It was warm on the island while we were there but with a nice wind from the west, we never once used the air conditioning on the boat. Our fly bridge became our new living room, where we could watch the many boats come and go. Frances insisted on cooking and we had many memorable meals, including a few breakfasts powered by Payne's famous killer donuts.
On Friday, we walked across the island to Old Harbor, where the ferries come in. One of the many ferries had just unloaded, and we were literally pushed off the sidewalk by the crowds. We retreated without exploring any of the Old Harbor shops but did some food shopping at the Block Island Market.
It's too bad that Block Island's tourism efforts have been so successful that the big ferries that arrive every couple of hours each disgorge 1,000 or so anxious people looking for the beach or food or a Moped to rent. Needless to say, Old Harbor is nice once the last ferry leaves in the evening.
We treated ourselves to lunch at Dead Eye Dick's one weekday and found it very nice. Earlier we had tried to get into The Oar at Block Island Boat Basin but were told (slightly after 1 pm) that there was a 90 minute wait for a table. No restaurent, in our view, is worth a 90 minute wait.
On another day, between ferry arrivals, we went to lunch at the old Surf Hotel. We've walked by this place at the corner of Dodge and Water Street for years and it was always closed and shuttered. Now it's not only open but has a very nice dining porch looking right over the beach. The food was good and the prices reasonable, so much so that we invited our boating friends Lou and Jane to join us there for dinner several days later.
From our vantage point at Payne's we were able to watch an amazing variety of boats come and go. Many of them were high-dollar cruisers but others were just people like us who were happy to chat, (and we all know how much Frances likes to chat, don't we?). A coastal cruise ship docked one day and its guests took a tour of the island on a waiting school bus.
No blog entry would be complete without mention of Pooka, our boat cat. He made the 45 mile cruise with only two pukes but once at Payne's, was in his element.
He gets a better view by climbing up the steps to the bridge and is happy to get a good snooze up there. But once we're sitting in the cockpit, he simply has to come out a join the party. He lets us know when he wants to come down and, of course, we always help him.
One afternoon, we took a walk though a nature path just off Beach Avenue. Frances spotted birds and we marveled at how beautiful the undeveloped parts of the island are.
On our way back, we shot pictures of some of the mansions that look out over New Harbor. This area can be really cold and windy during the winter but it certainly is beautiful in the middle of the summer.
We also visited the Block Island Marine Institute where a docent showed the kids live sea creatures that they could actually hold, albeit gently. The kid on the right is Frances.
Particularly around Payne's, it's obvious that others love Block Island as much as we do.
How can you not like this place when Payne's has this unique sign to identify where the men's room is?
All in all, a great cruise and one that we'll remember as fondly as all the other times we have been here.
We put together some video, which we'll really enjoy watching again next winter after operating our snowblower.
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