Don't be fooled by the name, the Box Office isn't an office where tickets are sold. Even better!…read moreIt's an architectural and design wonder - an office building comprised of 32 colorful, recycled shipping containers on the former Harris Lumber site (formerly abandoned). So why review it? It's a breathing, functional, permanent art exhibit. An architectural and design wonder. A cutting edge example of urban revitalization and green design. And it's right here in Providence, RI. In addition to using recycled steel from the shipping containers, the design incorporates energy recovery ventilation, storm runoff reduction, and light fixtures sensing daylight - encouraging 25% less energy than most office buildings. Current tenants include social enterprises like Maternova, nonprofits like Social Venture Partners RI and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, design firms like Morris Beach Design and Kelly Taylor Interior Design, and a handful of other local businesses, including the 3 collaborators who made this architectural experiment possible: distill studio, Stack Design Build, and truth box inc. Stop by, climb the stairs, appreciate the intentional graffiti, take some photos, and dream.

Basing this review off the aesthetics from the outside. It definitely looks interesting and…read moreinspires recycling and innovative eco-friendly alternatives.

Love this little place located at the end of Post Road in Warwick. Pretty waterfront views, great…read morerestaurants, and pretty park area. Love to come and bring the dogs for a walk here.

Great little seaside village, more than quaint, fun to stroll, grab an ice cream from Dear Hearts &…read moresit in the park & watch the boats. There are usually lots of dogs out for walks. Saturday mornings there's a farmers market at the Masonic Lodge. Lots of cool little shops, Fellini's Pizza, fun tea shops, great place to stroll. Quintessential New England village, check it out.

The restoration of the Oakland Beach Carousel is still progressing slowly but surely. The fund…read moreraising event last month was a huge success and the carving and painting of the horses continues to proceed. New horses, recreated from the old, historic photographs are being worked on by skilled and dedicated volunteers. The carousel still has years to go before it is completed but steady progress is being made. Hopefully, before too many years go by, Oakland Beach will have a replica of the 28 horses and building that once graced the the shores.

Really dedicated people. Volunteering their time and talents to replace the carousel formerly at…read moreOakland Beach.

Walking up to DePasquale Square, I was a bit disappointed if I'm going to be honest. You can't see…read morethe fountain, or the square itself, walking up to it from the street because there are so many tables in the square for the restaurants that flank it. Well we came here for the scenery so we decided to push on and walk in and sit at the fountain for a little bit. And there it was. We were sitting there, the sounds of people eating and imbibing, Italian music pumped in through speakers and we saw the magic. It really did feel like sitting in a square in Italy and I was down for it. There are so many fun details and things to look at. I can see why they have events here and I wish we were here on a night that had a live band playing.

When visiting Federal Hill, the Italian section of Providence, you will most likely spend some time…read morearound DePasquale Square. If Garibaldi Park and the Gateway Arch are the welcoming arms of Federal Hill, DePasquale Square is its beating heart. The quatrefoil fountain and the wide plaza are part of the Federal Hill revitalization effort. Back in the day, however, tens of thousands of immigrant families packed into these narrow streets and triple-deckers. The Cappelli Block (a multi-use commercial and residential building) was completed in 1909 by Antonio Cappelli, one of the earliest Italian arrivals on the Hill, when Irish immigrants dominated the avenue. Along these streets, too, were the famous pushcarts, selling every variety of fruit and vegetable. Today, it's a lively plaza that reminds you of a place in sunny Italy...the colors, the al fresco dining, the architecture of the fountain and surrounding buildings, all make this one of the cutest spots in Providence. On weekends, during the summer you will likely see live performers chanting old songs either as solo performers or groups. Also during the summer, many festivals take place around this square, attracting thousands....

This is one of the most visited streets in downtown Providence. The Holiday Stroll came down…read moreWestminster Street on Dec 5th bringing music and dance to the heart of the city. Many restaurants, cafes and shops dot this street. A great place to hang during the daytime or night.

