waterfire was awesome on saturday, and the crowd was unbelievable. normally i park in the gov't lots next to the state house, but they were full. luckily the big grassy lot in front of the train station was open (across teh street from the cheesecake side of the mall) for parking (although i watched a lot of cars bottom out there). i didn't really watch much of the sound session stuff on saturday, but i did see roy ayers on friday night... he was awesome. it probably wasn't that organized, but it was still a nice addition to waterfire. i enjoyed the upbeat live music and felt that should've been played through the speakers the whole way down the river. the standard waterfire music is getting repetitive and boring.
the providence train station while nice looking isn't big, and i'm very surprised by that. there's very little seating inside. sure, it's nice to have the big thing on the floor to read, but the inside of a train station needs seating for passengers and those waiting for the train to pick people up.
gtech and the condos will have to have really good retail on the lower levels. the condos look like they'er going right up to the walkway along the river, but i really hope they don't put a restaurant in there that blocks one of the walkways like at citizen's plaza. or at least put stairs going down to the lower walkway before you hit the restaurant so you don't end up wakling into a dead end.
i had friends in from CT and MA for waterfire. it was fun. we got pizza at rocco's (on admiral st, one of the best pizza's in teh city) and then headed downtown. i didn't see the numbers of cops that you mention, but we didn't walk around a whole lot because there were a lot of us.
i actually think the gtech building will look cool if it's done right. i just hope they finish both that and the condos on time so that they don't extend the eye-sore of construction.
i didn't go out to eat on saturday night, but i did friday. i personally love smokey bones (i know a lot of people aren't fans of the chain restaurants in the mall, but this one is good). i have never seen a wait at that place except the night i went to the PC-UConn basketball game. i don't understand why all the other restaurants in the mall have an hour wait while you can just walk in and be seated here. i hope it doesn't close, it's good, cheap bbq.
these hecklers drive me nuts. i don't know what these kids think or how they were raised, but what's the point in screaming insults at someone you don't know? i was running one night on high service ave in north prov and someone drove by and yelled something at me. i just don't get it.
