We will be travelling to Providence, RI over the memorial day weekend. We have 3 days there and here's a rough plan. Also, we will be travelling with 2 children, ages 1 and 5 Take a day and drive dow
We will be travelling to Providence, RI over the memorial day weekend. We have 3 days there and here's a rough plan. Also, we will be travelling with 2 children, ages 1 and 5 Take a day and drive down to Newport. Visit the Breakers. Spend some time at the Cliff Walk. With 2 children, we plan to visit only 1 mansion since this is not something that will interest them. IS Breakers the best choice? Any suggestions for cruise boat tours- short ones to get out on the water? Also lunch place suggestions that are child friendly? How about Brick Alley? or the Sambar?
Spend a day driving down route 77. Any suggestions for lunch places on the way?
Spend a 3rd day either in Providence(maybe visit the green animals topiary garden and the Brown university area) Also visit WaterFire since a showing has been added for the MEmorial weekend.
or another option is to visit Block Island. Any suggestions? Also need restaurant suggestons in Providence which will be kid friendly.
Nice itinerary. For Route 77, try the iconic and local favorites Evelyn's and Gray's Ice Cream. Or you could stop at the Provender (across from Gray's at Tiverton Four Corners) and pick up sandwiches for a picnic at Sakonnet Vineyards.
It's fortunate that you'll be there for Waterfire. If you are touring the Brown University area, the children would probably like Johnny Rockets on Thayer Street, where you'll find a wide selection of restaurants.
With little ones in Providence, you should definitely check out the Roger Williams Park and Zoo. It's not far, maybe 10-15 minutes, from the East Side where the universities are, and it's great. Incidentally, Johnny Rockets is OK, but it's on Thayer -- and I would steer clear of Thayer Street on Memorial Day weekend. It's usually a nightmare. If you do go to the zoo, head out the back of the park to Park Ave in Cranston and follow it a mile or two to Broad Street in Pawtuxet Village -- you'll still be within just a couple of miles of Providence, so not off your itinerary at all. But there's a great Memorial Day festival in Pawtuxet Village, the Gaspee days arts and crafts festival, which is really family-friendly, and though it makes the village busy, there are plenty of family-friendly restaurants all up and down Broad Street in the village area -- O'Rourke's, L'Attitude, Edgewood Cafe -- that are much better than Johnny Rocket's, plus there's a park, boats, ducks, a couple of playgrounds right in the village to let the kids burn off some steam, and an ice cream shop right on the water. If you're going to Waterfire and need a place to eat dinner right there in the downtown area, you may have trouble because of the popularity of the event -- most people get reservations way ahead to eat close to the Waterplace park area -- but you could try some of the larger places like RiRa or even just go up to Dave and Buster's in the mall, which although not representative of the great food in Providence, at least is kid-friendly, overlooks WaterPlace, and comes with mall parking, which can be helpful with Waterfire going on.
Oh, and by the way -- if you're looking for a good breakfast/brunch in Providence with kids, check out the Brickway on Wickenden Street (but either go early or be prepared to wait!). Also, it's worth mentioning that a lot of the restaurants on Federal Hill will probably be pretty family-friendly, so that's not a bad way to go for food either.
Thank you both for the suggestions. @BKDeRosa: IS it possible to get a view of WaterFire from inside the mall or do we need ot be up by the water to get a view?
It sort of depends where you are, but yes, you should be able to see some of Waterfire from inside the mall. Actually, you'll be able to see it also from the street right outside the mall (Francis Street) -- there are sidewalks and rails as the street passes right over the river. As long as you are in that general vicinity, it's easy to see the fires from almost anywhere in the heart of Downcity. And best of all, Waterfire is free, so you can go down and take a stroll around with the kids. Parking is the biggest issue, which is why I say it's a great thing to get there nice and early, park in the mall, and then you can wander the city with relative freedom and enjoy the fires and the great ambience of Waterfire.
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. We had a fun trip. Very lucky that waterfire did not get cancelled - there were thunderstorms since afternoon - but close to dusk the rains stopped and we got to experience the magic of waterfire. Also we had parked in the Providence Place mall - could not go out because of the rains. We enjoyed icecream at Gray's and had lunch at Sakonnet Vineyards from their cafe.
NEwport Cliffwalk was wonderful - so was Ocean Ave and kite flying at brenton State PArk. We also took a trip down to Block Island.
