Providence
Last day of PEARC24 was kind of a waste; the closing keynote was okay, but for what was effectively two full days of sessions, one day of workshops/tutorials, and a half-day final day, it felt like far too much time in keynotes and too many short timeslots for individual sessions as a result.
The plus side of a short final day was time to explore Providence before going home. Den Den Cafe Asiana was a cute place for mediocre Korean food, and it turns out that escaping downtown and heading east of the river-- where Brown and RISD are-- is a much nicer area than the rather uninteresting downtown. Not to slight downtown per se, as it's actually rather tiny and consequently very accessible on foot, but it definitely lacked the character across the river. Brown's various campuses were quite nice, with plenty of typical east coast character, although they lacked any building that could be described as more than modest in height. The Thayer Street area felt a little like Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, at least on my initial five minute impression. Sadly the schedule was a bit tight to explore more thoroughly.
Juuuuuusst made my desired bus to the airport after my afternoon exploring; turns out RIPTA Bus 66 is dirt cheap and is effectively an express from downtown Providence to the airport, so it's almost as fast as driving. Highly recommended if you're staying in downtown or nearby. Final interesting tidbit of the day was a snack at Saugy Franks at the airport, where I hoped to redeem my disappointing lunch with a bratwurst. Sadly the brat was equally mediocre; perhaps being served properly hot off the grill could have saved it, but instead it was lukewarm on a cold bun, and generally full of meh all around.