I never went to one of these before. I feel sorry for all the people who went to this and didn't…read morehave groupons. I paid $25. It would have been $35 or 40 otherwise. The place was busy. There was probably a good hour wait. The first part of the show is a laser tag type thing where you get guns and shoot at "undead" in a type of gallery. Then you get escorted to the "scary" part with fictional stories about the location like tales of dead bodies in the river, etc... The tour literally takes place in an old factory. It is self lead through a dark maze that is basically one "scary" room setting to another with people hiding in places that jump out and try to scare you. As I was walking through, one of the staff complimented me because he was unable to scare me after 2 attempts. The most amusing part was watching my fiends whine about the "scary" place and the person complimenting me.

Def NOT worth it! The wait was super short and they had it set up scary enough to where it could…read morehave been a great time but it was short and it seemed like they lacked enough people to scare us, the hallways in the building were empty.

Warren is located on Rhode Island's scenic East Bay, between Providence and Newport just north of…read moreBristol. Warren is a unique town with both sandy beaches and rolling farmland. You can explore the nice shops, galleries, theatre and restaurants or ride down the stunning East Bay Bike Path that stretches from Providence to Bristol. Visitors can stop by the local library--Warren is steeped in Native American and colonial history, churches, museums and many other historical landmarks. In the past few years, many restaurants have opened near Main Street and the waterfront, making this cute town a mecca for excellent dining and shopping again

Bridges straits and…read morelights The strait between Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay is only about 600 yards wide with a couple of small islands, sand bars and rocks thrown in for interest. A dangerous place to sail through at the best of times and very interesting in foggy or bad weather. So it was recognized a long time ago that some help for mariners would be nice and a small lighthouse was built here in 1855. Only about 30 feet tall and had a small 6th order Fresnel lens that was later upgraded to a 5th order lens. The light not only helped the boats get through the strait but also assisted the Bristol Ferry than ran across the treacherous area. A very useful little lighthouse that did it's job well and prevented many accidents. Then in 1927 the hulking Mount Hope Bridge was built between Bristol and Aqidneck Island so both the ferry and the lighthouse were no longer needed. The huge bridge served as a great navigational aide, as long as the boats didn't run into it or course. The lighthouse remained but since it isn't easy to see from land it was forgotten and slowly fell into a rather sorry condition. Paint was chipping off and it definitely needed so TLC. Fortunately some great new owners spent time restoring the lighthouse to it's former cute little self and now sits proudly under the huge bridge. It's private and never open to the public but good views can be seen from the water or by the landing under the bridge. This is a residential house so don't get too close and respect their privacy. The combination of the looming bridge, cool straits and lovely little lighthouse makes for a very special place indeed.

As an animal lover, I just had to attend brew at the zoo at least once in my life! The zoo with no…read morechildren?! Okay!! This year was my first year in attendance and was lucky enough to purchase the limited number of VIP tickets sold for the event. The prices were a bit steep at $75 per person. I am glad we paid this amount considering the lines that we saw from those regular entry on our way out. They were LOoooNG! . There were lots of vendors sampling not just beers but ciders and seltzers too. You receive one sampling cup on your way in that the vendors (often only 1 -2 manning the booth) have to fill individually which in my opinion holds up the line significantly. Obviously we want to be environmentally friendly so we get one sampling cup but there needs to be a more expedited system than hand pouring hundreds of samples for people. For the price I expected a bit more food/snacks but really all that was free was a sample kind granola bar, a tiny spoon of willow tree and a cube of cheese along the way. I mean, even a little cup of pretzels would've been nice. Probably the most disappointing part was that about 25-30% of the animals were not around :( it was definitely something to experience but not sure I will be running back. The event is held every year rain or shine and this year when I got to attend it was very nice, I'm not sure how much I would've enjoyed it though I f the weather was rainy or not as nice. Again, definitely something to experience at least once especially going the VIP route but be aware the event is held rain or shine if you're expecting to see animals you might be a little disappointed.

