Last weekend, we took a little unexpected ‘day-cation’ as a family. I live for random and spontaneous trips to nearby gems! It usually starts the same way: husby has a long or faraway errand to run and ‘guess what!?’ there are lots of sights to see on the way! We will use any excuse to hit the road and breathe new air.
This time, we had a few stops to make for my husband’s intense wheeling hobby in Fall River, MA and Westport, MA (that’s a whole other blog post on its own!), so once again, we declared it Family Adventure-Time.
Just after we got off the bridge in Fall River, we spotted the cutest playground with a beautiful view of the bay. We jumped out of the truck in our flip flops, coffee in hand, eager to explore the winding ramps and shaky bridges. We weren’t exactly prepared for the playground, but I decided – the Indians had no trouble getting around barefoot and neither shall we!
Later, I found out the playground we visited was at historic Kennedy Park, which is 57-acres and was originally the farm of John Durfee in 1800s. How cool!
After a quick stop in Fall River to check out what turned out to be an over-priced P.O.S. dirt bike, we crossed 3 bridges, got stuck at the toll both for 7 minutes (sorry for holding everyone up!) finally, we made it to the breathtaking Blithewold Mansion in beautiful Bristol, RI.
This mansion is not only full of historic charm and beautiful views, it also has an insanely diverse and well-groomed botanical garden on the grounds. You can stay as long as you’d like–rest for a while on the adirondack chairs in front of the water or sit in the bamboo forest–all that’s asked is that visitors leave a small donation in the Honor Box at the entrance. My husband and I have a special tree we like to visit…it has our initials in it!
For a small fee, visitors are given entrance to the mansion itself, where the belongings of the Blithewold family are displayed. The home is just gorgeous, and each room displays the time-period charms. If you’re in town, you HAVE to check it out.
The last stop on our day-cation was Westport, MA to check out a big red three-wheeler. I was confused honestly, because my husband had already owned and sold a three-wheeler. I thought we were moving on to four wheeled rides, like go-carts and jeeps. I tucked my reservations into my back pocket and sat on it though, because he lit up with excitement like a Christmas tree whenever he talked about it.
It took him a few walk-arounds and then some ride-arounds, along with a bit of negotiation, but we ended up driving off with a new toy! He has big plans to upgrade it, but he would be better suited to explain the purpose of such effects.
Life is short, love is rare, we all deserve to be happy while we’re here!
Pretty Holistic 