THINGS TO DO
The magical days OF DECEMBER
by Elizabeth Morse Read
There’s a lot more to December than just the holidays! Let your children (and the young-at-heart) experience the stories and songs and snowy adventures that only December brings. Celebrate the festive lights that dispel the long dark nights, and the cheery warmth of friends and family sharing time together on a cold winter’s day!
A breath of fresh air
You’re never too old to build a snowman or have a snowball fight! Get out the sleds and toboggans and put on those boots and mittens. It’s time to lace up your ice skates (or rent them) at indoor skating rinks in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, or Plymouth (fmcicesports.com/ rinks). Or enjoy ice skating (and bumper cars!) at The Providence Rink at the BankNewport City Center – twice the size of the Rockefeller Center rink in New York City (theprovidencerink.com). And for outdoor skating with a great view, try Gurney’s Ice Skating Rink in Newport (gurneysresorts.com). Bundle up and get outdoors! “Discover Buzzards Bay” offers an online portal with information about more than 100 public places to walk, bird-watch, kayak/ canoe, fish, snowshoe or cross-country ski (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover). You can find other outdoor recreation spots along the South Coast at thetrustees.org and massaudubon.org, asri.org, riparks. com, or stateparks.com/rhode_island.
Find out what’s happening at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth (lloydcenter.org) or wander through Parsons Reserve or Paskamansett Woods, operated by the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (dnrt.org). Take a free guided Sunday Bird Walk at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary.org).
Day trips for the family
Whether indoors or out, there’s plenty for you and your family to do during school vacation and on weekends this month! Go on a guided Seal Watch boat tour December 4 through April with Save the Bay, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport (savebay.org/ seals), or take the kids to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on December 30 – and check out the hockey and basketball games (dunkindonutscenter. com). Delight the family with Cirque Dreams Holidaze December 17-18 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (ppacri.org)!
THE SHOWS MUST GO ON! Don’t miss Wynonna Judd at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River on December 16 (narrowscenter.com) or the Greg Abate Jazz Trio at Linden Place in Bristol on December 17 (lindenplace. org). Be dazzled by a performance of Black Violin December 9 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (ppacri.org)! Kansas will play at the Zeiterion in New Bedford on December 10 (zeiterion.org). And, if you’d like a little Irish with your holidays, listen to Lunasa December 16 at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts of Greater Plymouth (spirecenter.org).
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
6
December 2021 | The South Coast Insider
