Best of Rhode Island 2009 Editors' Picks

Tucked off Route 1, this airy new building offers plenty to thrill the most rain-jaded kid. Exhibits show different Rhode Island habitats, from woodlands to beaches, complete with birds, muskrats and interactive features such as sending a current of water through a marsh. There are aquarium tanks, movies, a library, craft room, and huge relief map of the Rhode Island coast. And if it stops drizzling, hit the half-mile walking trail, specially groomed to discourage ticks.