The Cathedral in Providence is absolutely breathtaking..... It is almost as if you are in Europe when you walk down the cobblestone street and enter Cathedral Square. Inside the Cathedral was even more beautiful....high arches, frescoes, porticoes, columns, a beautiful high altar, and of course, the beautiful organ, which is actually located on the left side of the worship space on the ground floor of the Cathedral.
Attending mass with not one, not two, but three professionally trained organists (and one sleeping little girl) is definitely an experience.....after mass, we headed back to the Lake House for the remainder of our trip!!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Bruce House Renovations
We traveled after brunch down to East Greenwich, RI, to visit my friend Kristy and her family. Kristy and I have been friends for fourteen years, meeting in 1996 during our pharmacy residencies in Jacksonville, Fl. Kristy is a drug information specialist and now works for the University of Rhode Island. Kristy has two beautiful boys, age three and one, and Isa enjoyed playing with them and all of their toys while we visited. They even went swimming!!!!!!
Kristy and her husband, Chris, have been undergoing a labor of love the past few years renovating their home. They live in a home that was built in the 1800's, and have been working on it for the past several years. The ground floor is almost complete.....when we visited four years ago, there wasn't even a floor in the room that is now the nursery.... The upstairs has been transformed as well... The upstairs will someday have a balcony like walkway overlooking the living space below, two bedrooms and a bath. The vision is coming together.....I told Kristy that the next time we visit, maybe everything will be finished!!!!!!
We had a picnic and visited and then were on our way to mass at the cathedral in Providence....
Kristy and her husband, Chris, have been undergoing a labor of love the past few years renovating their home. They live in a home that was built in the 1800's, and have been working on it for the past several years. The ground floor is almost complete.....when we visited four years ago, there wasn't even a floor in the room that is now the nursery.... The upstairs has been transformed as well... The upstairs will someday have a balcony like walkway overlooking the living space below, two bedrooms and a bath. The vision is coming together.....I told Kristy that the next time we visit, maybe everything will be finished!!!!!!
We had a picnic and visited and then were on our way to mass at the cathedral in Providence....
Sunday Brunch at Lake Pearl
On Sunday morning we all met at Lake Pearl Luciano's for brunch. There were about twenty of us in attendance. The history of Lake Pearl is quite interesting. It was originally known as Whiting Pond, named after the Whiting family who owned a mill there in the late 17th century. It was purchased by the George Family int the mid-19th century and renamed George' s Park which attracted people foam all over the area. In 1885, George's Park was sold again to William Energren who relocated his bakery business there. The Energren family had a daughter named Pearl, who died as a toddler shortly after moving to the Lake. The lake was renamed in her honor, and remains Lake Pearl to this day. Over the years, visitors from across the area came to Lake Pearl to enjoy the many attractions it offered, including a merry-go-round, a band stand with a large dance floor, and water activities. In the 1930's and 40's dancing was at it's most popular and the ballroom at the park was known as the King Philip Ballroom. Many big bands played here including Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and even Frank Sinatra.
The hurricane of 1938 resulted in many changes that really were the start of the present day look of Lake Pearl. For the last thirty years, Lake Pearl has been a popular site for corporate outings and weddings. In 1998, the park was sold once again to it's present owner, Mr. J. Lorusso, and changed the name to Lake Pearl Luciano's. When you enter the building, you feel like you stepped back in time with beautiful chandeliers and Roman columns....the grounds are beautifully manicured a there is a tent set on the lawn where the weddings are held...in fact, there were chairs set up from the previous evening where a ceremony must have occurred.
We were seated on the balcony overlooking the lawn, quite cleverly separated from the majority of the other guests, as much laughter ensued at our table. We had a waitress who was quite the character.....her laugh was reminiscent of Fran Fine (Fran Drescher from The Nanny)..... If you have never heard this type of laughter I encourage you to find it on Youtube or TV Land so that you can truly appreciate this story. During the course of the brunch, our waitress, (I'll call her Frannie), managed to spill cranberry juice down the back of one of the members of our party.....he was seated at the table next to us and all we could see was Frannie patting him down with her dish towel......she also managed to spill coffee on one of our seats, while the person in that seat was off at the buffet......then she spilled milk all over our table. And then, once the coffee sitter was back in his seat, she spilled cream on him. Frannie seemed unphased by the fact that perhaps this is not the best line of work for her. As the story telling was occurring at our table, and Eric burst into his famous laughter that you read about in previous entries and Frannie said to him "your laugh is so amazing" and with that our whole table burst into another round of laughter,as she was oblivious to the fact that she was the source of our amusement..... Poor Frannie. I hope she finds a new career path soon.
What a lovely morning..... Off to visit my friend Kristy and her family in Rhode Island for the afternoon.......
The hurricane of 1938 resulted in many changes that really were the start of the present day look of Lake Pearl. For the last thirty years, Lake Pearl has been a popular site for corporate outings and weddings. In 1998, the park was sold once again to it's present owner, Mr. J. Lorusso, and changed the name to Lake Pearl Luciano's. When you enter the building, you feel like you stepped back in time with beautiful chandeliers and Roman columns....the grounds are beautifully manicured a there is a tent set on the lawn where the weddings are held...in fact, there were chairs set up from the previous evening where a ceremony must have occurred.
We were seated on the balcony overlooking the lawn, quite cleverly separated from the majority of the other guests, as much laughter ensued at our table. We had a waitress who was quite the character.....her laugh was reminiscent of Fran Fine (Fran Drescher from The Nanny)..... If you have never heard this type of laughter I encourage you to find it on Youtube or TV Land so that you can truly appreciate this story. During the course of the brunch, our waitress, (I'll call her Frannie), managed to spill cranberry juice down the back of one of the members of our party.....he was seated at the table next to us and all we could see was Frannie patting him down with her dish towel......she also managed to spill coffee on one of our seats, while the person in that seat was off at the buffet......then she spilled milk all over our table. And then, once the coffee sitter was back in his seat, she spilled cream on him. Frannie seemed unphased by the fact that perhaps this is not the best line of work for her. As the story telling was occurring at our table, and Eric burst into his famous laughter that you read about in previous entries and Frannie said to him "your laugh is so amazing" and with that our whole table burst into another round of laughter,as she was oblivious to the fact that she was the source of our amusement..... Poor Frannie. I hope she finds a new career path soon.
What a lovely morning..... Off to visit my friend Kristy and her family in Rhode Island for the afternoon.......
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