Slater Memorial Park – Pawtucket, RI

http://www.experiencepawtucket.org/tabid/210/Default.aspx

We decided to venture further South into RI and hit upon Slater Park. Slater Park is the oldest and largest public park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It is an enormous place with lots to do.

Our first stop was the playground. A seemingly new and modern playground with lots of climbing structures for my two little monkeys. We were told there was a farm next door and decided to check it out. Sure enough, we walked right into Dagget farm complete with a plant nursery, some random animals and a whole mess of kiddie coupes and things strewn about to ride.

After a brief tour of the donkeys, we headed back towards the playground and made a stop at the cafe for ice cream. After making a complete mess with the popsicles all over themselves, the kids found a stage in the middle of the park and put on a show. The show didn’t last too long because they spotted a beautiful white bird sitting at a picnic table. After a visit with Angel, the parakeet, who apparently was just visiting with her owner, we decided to go check out the other side of the park.

On the other side is the Looff Carousel, built in 1852, which is apparently the  oldest Looff “stander carousel” in the world. To be honest, I didn’t know what a stander carousel was but soon figured it out when our horses didn’t move up and down. To make up for it though, the carousel goes super fast, all the while playing old school organ music; to the point where I had to legit hold on. After a few 50 cent rides, we grabbed some popcorn and headed on our way.

We had hoped to ride the swan boats while there but ran out of time. Kids were pooped by this time anyways. The park also has baseball fields, tennis courts, biking/running trails, swan paddle boats and more to explore.

Few things to note:

• You have to drive through some rough areas to get to the park
• There are bathrooms by the cafe/playground