Play Is the Point: Caroline Payson and the Providence Children’s Museum

<p>Caroline Payson didn’t grow up going to museums. She was raised in South Boston by deaf parents and was the first in her family to go to college. From there she found her way to the Cooper Hewitt in New York. Today she leads the Providence Children’s Museum, which turns 50 next year.</p> <p>In this episode, Caroline explains why the museum is built around play and what it means to give kids “ownership” of a place so they’re never intimidated by a museum again. She talks about how roughly 40% of visitors come in free or at a reduced rate, shares her favorite thank-you note from a parent, and walks us through how a new exhibit goes from idea to museum floor.</p> <p>We also get into insider tips for visiting: why you should never start in Waterways, how fast a membership pays for itself, and the 4:00 trick that lets the museum be the bad guy at closing time. Plus, she previews the museum’s fall events and the return of sock skating.</p> <p>If you’ve ever had to peel a kid off the doors at closing time, this one’s for you.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Some coffee shops are just coffee shops. Rise 'N Shine Coffee Bar, tucked into Providence's Smith Hill neighborhood, is something closer to a restoration project you can order a latte in.</p> <p dir="ltr">Owner Neal Kaplan came to Providence decades ago for graduate work at RISD, ended up renting a studio in a Smith Hill carriage house, and never really left — eventually buying that same building and spending years learning what it used to be. He talks with Alana and Nick about tracing the building's history through old phone books, discovering it had once been a shoe repair shop, and building a replica of Providence's original train station shoeshine stand as a nod to that history (and to his own great-grandfather, who was a cobbler).</p> <p dir="ltr">The conversation covers the building's deeper past too, from its 1858 origins as a horse-and-buggy stable to its stretch as a WWII-era manufacturing site, and how Neal and his staff develop the cafe's menu together. It's a good listen for anyone curious about what's hiding behind an old Providence storefront, and a reason to check out a corner of the city that doesn't always get the attention it deserves.</p> <p>Be sure to follow Rise N Shine on socials below:<br> <a href='https://www.instagram.com/risenshinecoffeebar/'>@risenshinecoffeebar</a></p> <p><a href='https://www.risenshineri.com/'>risenshineri.com</a></p> <p>Show Notes</p> <ul class="data-monday-blocks-wrapper"> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:01:51 — Introducing Neal Kaplan and Rise and Shine Coffee in Smith Hill</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:02:12 — Neal's path to Providence: RISD grad school and early art background</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:02:50 — Finding a studio in Smith Hill's old industrial complex in the early 1980s</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:03:44 — Still in the same building 45 years later</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:04:09 — From studio tenant to building owner to contractor</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:05:16 — First considering a cafe — and a feasibility study that said not to</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:06:29 — Building other Providence-area cafes first (Nitro Bar, Coffee Exchange, and more)</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:08:12 — Restoring the carriage house in 2020, timed with the pandemic</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:09:01 — Developing the name, interior concept, and menu</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:09:13 — Where "Rise and Shine" actually comes from</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:09:31 — Researching the building's past through decades-old phone books</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:10:27 — The building's manufacturing and WWII-era history</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:11:00 — Boarded up for 20 years after the highway went through</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:11:29 — Original architectural details preserved inside</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:11:57 — Built in 1858 as a horse-and-buggy stable</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:12:23 — The Christopher Dodge House next door</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:12:23 — The building's cobbler and shoe repair history</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:12:56 — Building a replica of the original train station shoeshine stand</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:14:31 — A favorite corner of the cafe</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:14:42 — How the creative drink menu comes together</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:15:03 — Monthly staff meetings and barista-driven recipe development</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:16:30 — Comparing barista craft to mixology</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:17:31 — Why Smith Hill deserves more attention</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:18:12 — How close the neighborhood really is to downtown</p> </li> <li class="monday-block-5"> <p>00:19:02 — The outdoor patio</p> </li> </ul>

<p>When visitors arrive in Providence, Phyllis Blanchette is often one of the first people to welcome them.</p> <p>In this episode of PVD POV, GoProvidence Visitor Services Manager Phyllis Blanchette takes us behind the desk at the Providence Visitor Center. She shares how answering a newspaper ad for a volunteer opportunity launched her career in tourism, what brought her back to Rhode Island and why personal recommendations still matter in the age of smartphones.</p> <p>Phyllis also shares some of her most memorable visitor stories, from helping international soccer fans explore Rhode Island to finding emergency dental care, arranging last-minute transportation to Block Island and meeting a sixth grader whose Rhode Island book report inspired her family’s summer vacation.</p> <p>Plus, hear how the Visitor Center’s volunteers explore Providence so they can help travelers experience the city like a local.</p> <p>Listen to PVD POV wherever you get your podcasts.</p>