Start your planning online with a visit to the Newport Visitors Information Center and the
Newport Bristol Heritage Passage sites.

Be sure to explore one or two of the historic mansions. If you have a car, meander along the famous Ocean Drive, a 10-mile route with panoramic views of the rugged Atlantic coastline and the many luxurious private homes along the way.

If the weather is nice and you have good shoes, take in the views along the renowned Cliff Walk. This is normally a 3.5-mile seaside path (7 miles round trip, some of which is paved), but be aware that Hurricane Sandy has closed a portion of the walk, so check beforehand on its status.

There are a number of significant sites to see for those interested in the religious history of Rhode Island. Among them are the state’s oldest surviving house of worship, the Great Friends Meeting House (1699), where Quakers from all of New England convened; the Touro Synagogue (dedicated 1763), America’s oldest synagogue; the Trinity Episcopal Church (1726), which features Rhode Island’s oldest wine-glass pulpit, Tiffany windows, and a 1733 organ given by Bishop George Berkeley; and St. Mary’s Catholic Church (1828), the oldest Roman Catholic parish in Rhode Island, and wedding location of Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy.

Other historic places include the Newport Colony House, a 1739 landmark where the Rhode Island legislature met, the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, and numerous cemeteries, such as Common Burial Ground, a colonial cemetery with a large section of slave and free black plots known as God’s Little Acre (see links to more cemeteries and gardens here).

As for museums, among others you’ll find the National Museum of American Illustration, the Newport Art Museum, the Museum of Newport History, the Naval War College Museum, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Check with Newport History Tours and the Newport Historical Society to see what tours and other events are happening when you visit.

The Biltmore Hotel provides a valet parking service for guests: $15 for up to 12 hours, and $26 for 24 hours.

The Biltmore Garage
Behind the hotel  at 51 Washington St., 401-273-9466
Maximum rate of $20 per day.

Rhode Island Convention Center
Three or so blocks behind the Biltmore, to the east, at 99 West Exchange St., 401-458-6339
Maximum rate of $18 per day.

Union Station Parking Garage
Two blocks toward the river, to the north of the Biltmore at 5 Memorial Blvd., 401-274-4745
Maximum rate of $20 per day.

While Providence is a small city, it benefits from being located in the transportation-rich region of the Northeast Corridor, just an hour south of Boston. For its midyear meeting last summer, VRA Executive Board officers scattered about the country used a variety of travel methods—planes, trains, city bus, etc.—all without incident.

Getting to Providence by air:

PROVIDENCE (PVD)

Theodore Francis Green (TF Green) International Airport (http://www.pvdairport.com/), is located about ten minutes south of downtown Providence, in the suburb of Warwick. Ground transportation options include both taxi (around $35 one way) and public bus transportation ($2 cash fare one way) with both express and local routes to Kennedy Plaza directly adjacent to the Providence Biltmore. Again, please look to the conference blog for further details and links.

BOSTON (BOS)

This past summer I had the pleasure of visiting Providence for the first time. Getting there from the west coast was surprisingly easy and fun. I had never been to Boston before, and that was on my list of cities to see, so I arranged to fly into Boston’s Logan International Airport (www.massport.com/logan-airport/) and spend time exploring Boston before heading to Providence by train.

Flying into Boston was cheaper (at least $100 cheaper) from the west coast than flying into Providence’s Theodore Francis Green (TF Green) Airport (PVD) and I was able to fly non-stop, whereas flying from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to TF Green required at least one stop. Mark assures me that PVD offers competitive airfares (he’s opted to use Boston Logan just twice out of dozens of itineraries) so it will boil down to your origin city and travel preferences.

From Logan Airport you can take the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Silver Line from the airport to Boston’s South Station (http://www.south-station.net/) where you can connect to subways, buses and trains (the Silver Line is actually a city bus and is free of charge outbound from the airport to South Station). I took an Amtrak from South Station to Providence for around $15 because of my schedule, but the Boston Commuter Rail extends to the downtown Providence train station for half that price. The station is then only a short walk from the Providence Biltmore.

NEW YORK CITY (NYC)

It’s also possible to plan your trip to Providence by way of New York City and take a bus from the Port Authority or train from Penn Station to Providence. The Amtrak from New York to Providence can be pricey ($50-$125 one way) so you might consider Megabus or Peter Pan ($3-$15 one way).

So many affordable options! Rest assured, once you’ve encamped at the Providence Biltmore to join your colleagues at VRA2013 in Providence, Rhode Island, the only transport required will be of the pedestrian variety. I look forward to seeing you there!
John

JetBlue kicks off service at T.F. Green

JetBlue adds service to T.F. Green

This is to announce that the deadline for this year’s VRA travel awards has been extended until Monday December 3, 10am EST. We look forward to receiving applications from amongst the well-deserving VRA membership!

Full details are once more copied below:

Visual Resources Association Conference Travel Awards 2013

VRA Travel Awards are available for attendance at the 2013 VRA conference “Capitalizing on Creativity” in Providence, Rhode Island April 3-6. The deadline for receipt of applications will be Monday, December 3, 10 am EST. The list of recipients will be announced on the VRA listserv the third week of December.

A preliminary conference schedule with a listing of workshops and sessions has already been posted at: http://vra2013annualconference.sched.org and information about costs is posted here: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra31/registration/

Before you apply, PLEASE READ “Travel Award Rules and Guidelines”, “Tips for VRA Travel Awards Applicants”, and “Types of Travel Awards”, all linked here as PDFs: http://www.vraweb.org/about/awards/index.html#travel

THE APPLICATION

The form is also linked from the What’s New on the VRA homepage.

You do not need to be a member of the VRA to apply for a travel award, but please note that upon winning an award an applicant who is not a member of VRA must purchase a membership, with the option to use funding from the travel award to do this. This year by removing the membership requirement for all applicants, we hope to draw more interest and expand membership.

In order to allow funding to go further, Tansey awards will be distributed according to financial need i.e. full awards (up to $850) may be given to some, whilst lower amounts may be awarded to others with partial institutional/ other support.

For 2013, we are fortunate to have generous financial support from sponsors and funds provided by the membership:

* The Archivision award of $1000 for a international attendee and/or a media professional in an architecture library or program
* The Gallery Systems award of $750 for a media professional in a museum environment
* The Davis Art Images award of $250 for a conference attendee with partial funding
* The Kathe Hicks Albrecht award of $850 for a first-time conference attendee
* Two New Horizons awards of $850 each. These awards are aimed at members in the following categories: solo VR professionals, part-time VR professionals, geographically isolated VR professionals, VR professionals in smaller institutions, and/or first-time attendees
* The Joseph C. Taormina Memorial award of $250 for an applicant with partial funding
* A New Horizons student award of $300, for a full-time student enrolled in an accredited degree program and considering a career in visual resources
* $4800 in Tansey fund awards ranging from $250 to $850 each

Stay tuned and watch VRA-L and the VRA website for further details about the conference. Please email if you have any questions not answered by the documents noted above.

So don’t delay – apply today!

We look forward to receiving your applications,

Heidi Eyestone & Vicky Brown
Co-Chairs, VRA Travel Awards Committee

Boston’s Best Airport Bars

Cheers!