. This event was awesome. There were tasting tables set up throughout the park so we got to enjoy…read morethe animals and beers. Lines for beer were not too long And moved quickly. My only issue is the line to get in !!!!! Whoever is in charge of crowd management should be fired. The event started at five so we arrived at five. I didn't see any signs directing us to where it was held or to park. And it's a big park ! There were two Huge lines wrapped Around the park. No one to ask what line was which. Was one for tickets ? Was one line for will call ? We didn't get in until five forty five. Which is forty five minutes after it started. That's pretty crummy. Besides the ridiculous wait I had an awesome Time. I hope next year they have some sort of Plan to control the crowd and get us in when the event starts. I'll Go again for sure.

An island that never…read morechanges I love going to Prudence island. The little ferry from Bristol is inexpensive and just the trip itself pretty nice. For some fortunate reason the island was never really developed which is shocking considering how beautiful it is. There are some houses but I don't think many people stay there year round and any kids probably end up going to Portsmouth for school. We love to bike around the island because even in the summer the traffic is light to nonexistent. Not very many paved roads so a mountain bike is necessary but you can make it around the whole island in a few hours. It even has a cute little lighthouse that you can walk right up to. The views around the island are just spectacular and in many spots it seems you are the only people on the island. An absolutely wild and unspoiled place that always seems fresh no matter how many times we go out there. About the only negative thing about the island is that ticks also seem to enjoy it and repellent is a must. No, there's not much out there, and that is what makes it so great. There is a small store by the ferry landing to buy junk food and drinks but nothing else. That is why Prudence is so special.

Prudence Island is really good at what it's good for, but really not good at most everything else…read more For example, day trips! Not a great idea. It's okay, but really only if you can bike it. It's too big to comfortably walk in a few hours. And a mountain bike is a must; most of the roads are unpaved. Those that are paved, the pavement is very old and pock marked. There's some bike rental places in Bristol a short walk from the ferry dock. There's very little in the way of specific things to do. Mostly you'd just bike around the perimeter to enjoy the view of Narragansett Bay. If something that simple is enough for you? You'll love it! If you want ANYTHING more, you'll be disappointed. Watch out for ticks, too. They're EVERYWHERE. Your dog will have a ball but be prepared to pull a lot of ticks off them. And your kids. And you. Don't wimp out: use the hardcore extra-DEET bugspray and use it liberally all over your entire body & clothes. There are literally no shops nor restaurants. At all. It's almost hard to believe but there it is. There's a small general store with limited food and some curios, that's it. It's usually open only when the ferry arrives. There's also no public bathrooms on the island. NONE. I'm dead serious here. Hit the "head" on the ferry right before you arrive because that's the last place you'll have to "go" (unless you find some bushes) until you leave. The ferry runs five or six times a day from Bristol. It's very reasonably priced (esp if you're not bringing a car) but has a lot of trouble with high winds on the Bay. Don't schedule things too tightly or you can get stranded pretty easily. And there's no hotels or anything like that whatsoever, although the locals are generally pretty friendly and odds are good someone could put you up for the night. A much, much better way to go is to rent a place for a week and plan to do nothing but relax, watch the water, maybe some fishing. Watch the sun rise, hang out all day, go to bed at sunset. Cook your own meals (epic grilling!) and read some books. Watch the birds. That's it. But if raising the concept of doing nothing to an artform is not your idea of a splendid week? I'd recommend going elsewhere. FWIW, the weekly rental rates aren't bad; way better than Block Island or The Vineyard. But they're reflecting the more "simple" lifestyle and lack of amenities. And the "hassle" of having to buy all your food on the mainland and hoof it with you on the ferry, then cook everything yourself. Cellphone service is decent to good, depending on which side of the island you're on; you're picking it up from towers on the mainland or Portsmouth. Home internet is very iffy. Bring a 4G hotspot if you absolutely need internet access. (it kinda violates the spirit of the island though) There's no cable TV, either; some houses get directv/satellite TV. Regular over the air TV is not bad with a good rooftop antenna. All in all, it's a great place for what it is, and a very not-good place for what it isn't. Bear that in mind and you'll have a good time, otherwise, you'll know to go to Block Island or The Cape.