Today I am continuing my reflections on our end of the summer outings. When we are in Rhode Island, we always spend a day at Roger Williams Park in Providence. The park makes me feel like we've stepped back a century and that is appropriate because the park was built in the late 1800s.
I started off our morning with a short reading time by the pond. The view was extraordinary and, as I recall, the weather was quite cool that morning. If you are wondering, I am reading Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South in the picture below.
I started off our morning with a short reading time by the pond. The view was extraordinary and, as I recall, the weather was quite cool that morning. If you are wondering, I am reading Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South in the picture below.
Following my short read, we climbed on the swan boats and peddled around the pond. We ran across a real swan on our excursion. We were later told that he was a young swan and that is why his feathers were brown. Anne quickly recalled Trumpet of the Swan which we read in the spring, because Louis, in the book, is described in much the same way as our swan was described.
Continuing with our turn-of-the-century fun, the girls headed to the carousel. They first stopped to say hello to Mr. Potato Head. Mr. Potato Head was invented in Rhode Island and this large version used to be located in the fantastic playground near the carousel. However, it has recently been moved under the roof of the carousel pavilion. I assume that weather was taking its toll on the big man.
Our final stop of the day was the park's Natural History Museum. Like many Natural History museums, this museum arose from the fascination with categorizing nature that was prevalent in the Victorian period. The museum was founded in 1896 and retains so much of its antique charm. The girls always enjoy the scavenger hunts the museum offers at various levels of difficulty.
As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Roger Williams Park. The park has much more to offer, including a fantastic zoo. If you are in Providence, make sure you stop by this lovely park.
RSS Feed
