And now, the official state drink.

So, you ask, if Del's frozen lemonade is the unoffical state drink, what is the official state drink? Why, that would be coffee milk.

People outside southeastern New England tend to be baffled by coffee milk, and dairy executives are baffled when they see that Rhode Island is the only state where coffee, not vanilla, is the top selling ice cream flavor. The state loves it, and after a contentious debate in the state legislature, coffee milk defeated Del's in the bruising fight to become the official state beverage. Cynics might say that the time and money spent arguing over something so trivial would be better spent addressing Rhode Island's seemingly innumerable problems, but good lord people, have you ever had coffee milk? It's delicious!

Autocrat of Lincoln has practically cornered the local market in coffee syrup. Fortunately, they make a fine coffee syrup indeed. As you can see, my bottle is sitting next to a carton of Rhody Fresh whole milk. Just keeping it all local ...

Federal Hill

This is a shot of Ring Street, just down the street from the old folks home. The rubble in the driveway has been there for a very long time. This is an immigrant neighborhood in a rapidly gentrifying area, caught between crack cocaine, graffiti and gunfire on one side, and trendy restaurants, million dollar condominiums and brownstones on the other. So which side exemplifies the soul of Federal Hill, or is it possible for both to coexist side by side? I believe the latter.

Ghetto fabulous

Old Farmer's Market, Providence RI
Originally uploaded by Splintervalometer.

A shot of the Providence Fruit and Produce Company Warehouse building on Harris Avenue, shot from underneath the highway. The property is currently owned by the state, and they have been entertaining bids for the property for a few years without takers.

Art In Ruins has a summary with nearly two dozen photos.

Welcome to Woonsocket

Lisa Griffis has a fine set of photos of Woonsocket over on Flickr. This photo is an artifact of the city's Quebecois heritage.

Fred Benson beach: Block Island

Last Saturday was probably the last time I'll visit Block Island this year. Or will it? I think a fall or winter visit would be relaxing. I grew up in a tourist town, and you get to know more about a place when there aren't throngs of visitors.

At any rate, it would behoove me to start a series of photos of other places in Rhode Island, starting with Providence. I suspect I'll start out with Federal Hill, and branch out from there.

The unofficial beverage of Rhode Island

Block Island 073
Originally uploaded by NetParrot.

Coffee milk is the state beverage of Rhode Island, winning the honor after months (or was it years?) of legislative debate. However, when it's a blazing hot August day at the beach, nothing refreshes quite like the unofficial state beverage of the Ocean State: Del's.

Why, just look how refreshed the exotic brunette in the photo is after digging into the citrusy goodness of a Del's

Block Island photos

Block Island 042
Originally uploaded by NetParrot.

The National Hotel was in an all-American mood, as evinced by the American flag flying end to end on the front porch. I put the rest up on Flickr.