Today the group wakes up at 9:00 and heads down to the lobby half an hour later for breakfast. We spend our free drink tickets on lattes and brownies posing as ‘cookies’. Soon after the group leaves for the day. We designate roles for the first time and let points Lillian and Tristen lead us to the History Museum just south of town.
On the way in we walk past a pair of whale teeth the size of streetlamps. Staring at insects, taxidermied mammals, and birds we wander though the wide halls in awe. On the edge of the furthest room lies a beehive encased in wood-trimmed glass stained with spots of burnt yellow. Inside hundreds of bees crawl around each other–some through a clear tube to the outside. After a while starting at bees we mosey to the second floor (painted black) to learn about space.
Cases of elements found on stars, models of spacecraft, and specialized moon vehicles corner the room. Nearby we pass some astrophysicists showcasing a model of the how the moon may have been created with molten rock. They also give us stickers. The last room holds artifacts from Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia–tools, decorations, and even massive birds which travel across the pacific ocean.
After an hour or so we leave to explore the park we find ourselves in. Although the botanical garden is closed we find a few trees to climb next to Edgewood lake. The group is officially ready for lunch. A local market has everything for dinner (which we buy), but we head back into town for a stop at a Japanese grocery spot for sushi, Ramen, and Pho.
After the shortest stop at the Omni, the trekkers choose to explore Thayer Street after hearing it may or may not include ice cream. Getting there is mostly easy, until the last few blocks where a steep climb slows half of us to a walk. We’re unintentionally on Brown Universitys campus a block from our destination, so we lock up and walk around.
Thayer Street has restaurants, novelty stores, and overpriced Brown University memorabilia–which we almost buy (a football). Instead we find a Ben and Jerry’s and a CVS to get our much needed supplies. The boys try to pump up the football (thank you Emmett), but the pump doesn’t survive the process. Thankfully, we have ten more pumps in case the ball deflates.
When we’re about to leave we find a telephone pole painted black. A thousand staples cover ever inch of it from the ground to about as high as one can reach. What better instagram material is there?
Around 5 or 6 we get back to the Omni and relax for a bit before dinner at the park, quesadillas made by Will, Aviva and Dani. Cooking goes smoothly until we try flipping a full quesadilla with a puny spatula–beans, cheese, beef–everywhere. Luckily, by the 6th serving Will finally masters the art of flipping and soon everyone is happy and full.
The crew finds ping-pong and foosball tables to play with after dinner. Conveniently, and Nicholas spots a cheap ice cream vendor for the cherry on top. A few minutes later and we’re already back at our hotel, tired from a long busy day.