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Rhode Island
Looking for inexpensive ways to have fun with the grandkids in RI? Here are 12 ideas.
The New Save the Bay Aquarium Opens in Newport
Take a sneak peek at Save the Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium opening in Newport.
Few things compare with the joy of spending time with your grandchildren, and whether you’re the cool Glamma or the wise Pop, sharing fun adventures can help create an indelible bond between generations.
The next time you’re babysitting, try some of our top suggestions for inexpensive ways to create memories around the Ocean State.
What’s new at the zoo?
Roger Williams Park Zoo (rwpzoo.org), Elmwood Avenue, Providence. Your littlest charges will marvel at the size of the camels, tortoises and giraffes lumbering about the zoo’s meandering paths, and then eagerly pet goats and sheep in the farmyard. Older kids will enjoy learning fun facts about how gibbons announce themselves to the jungle or how dyeing poison dart frogs emit toxic chemicals. “Return of the Dinosaurs” also returns April 6 with almost 60 life-size animatronic and interactive creatures to behold. Take a break on Explore and Soar, where you can see the park from the air on a zip ride and tour the woodlands by train. Spring hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday, and on holidays and school vacations. Tickets are $22 for ages 13 and up, $18 for seniors, $16 for ages 2 to 12 and free for age 1 and under.
Learn while playing at Providence Children’s Museum
Providence Children’s Museum (providencechildrensmuseum.org), 100 South St., Providence. While their motto is “Play Every Day,” the secret to the museum is that kids can learn while they’re having fun pouring and damming flowing water, experimenting with shapes and fiddling with real tools in the innovation lab. Littlewoods allows children up to age 4 to burn some energy by climbing a tree house and exploring a bear cave. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Admission is $17 for adults and children over 1, free for ages 1 and under.
Get in touch with sea creatures
Biomes Marine Biology Center (biomescenter.com), 6640 Post Road, North Kingstown. Let the kids get hands-on with shrimp, horseshoe crabs, octopi and small sharks in the facility’s touch tanks. Docents explain native and tropical residents, and a feeding schedule allows visitors to watch. The littles can enjoy educational activities, books and toys in Ruby’s Play Center, where rescued hermit crabs, geckos and a bearded dragon are kept. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. daily, and admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and children ages 3-12, and free for age 2 and under.
Save The Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium (savebay.org/family-fun/aquarium), 23 America’s Cup Ave., Newport. This new museum features 13 exhibits that focus on Narragansett Bay habitats – from the rocky shore to its deeper waters – featuring local species that come from – and are returned to – Narragansett Bay. The aquarium offers 7,000 square feet of discovery opportunities, complete with three touch tanks with sea stars, horseshoe crabs and sharks, and an augmented reality watershed model. Hours are Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $15, $13 for seniors and free for ages 2 and under.
Explore the wonders of nature
Audubon Nature Center & Aquarium (asri.org/learn/naturecenteraquarium), 1401 Hope St., Bristol. Head out on a guided walk or take a birding class with trained docents who will help you spot everything from tree frogs to tidepool creatures to pollinators in a specially designed garden. The 28-acre wildlife refuge on Narragansett Bay offers ADA-certified walking trails and a boardwalk through fresh and saltwater marshes. Bikers and walkers are allowed on the trails. The calendar includes events for all ages, and sensory days are perfect for those on the autism spectrum. Hours through mid-April are Wednesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; trails and grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for children ages 4 to 12 and free for ages 3 and under.
Museum of Natural History and Planetarium (providenceri.gov/museum), Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. The sky’s the limit for the fun you can have at this gem, which combines a collection of taxidermy, flora, rocks and oceanic artifacts with dazzling planetarium shows in the dome theater. Check the calendar for other activities, such as guided bird and plant walks through the park and a variety of events for school vacation week. The museum is open weekends, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with planetarium shows (open to ages 4 and up) at 2 p.m. Admission for the museum only is $2 and free for ages 3 and under. For both the museum and planetarium, the cost is $5 person, and planetarium tickets must be purchased online. Children must be at least 4 years old to enter the planetarium.
Tennis, anyone?
International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), 194 Bellevue Ave., Newport. You don’t have to play – yet! – to appreciate the history and highlights of tennis. Browse the bios and artifacts from 267 inductees from 28 countries, follow the sport’s evolving fashions and browse the array of tennis-themed toys. The facility reopens after renovations on May 15. Hours are daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $20; $17 for seniors and students; and free for ages 12 and under.
Space exploration in Charlestown
Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center (frostydrew.org), 61 Park Lane, Charlestown. Open every Friday night and for special events, the observatory offers a variety of telescopes through which to view the galaxy under its 18-foot dome. The equipment – with guidance from trained volunteers – can track more than 80,000 deep-space objects, 200 million stars, the rings of Saturn, moons of Jupiter, nebulae and more. When the weather is inclement, there’s a Science Center to explore and presentations in the Sky Theatre. Hours change with the season, so check their website before you go. Admission is free, but a donation of $5 per person is appreciated.
Golf for the whole family
Mulligan’s Island (mulligansisland.com), 1000 New London Ave., Cranston. Everyone loves a fun game of mini golf, and this is one of the largest in the area. Share some friendly competition through the volcano and around other obstacles, hit the driving range, freshen your swing in the batting cages or, when it gets warmer, watch a beach volleyball game. Food Truck Fridays begin again on May 2. Mini golf admission is $14 for adults and seniors, and $9 for juniors. One round in the batting cage is $3.
Learn about lighthouses at Beavertail
Beavertail Lighthouse Museum (beavertaillight.org), 800 Beavertail Road, Jamestown. There’s plenty to do in Beavertail State Park – from hiking to saltwater fishing to picnicking beside the crashing waves. On weekends from May 17 through June 22, and then daily through Labor Day, check out the museum, where you can learn about the function of the light (the third-oldest lighthouse in the U.S.) and the arduous life of the keepers. On select dates, you can climb to the top of the lighthouse tower. From June to mid-October, visit the Beavertail Aquarium, located in the lighthouse’s old foghorn house, with tanks that simulate the state’s shoreline environment and offer shellfish, crabs and fish to discover. All exhibits are free.
Soak up some culture at RISD Museum
RISD Museum (risdmuseum.org), 20 North Main St., Providence. You’ll just need one word to captivate your grandkids: mummy. Nesmin is the resident mummy, and he sits in just one gallery in this expansive museum. Ancient Egyptian lore mixes with the history of photography, ancient ceramics, Philippine textiles and contemporary enamels. Exhibits delve deeper into themes of artwork, metalwork and more. Admission is free on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. Hours vary. Admission at other times is $22, $17 for seniors, and free for age 18 and under.
Try a family-friendly hike
Simmons Mill Pond Management Area, 212 Colebrook Road, Little Compton. Dubbed the most family-friendly hike by The Journal’s Walking Rhode Island columnist, John Kostrzewa, this 433-acre preserve features wide, flat paths lined with dozens of hand-lettered signs giving information on the trees, wildlife and rocks you’ll pass as well as some of the area’s rich history. Extend your hike on one of the many well-marked trails circling six ponds and an old grist mill site.
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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