The microcosm that is Rhode Island.(Column)

I have visited, walked or driven in every city and town in the state of Rhode Island. Of course, just about any other resident of our small state could say the same thing. But this gives us an advantage that almost no other state can claim: knowing or at least being familiar with the entire state and having a mental image of almost every community.

A congested Bald Hill Road; a serene view of the ocean at Beaver Tail; a very old mill on the Blackstone that heralded the Industrial Revolution; a lovely Wilcox Park in the center of town; a McKim, Mead and White designed capitol with the second largest unsupported dome in the world; a Bellevue Avenue with "summer …