From the Italian connection to the beach

After 2 very well deserved lazy 2 days where we hardly got up off the couch and just “caught up”

We didn’t realise just how much we all needed this after the last 12 non stop days. 

With cooking, drinking, laughing and reminiscing from 13 years ago, the days passed quickly and gave us time to recover 

Saturday arrived and we all bundled into our cars and headed to Federal Hill. This is one of Jen’s special places and has lots of Italian shops, eateries and other cultural experiences. 

We looked around a bit, stopped for lunch at a pizza place, and looked around some more. 

There was ice still everywhere from the recent snow, which kept the kids entertained as we wandered the streets. 

The following day, Tracy and myself bundled into the car and went visiting the port of Providence whilst the kids stayed behind with Jen and Jay. We went for a walk through the town, then down the back streets to the waters edge where we were lucky enough to see an eagle devouring what looked to be a squirrel it had caught.  

There were some huge mansions along the waters edge, some of which looked like they had been converted into multiple dwellings, whilst others seemed to be still sole occupied residences. 

One of the strangest things we have discovered throughout America - and especially back in NY, is that there are NO public restrooms (toilets for us Aussies). It is the weirdest thing for so many people to not have access to basic amenities. Many of the cafes, Starbucks etc have them, but either can only be accessed by a code on your receipt after buying something, or have a security guard stopping you using them if you haven’t bought something from the store. 

This little seaside was no different, and despite pretending we were shopping in various stores, there was not a restroom to be found - not even at the fuel station where I did fill up the car. 

So we raced back home, did our business, had lunch with the kids, then went back out again to a local beach only 15-20 minutes up the road. 

It is kind of weird seeing a beach with great big areas of ice on the sand and rocks, however this simply gave the kids an extra bit of fun seeing as their boring parents wouldn’t let them go into the sea (something to do with the 2 degree air temperature, no towel or bathers and a bit of common sense).

 

We found some public toilets but this time they were locked. We later found out this is because during winter the water pipes freeze and burst and the patronage is low, so the council just locks them. 

To avoid any embarrassment, we chose to frequent one of the local cafes and buy ourselves a bag of donuts and use their amenities as part of the price. Worth every cent I say. 

This evening then became the night we all decorated our own stocking ready for Christmas morning. This was simply using a range of glitter glue in a bottle from the dollar shop and squeezing out whatever came to mind and was within our non-arty ability. This is far from any activity we would normally choose to do ourselves, however with the strong American influence from Jen, we found it to be a really fun time together as a family, albeit a little competitive between whose looked the best. Not sure how that argument started as mine was always going to win 😎.