A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Who knew that the Blackstone Valley, just an hour a away from Boston, had so much history? Not me obviously. In addition to all the historic sites, they have a lovely vineyard, Diamond Hill, that offers tastings all year round! The Blackstone Valley is also home to the Stadium Theatre that offers education programs for students, McCoy Stadium that is home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, and the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI. While you’re there, you have to try a “dynamite” sandwich in Woonsocket! In addition to the sites, they offer culinary tours, a fall foliage train ride (October 24th), a Polar Express train ride in the winter (weekends, November – December), and an American Girl train ride to celebrate American Girl’s “Girl of the Year” who grew up in the Blackstone Valley.

Our first stop was the Woonsocket depot for a visit with Hachiko. The dog met his owner, a professor in Japan, at the train station at the end of each day. Even after his owner’s death, the dog continued to go to the train station every day. The Japanese people were inspired and Hachiko became a national symbol of loyalty. In 2009, they filmed “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” in Woonsocket, and this statue stands where the movie was filmed.

Our next stop was the museum of work and culture. This adorable pup was waiting to greet up when we arrived!

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants came in droves to Rhode Island for work in the mill towns. Through the nine immersive exhibits at the museum you are able to take a step back in time and see what their home lives were like, their work lives, and their schooling. The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday.

We then drove to Cold Spring Park for a cruise on the Explorer. The riverboat does a 45 minute nature cruise down the historic Blackstone River. Rides are free on the 4th Sunday of the month, check out their website for more information.

Tours run on Sundays from April to October and are affordably priced at just $10 for adults.

The river was once one of the dirtiest due to all the mills disposing of their waste directly into the water, but they are working hard on cleaning it up – we even saw someone fishing!

It’s customary at the end of your boat ride to ring the bell if you enjoyed your trip.

Every trip needs a break for snacks – we stopped over at Wright’s Dairy Farm and Bakery. Wright’s has been in business for 5 generations, since the 1900’s. They are a working dairy farm and have over 100 cows that they milk daily. No trip to Rhode Island would be complete without coffee milk, and Wright’s sells it along with other milk, cream, cheese and ice cream products. (If you save 100 caps from the milk, you get $5 off your next purchase!) When you walk into the retail space you are immediately greeted  by the smell of delicious baked goods and cake frosting. There are far too many choices here and everything looks delicious.

You can watch them milk the cows daily from 3-5pm. Did you know that a baby cow weighs 80 pounds at birth? I’m pretty sure I’m not complaining ever again about childbirth!

The most picturesque stop on our trip was the Manville Dam. Check out Jeff Culter, pictured above, his photos are amazing!

This is a great spot for a picnic!

The last stop was the Kelley House, located along the Blackstone River Bikeway and the canal. The house was owned by Wilbur Kelley , a ships captain and mill owner. Did you know that in 2014, President Obama signed legislation that established Blackstone River Valley a National Historic Park? It’s the 402nd park in the system! The good news is that there are park rangers here and on the bike path to answer all of your questions! Speaking of bike paths, there are 5 great ones in the area, the East Bay bike path, the Washington Secondary bike path, the Blackstone River Bikeway that runs by the Kelley House, the Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway and the South County bike path. For more information about the paths, check out the Bike RI website. There’s not better time than the fall to go for a nice bike ride!

 

Tags: events, rhode island, trips