We came to find the abandoned rest stops on 295 while on our regular trips to the WBRU free summer shows. Luckily we went with Keti’s dad to these. His preferred route of travel was 295 to 146 into providence. If we’d have one on our own we’d have just taken 95 and would have missed this cool little location.

As I said we were driving down 295. Keti and I noticed a large blue sign “REST STOP CLOSED”. We kept a close eye out on the side of the road. Then there it was hiding recessed into the overgrown trees around it an old very small rest stop barely visible from the road. We couldn’t stop this time, but we would come back another time.

We came back later to find that we had to park on the side of the road to get up into the place. After a minute of careful consideration we decided that leaving the car there was worth the risk to check this place out. Keti and I grabbed our cameras and Chas grabbed a tripod and pretended to have a camera, and the three of us walked up the off ramp to the rest stop.

Keti upon turning on her camera found that she forgot to bring a memory card so I had her use my camera to take all the pics. After taking some pics we got back to the car, and took off before a state cop noticed we were pulled off to the side of the road and started asking questions.

On a drive up 295 the following Fall, I saw that the rest stops were being used to store building materials. I shortly after found a related article in the RI DEM news. I guess we got there just in time.

~Matt Fallout