With the warmth of the summer sun still high overhead and blessed with a cool fall breeze and deep blue skies, early autumn is a great time to explore the natural treasures our beautiful state has to offer families. Two Sundays ago was a great day to do just that so we headed to the Audubon Society’s Environmental Education Center on Hope Street in Bristol. It was such a gorgeous day to be outside, we knew we had to take advantage of it and enjoy the weather.

The EEC has two great aspects to it; first the actual education center, which houses interactive exhibits and local habitats like a tidepool and the walking trail with a quarter-mile boardwalk winding through fresh and saltwater marshes and along the East Bay Bike Path. At the end is a breathtaking view of Narragansett Bay. Our girls had fun exploring the EEC with its scavenger hunt activity, looking inside a 33-foot life-size whale and holding a starfish and learning how it moves about. With the picture perfect weather, strolling on the boardwalk was a simple activity that seemed majestic. We spent a good 20 minutes peering over the rails trying to see well-camouflaged frogs in the marsh.  As adults, I think we sometimes take the natural beauty of our state for granted. We enjoyed the
perfect family time activity together – spending time together outside on a
beautiful fall day.