Considering how close Providence is, I am surprised it took us this long to find our way here.
Stopping for lunch at the Brewery was perhaps the biggest mistake we made. Don’t get me wrong- the food was wonderful, the atmosphere- even better, and they handled our two mini-monsters quite well!
The mistake was only realized once we entered the Roger Williams Zoo, and found that we had less than 45 minutes to cover quite a large area.
Enter mistake number two.
Considering our zoo visits are typically the highlight of our trips, we probably should have had a quick huddle, and decided on a new plan of action. Instead, we tried to rush through the zoo. The weather was not enjoyable, either, so we figured we wouldn’t have wanted to dawdle, anyway- but still. It wasn’t nearly as fun to rush from animal to animal, and duck under cover whenever possible.
This was definitely not the largest zoo we’ve come across, and the weather certainly didn’t help things. If I remember correctly, it seemed like a number of areas were closed off to the public- Some seemed to be private functions that were being set up, and others perhaps for the Halloween Events that were going to be starting soon. The accessible areas were decked out for the holiday, and we enjoyed seeing the decorations.
The upside to having a smaller area to cover was that while we brought the stroller, we ended up letting the kids walk most of the way. The weather and timing resulted in a very uncrowded zoo, so they were able to run from exhibit to exhibit, and they loved it. 
This was the first public area that we allowed them this little bit of freedom, and they handled it so well. They stayed with us, listened to us at all times, and stayed out of everyone else’s way.
All in all, it wasn’t the greatest day for a stop at the Zoo, and we didn’t help things by showing up so late. We’d love to have a do-over, and promise to plan things a little better next time!
After the Zoo, we headed to the Biltmore.
I have to say this was a fantastic choice of hotel for our stay. It suited our needs, almost perfectly. We booked a King Suite, and we were very impressed by the spacious room. There was plenty of room in the bedroom for our two pack and plays, and the living space was roomy enough for the kids to play on the floor without getting in our way at all.
We found a place to stash the stroller (unfolded, saving us time and trouble- no need to empty and refill the basket, which was holding the diaper bag!)
Passing the kitchen and bathroom, you’ll find the bedroom to your right, and the living area just straight ahead.
The one concern we had was the bedroom’s french doors. They were glass. We always try to find a suite so we can put the kids to bed, and then close the door and spend some quality time together before we join them- but if the doors were glass, we weren’t sure if that would work. We were able to come up with a solution involving the bedspread and I’ll just leave it at that. It worked, but I now have a new question to ask when renting a suite.
We were also pleasantly surprised by the hotel’s location. After we had moved into the hotel, we were off to try to catch WaterFire. We had some time before it would start, so we took a quick walk to find food, and check out the WaterFire event happenings. There was an addiitonal event running that weekend, so we wandered through their expo as well. It was finally dark, so we moved toward the water, to ohh and ahh at the beauty. There was a wedding reception, and the bride and groom got some amazing photos- what a great idea! Speaking of weddings, we were on our way back to the hotel that evening when a friend texted me to let me know she had gotten engaged… It was the only way to make an awesome day and night any better!
We were a little unsure of how the kids would do being out so close to their bedtime, but we thought they would love to see WaterFire, and they were definitely impressed. They behaved so well, and really enjoyed the people watching, too!
Once we returned to the hotel, the kids went right to sleep, and we weren’t all that far behind them. We had another fun-filled day planned, so we wanted to make sure we all were well-rested!