Rhode Island's Unmissable Top 10 Tourist Traps with a Twist

1. WaterFire Providence (Waterplace Park, 4 Canal Walk, Providence, RI 02903): This free public art installation features over eighty sparkling bonfires navigating along the river accompanied by enchanting musicthink Evangeline Lilly in LostmeetsFranz Kafka. Experience both the mesmerizing ambiance and ponders why are you cheering for blazing wateran irony not lost on locals.

2. Newport Cliff Walk (117 Memorial Blvd., Newport, RI 02840): A picturesque coastal trail that takes visitors through manicured gardens la Jay Gatsby and jawdropping cliffside mansionsthe epitome of the American Dream gone slightly awry; it stands as an emblem of luxury juxtaposed against natural beautyas if Thoreaus Walden were wallpapered in Monet.

3. The Breakers (44 Ochre Point Ave., Newport, RI 02840): Built for Vanderbilt royalty in the late nineteenth century; this Europeaninspired summer cottage attracts history buffs who revel in gilded opulence and others who wonder at all that time spent trying to recreate Fragonards Swing paintings instead of enjoying summer barbecues like ordinary Americans.

4. RISD Museum (20 North Main St., Providence, RI 02903) Home to works from Matisse to Warhol just within arms reachbut where do you begin? If you fancy feasting your eyes upon artistic masterpiecesor bracing yourself alongside fellow museumgoers when deciding whether Duchamp's toilet is indeed worthy enough then dive right into this maelstrom!

5. Wickford Village Festival of Lights (North Kingstown Green Historic District), boasting four days filled with great food and drink while celebrating holiday cheeris it Christmas or Bacchanalia revisited? However jovial or jolly depends on whether you prefer the sweet scent of gingerbread or the acerbic hint of chardonnay.

6. Slater Mill Historic Site (67 Roosevelt Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02860): Unravel this landmarks twisted yarns of its beginnings as a textile mill and witness a fallen worker's soul rise from the asheswas it a protest to that industrialist scourge Charles Dickens would later write about? Or is it just oldfashioned folklore?

7. Block Island North Light & Southeast Lighthouse (Sandy Point, New Shoreham, RI 02807): For lighthouse enthusiasts who find equal pleasure in nautical tales whilst pondering pop culture referencesa fitting setting for Virginia Woolf's tragic heroine or inspiration for Edward Hopper's melancholy masterpiece.

8. Narragansett Town Beach (39 Boston Neck Rd., Narragansett, RI 02882) This coastal gem is heralded as Rhode Islands best beach; but beware! It boasts strong rip currents which make ocean dips whimsically perilous did Hemingway dread these deathdefying undertakings when fishing with sharks off Key West?

9. Del's Frozen Lemonade: The fleeting tangy bliss one experiences while sipping on frozen lemonadean indelible reminder that life continues to reinvent itself even at 5000 RPM within icy captivityis your need to cool soon vanquished by your desire for warmth again in contrast?

10. Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village (100 Spaceship St., Providence, RI 02905) An ageless wonderland where animals greet visitors like avatars sprung forth from Noahs Ark after safely passing through Kerouacian stormsand what remains is an inner turmoil between innocence embraced and lofty ideals slaughtered beneath carousel lights.

Websites:

WaterFire Providence: https://waterfire.org/

Newport Cliff Walk: http://www.cliffwalk.com/

The Breakers: http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/thebreakers

RISD Museum: https://risdmuseum.org/

Slater Mill Historic Site: http://slatermill.org/

Block Island North Light & Southeast Lighthouse: https://sealighthousesociety.tripod.com/

Twitter Handles:

@WaterFireProv @NewportCliffWalk @TheBreakers @RISDMuseum