I thrive on island time – a big revelation for someone who used to live by day planner. I should have figured it out sooner – I grew up on the Cape when the pace was more akin to island time and have always loved the pace of island life – but somehow I’m just now realizing it.
We didn’t make it to Block last year and were so excited to be back. We were immediately struck by how relatively empty everything was – I figured the week leading up to Labor Day Weekend was going to be busy, but there were plenty of town moorings available (at times we counted 20!) and lots of space in the anchorage. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised – we had a pretty chilly, mostly overcast week and my inner New Englander felt right at home (if a little less hearty than I used to be).
It wouldn’t be a trip to Block without a visit to The Oar (or two, or three), so shortly after we settled in on the HYC club mooring, we launched Squall and headed in. We grabbed chairs on the lawn and sank back with mudslides in hand. It felt so good to officially be back on island time.
We have a bad habit of going for a short walk and walking several miles, and this time was no different. We took a “quick beach walk” and found ourselves down at the Clay Head trail. Even though it was a gray, chilly day, it was absolutely beautiful and so good to have sand between our toes again. We’re always on the lookout for orbs hidden as part of the Glass Float Project in our island wanderings. We didn’t have any luck this year, but it’s always fun to search, and it’s gotten us to explore parts of the island we might not have otherwise discovered.
During the week, we took a couple dinghy missions out to Coast Guard Beach and watched the world go by, made a couple more trips in to The Oar, had dinner at one of the restaurants at Champlain’s, had a good breakfast at The Cracked Mug and of course hailed Aldos to get breakfast delivered right to the boat. A couple years ago, we learned we could get a one-week permit for quahogging, and it’s become one of our favorite things to do when we visit. We’ve been spoiled by warm, tropical waters, so jumping out of the dinghy in northern waters was a rude awakening. I didn’t have very good luck with the quahogs this time (I think I only found three), but we ended up with enough for a delicious dinner, and it was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
This time, we decided to rent a car for the day so we could see more of the island more easily. We drove out to the North Light, which is part of the Block Island National Wildlife Refuge and walked all the way out to the tip of the island to see the seals. With the wind up, there were decent waves and I was mesmerized watching them crash into each other as they wrapped around the sand bar. We stopped at The Beachead for lunch, then headed for the Southeast Light and Mohegan Bluffs. Our final stop for the day was the Hodge Family Wildlife Preserve, and I wish we had more time – the views are beautiful, and we’ll definitely have to explore more on a future visit, but we needed to leave ourselves time to provision.
No matter how much time we spend here, it feels like we never have enough time on island, and we’ll be excited to visit again next year.
