Weekend in Providence, R. I.

What a grand weekend we had!  The weather was very sunny and cool but not as cold as is usual for February.  We were invited to spend the weekend with David's cousin and his wife (hereinafter called "the cousins") at their home in Rhode Island, and we accepted with alacrity (our plan to go to Sturbridge's Sleigh Rally fell through due to lack of snow).  The reason behind the invitation was Alice's (David's younger sister) birthday .  The RI cousins had invited her to visit them on Saturday and go to the Winter Market (the kind of activity Alice likes a lot) and casually added why didn't she stay overnight with them (no mention made of our coinciding visit).

We arrived in Providence on Friday and were greeted by Norm and Ted, two very large, very friendly, and quite well behaved Newfoundland dogs.  D's cousins have always had this breed so it was no surprise, but I had forgotten how big they really are.  Huge!  Anyway, we spent the evening catching up on news over a delicious dinner and wine.  The next morning we had breakfast and waited for Alice's arrival.  Of course, our car in the driveway was a give away, but she was surprised anyway - especially when we broke into the Happy Birthday song the moment she walked in.  Fun and mayhem ensued with the dogs having a romping good time in the midst of everything.

We shopped at the Winter Market where we all made some purchases, and then, at Alice's request went off to Johnson and Wales College to see their Culinary History Museum.  Sound odd - maybe even a bit dull?  Well, you would have been surprised.  It was an extremely interesting and informative exhibit of culinary practices, preparation, celebrities, equipment, diners, and more.  We all had a great time as we made our way at our own pace through the different sections of the museum.  I recommend it as a unique activity that had far more appeal than you might expect (certainly more than I expected).  The only negative is that unlike most museums there was no museum gift shop, and the college bookstore closes early on Saturdays. 

We rounded off our afternoon by going back to the cousins' home, collecting the dogs, and going for a walk.  You should have been with us; what an experience!  Later I told the cousins they should have a recording to answer the questions they were asked by virtually everyone we passed, "Wow, look at those dogs; they're so big.  What kind are they?"  "How much do they weigh?"  "Do they eat a lot?" and so on.  Both husband and wife remained patient and polite as they fielded the questions, and the dogs?  Well, they're dogs.  They sniffed all the sniffable places that other dogs had visited, added their scents as well, and generally ignored the questions.

Back home to a festive dinner, birthday cake, more singing, and presents.  After dinner we played a game that was new to Alice and to us, but maybe you've come across it before.  It's called "Bananagrams".  Like Scrabble, tiles with letters on them are turned upside down for blind drawing, but there's no board.  Everyone draws his or her own tiles (the number depends on how many people are playing), and each person then tries to use all his or her own tiles to make words in an imaginary crossword puzzle format (remember there is no board).  The purpose of the game is to be the first person to use all your allotted tiles by making real words.  That's basically it. Yes, more tiles are drawn throughout the game, some can be tossed back, and so forth, but it's very easy.   This game can be played by anyone who is old enough to be able to spell words.  So it's good for everyone from, oh, say six or seven to ninety-six or ninety-seven. 

It was a super weekend visiting with family and doing the usual family things with some new ones thrown in the mix to keep it interesting.  I hope yours was as entertaining!