Providence, Rhode Island and Concord, New Hampshire. Both small cities, and yet each the capital of its respective New England state. Both cities oozing with colonial charm and vibrant culture. Both with plenty to draw the visitor. We were able to visit both during our vacation in the U.S. between bouts of global volunteering. And in each one, we were able to spend some time at a new point of interest that we found quite fascinating.

First off, though, we enjoy an Easter day brunch with several friends and their relatives. At an Indian restaurant. With a server from South America. Perfect choices for Easter, right? But as excellent as this meal is, the restaurant is not the attraction we refer to.

No, that would be Level 99, an entertainment venue that is state-of-the-art to the nth degree, the kind of recreational facility that all the sci-fi books and movies have been forecasting. And now it’s here. It’s also in a few other cities but this one in Providence, opened in 2023, is of particular interest to us, since this is where we are at the moment, and our son Zephyr has scouted it out already.

Level 99 is situated in Providence Place Mall, which was the site of a rather unusual story a few years back. A group of 8 artists secretly set up an apartment in an unused, concealed space in this mall, and lived there for four years before they were finally detected, evicted, fined and banned. A documentary was made about the experience called, appropriately, Secret Mall Apartment, incorporating some of the ample footage shot by the artists themselves. And lo and behold, this film is screening in the cinema in this very mall at the time we are in town. (The ringleader of the guerilla artists, despite having been banned from the property for life, was allowed to return for the film’s premiere.) We really want to come and see it, because it would just be so fitting. But alas, the timing just doesn’t work out. Big sigh.

Level 99 is the kind of high-tech immersive playground that could not have existed a few years ago, because the technology wasn’t available. It’s a huge space with more than 50 themed rooms, each presenting a unique timed challenge, requiring anywhere from one to four minutes, for teams of 2 to 6 participants.

In some challenges, you might work as a team to roll balls across a slanted surface without dropping them into holes. In others, you swing on a rope Tarzan-style and try to land on small, precarious platforms without falling off as you make your way across the room. In others, you solve visual puzzles. In one, you dodge rows of giant swinging axes (which of course do not have sharp edges). If you don’t complete a challenge successfully or spectacularly (and you usually don’t), don’t panic; you can always go back for a repeat. And a repeated repeat and so on.

To make the venue even more intriguing, the corridors around the rooms are adorned with the work of local artists, some 50 of them in all. Quite an appealing feast for the eyes as you make your way between challenges for the various senses. It completes the circle, a collaboration of artistry and cutting edge technological entertainment, making Level 99 a memorable encounter in more ways than one. If you’re ever in Providence (or Natick, MA or Tysons, VA among others), a half day or more at Level 99 would be well worth your time.

The other attraction we mentioned is just about as much a polar opposite as you can get. It’s low-tech, low-budget, and modest scale; and deals with recycled and repurposed items rather than the brand spanking new. To access it, we have to travel a few hours to Concord, which requires a train from Providence to Boston and then a bus to Concord.

Of course, we don’t go just to check out a business. We also go to visit some old friends — who happen to be the founders of the business. We’ve known Kiaya since she was about 6 or 7 years old, and was a playmate of our son during a period of time that we spent in Los Angeles (when we weren’t on the road performing). Now they’re both living on the other side of the country. Kiaya has a husband and son, and now, she has a fantastic new endeavor going.

It’s called DIY Craft and Thrift (or DIY CAT), and it fills a sorely needed niche for anyone who dabbles in arts and crafts — which is, or really should be, just about everyone. It’s an especially vital supplier since JoAnn Fabrics went kaput. But it’s even better than JoAnn in many ways, because as the name implies, it’s a thrift store — all the goods are donated, and thus sell at bargain prices.

And because the merchandise is all donated, you never know what you’re going to find. There are the usual paints and stationery and cloth that you’d expect, as well as a tsunami of crochet needles of all sizes. But there are also oddments such as knickknacks of various thrift store varieties, and we even find a ukulele assembled from a kit. (Dennis was very tempted to acquire it, as he has really missed his baritone uke that is currently being stashed elsewhere in the States.) The stunning variety of wares really would have made our mouths water back in our days of doing theatre, when we always strove to fashion imaginative props from recycled objects.

And we do have plenty of opportunity to sift through the goods, because that’s our “job” for 3 days. We volunteer to help our friends out by digging through, culling, sorting and displaying the mountains of donations that have accumulated. This business is located in the building formerly occupied for 30 years by CVS Pharmacy, so it has a spacious display floor, back rooms, and basement — and comes equipped with a conveyor belt to consign the rejected items to the nether regions, whence they can be whisked out to the dumpster hungrily waiting in the alley.

The store is located on Main Street and therefore is, as you might expect, right in the heart of downtown, not far from the quaint and scenic Capitol (statehouse) with its golden dome, a Greek Revival architectural gem that has stood watch for more than 200 years. Next door to DIY CAT is a bakery/ cafe that makes pretty good coffee, and always has an ample supply of day-old bagels in the morning that we partake of.

On Saturday there is a local “farmers’ market”, still being held indoors at this time of year, though it appears to be more of a gourmet’s market.. But it does feature locally and regionally produced produce and products. A distillery is offering some rather pricey spirits that you may not find in your local liquor store, such as a mushroom and berry flavored cordial (we sampled) and whiskeys in a bizarre range of flavors, including… would you believe… crab. (We passed.)

There is plenty of room for both the affluent connoisseur of offbeat liquors and the bohemian artisan patron of second-hand stores in this compact city of 44,000, which gives off the vibe of being just one big community. And our friends at DIY CAT aim to serve the needs of the community not only by providing bargain-priced materials, but also by providing studio space and hosting classes and meetups. The venue is shared with an artist collective called Art Alley Cats, and with Queerlective, which bills itself as a “community-powered arts organization that uplifts queer and BIPOC voices through creative expression, storytelling, and collective action.” Which heaven knows is desperately needed in these times.

If you’re ever in Concord, then by all means you’ll want to check out its historical landmarks such as the statehouse and the Kimball Jenkins House, which we investigated at length on a previous visit. But you’d also do well to drop by DIY Craft And Thrift and say howdy. You might not think you have any reason to go there. But you do. Trust us. You never know what you’re going to discover there, but chances are it will be something to get the creative gears in your head rolling — maybe even gears you didn’t know you had up there.

Events occurred 4/20 – 27/2025