock full of wood. I guess I was expecting gas or propane, but they looked like they might be impressive. We grabbed some coffees and found a good spot along a bridge and waited. And waited. And waited. People dressed in all black in flat black boats kept cruising along. They had one torch per boat but they didn't do anything with it. There were also two gondolas that kept going back and forth carrying passengers - but who would want the gondola ride when the fires weren't lit?

they tried to entertain the masses with one fire twirler

Finally - 45 minutes after the time we read it was supposed to be lit, they came and lit the fires. We were doing a pretty good job of entertaining ourselves and there is always people watching. Greg and I kept climbing the railing to crane our necks to see if anyone was lighting fires. Then of course we joked about falling in the river canal. We joked about how to get the thing started by throwing fireworks into the wood piles, or matches, or shooting a flaming arrow. We also made fun of the music which alternated between smooth jazz, opera, and mystical new age.

At first the fire platforms looked puny and lame, but once the fires got going they were pretty impressive. Course by then a million more people showed up. We fought through the crowds to see the rest of the display down the river, crossed over, and came back. It stretches for a mile or so and includes over 100 braziers loaded with wood and burning bright.

It was really pretty and cool looking - but I just kept thinking it would be better if you could enjoy it in peace with ten times less people.