Your Guide to Summer Adventure : On the Ocean View From a Naturalist : Napatree Point
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scouring the beach of houses . Visitors can see the broken pieces of cement that once formed Fort Road running up the middle of the peninsula . For Brown , the site presents a continually changing environment . “ I don ’ t know what we ’ ll see once we get out there . For me , that ’ s the highlight because it ’ s a mystery , a curiosity on a beautiful Saturday morning . That ’ s my favorite part .” watchhillconservancy . org
Your Guide to Summer Adventure : Urban Adventures Escape Room
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passersby who stare , wondering about the two speed-walkers with the mysterious clipboard .
About two hours after we start , the sun dips below skyscrapers and bathes the clouds in pink hues . Our final destination , Prospect Terrace Park , provides a separate reward : a jaw-dropping sunset cascading over the Providence skyline . We receive congratulations from “ Zachariah Allen ” himself after typing in the final answer on my phone , a satisfying end to a long journey .
After one final look at the sun ’ s last breath , we venture back to Escape Rhode Island to return the backpack of decoded puzzles ; another Providence mystery solved .
If you go :
➽ Get there earlier than your scheduled time slot to allow time for parking .
➽ Listen to Escape RI ’ s advice about wearing weather-appropriate clothing , comfortable shoes and bringing water ( my boots were not an ideal choice for the one-mile excursion ).
➽ Read the instructions carefully — mistakes can cost time on your journey .
Outdoor games have a flat rate of $ 89 , and teams can range in size from one to six players . Escape Rhode Island , 385 South Main St ., Floor 2 , Providence , 326-2222 , escaperhodeisland . com �
Ready for Anything
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by my failure — not because I ’ m confident I can improve , but because I ’ m perfectly content not to . I ’ m fine with not being able to shoot skeet . ( For the record , I won ’ t be doing tractor pulls at this year ’ s Washington County Fair , either .)
Being handy and knowing how to do things doesn ’ t mean knowing how to do everything . It ’ s OK to have some gaps in my skill set , or to accept being inept at a particular task . The important part is simply being willing to keep learning and trying .
Lesson four : You don ’ t need to be able to do it all .
Over a couple of months , I challenge myself to have new experiences and learn new things . Do I truly develop any new skills ? Not really . I ’ m no blacksmith and I can ’ t replace a missing button . If you ’ re expecting me to hunt for dinner , you ’ re probably going hungry .
But I do build confidence in my ability to learn things , do things and solve problems .
This becomes evident after I return from shooting with Don . I come home to discover my wife and stepdaughter attempting a minor plumbing project . It isn ’ t a success . I am left to undo their work and once I do , I discover that the toilet is no longer flushing properly . By then , I have already invested an hour , I am frustrated , there is water all over the floor and it is getting late .
“ Don ’ t worry about it , boo . Let ’ s just call a plumber ,” my wife offers .
A couple of months ago , I would have acquiesced — but I have come too far . I get a brief education on flushing mechanisms from YouTube and Google . In short order , I diagnose the problem and find a solution . I simply have to loosen one piece , twist another back into its proper place , then re-tighten everything .
The toilet once again works properly . It is , in the grand scheme of home improvement , a very minor fix , something that wouldn ’ t cause a handier person to feel like Doc Brown after he figured out how to get the DeLorean back to 1985 . But for me , it is a victory . Something needed fixing . I didn ’ t learn to live with it . I didn ’ t call a guy . I fixed it . �
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