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Now a museum where visitors can tour the grounds, Slater Mill is the site of the first water-powered cotton-spinning mill in America. |
A Tank Away
Try a little working class
City with industrial-strength history is baseball capital of Ocean State
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The city of Pawtucket lives in the shadow of Providence. Pawtucket will never have the arts, dining, or night life scenes that Rhode Island’s capital city has, but this smaller, proudly working-class city boasts its own attributes — among them the country’s first water-powered cotton textile mill, the home stadium of the Boston Red Sox’ Triple A farm team, the headquarters of world-famous toymaker
STAY
One thing Pawtucket does lack is guest lodging. There are precious few choices here — actually, there’s pretty much only one. This is largely because the city borders Providence, so there is a plethora of hotels, inns, and B&Bs just a few minutes to the south. If you want to stay within Pawtucket’s borders, you’re looking at the Comfort Inn (2 George St., 401-723-6700, www.comfortinn.com, $110). Happily, it could not be more conveniently located — it’s right on Interstate 95 and just moments from the city’s downtown.
DINE
What it doesn’t have in hotels, Pawtucket makes up for in dining. Virtually any kind of cuisine can be had here — Chinese, African, Thai, Indian, Latin American, nouveau American. You don’t have to travel far to sample the variety, either. In fact, three of Pawtucket’s best restaurants are in the same plaza on East Avenue. LJ’s BBQ (727 East Ave., 401-305-5255, www.ljsbbq.com, $6.95-$25.50) serves up big plates of ribs and pulled pork, and a huge selection of sandwiches and burgers. Rasoi (727 East Ave., 401-728-5500, www.rasoi-restaurant.com, $6.99-$19.99), a bright and cheerful restaurant that serves upscale Indian cuisine, offers such staples as curry and masala plus a big assortment of vegetarian dishes. The Garden Grille Cafe (727 East Ave., 401-726-2826, www.gardengrillecafe.com, $5-$16) is full-on vegetarian, with an eclectic menu that includes grilled pear and asparagus salad, raw beet ravioli, and a tofu-and-tempeh dish called the Buddha Bowl. Across town, La Arepa (574 Smithfield Ave., 401-335-3711, www.laarepari.com, $2.50-$13.60) cooks up a litany of Venezuelan dishes such as filled corn cakes and pabellon criollo.
DURING THE DAY
A visit to Pawtucket must include Slater Mill (67 Roosevelt Ave., 401-725-8638, www.slatermill.org), the site of the first water-powered cotton-spinning mill in America. Often called the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Slater Mill is now a museum, where visitors can tour the grounds, see the old machinery up close, and hear its story from costumed interpreters. Slater Memorial Park (off Newport Avenue and Armistice Boulevard), also named for industrialist Samuel Slater, is nearly 200 acres of green space that houses the Daggett Farm petting zoo, which had formerly been the much bigger Slater Park Zoo. The park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a great place to have a picnic (in warmer weather) or take a quiet walk. Inside the park is the Rhode Island Watercolor Society (Armistice Boulevard, 401-726-1876, www.riws.org), which has a gallery space with regular exhibits, as well as workshops, classes, and “paint-outs.’’ Fans of Nerf guns, Weebles, and Transformers may want to swing by the Hasbro toy company’s head quarters (1027 Newport Ave., 401-725-8697, www.hasbro.com), where you can have a picture taken with the giant Mr. Potato Head out front.
AFTER DARK
Above all else, Pawtucket is the baseball capital of Rhode Island, and around here baseball starts April 7, when the Triple A affiliate Pawtucket
Steve Greenlee can be reached at greenlee@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
