Three State Day

Alan had a paid day off of work today - woo hoo! - so we decided to take a little family road trip. The plan was to head down to Providence, Rhode Island and find something fun to do for the day. We hopped in the car this morning about 9am - just in time for Adeline to have her morning snooze in the car - and arrived in Providence at about 10:30. We went to the capitol building first. We weren't sure what to expect as far as crowds and things around the city, but were very pleased when there were very few people in sight... and all the parking was free! We walked around the building for a bit. It is spectacular. Pretty typical capitol building, and so large for such a small state that Alan remarked that they could probably fit the entire population of RI in that one building :). Hehe.

We stopped off at Providence Place Mall right next door to pick up a map of the city then walked around a bit. Across from the mall is Waterplace where throughout the summer on selected evenings they do something called Waterfire. Alan had learned about it when we first moved to New England but we never got around to doing it. If you're ever in RI in the summertime, however, we've heard it's a really spectacular sight to see.

We were getting pretty hungry at this point so we went to a spot called Union Station Brewery. For you Californians it's a lot like BJ's. Alan and I had delicious burgers while Adeline snacked on grilled cheese, cucumbers and pickles. What can I say? The kid has interesting tastes.

Anywho, after food we decided to head up toward Brown University to get a look at the campus. It is in a very cool location. The buildings are beautiful and old. We would really liked to have gotten out and walked around, visited the bookstore, etc., but kids were moving in and the hustle and bustle of the first days back at school were evident. So after a little drive (hilly drive!) we called it quits.

Overall we really enjoyed Providence. It is a beautiful and very clean city. I would not mind spending more time there. Maybe I'll be a Brown Parent one day ;-).

Since it was only about 1:30 we decided that we were so close to Connecticut (less than an hour's drive to New London), how could we not go??? (nod to Mom ;-) So we stopped by the local AAA office to pick up a Mass/Conn/RI map and headed west! In New London we found a little spot to park right next to the water and a pier and let Adeline get out and run around for a while. She was very grateful. Then we stopped off at an ice cream place to top ourselves off and I was very grateful :). After lunch in Providence and dessert in New London, we decided to call it a day.

Three hours and three states later, we arrived home. The end. :)

Click here to see pictures of today as well as California pix and some other little videos and pictures from August.