Visiting Block Island, RI

If you have ever wanted to visit one of those real “no shoes” beach towns, you know the ones where people think of nothing more than eating ice cream and chilling out, then Block Island, RI is your place.

How is it that I have been living in NY for 32 of the 33 years I have been alive and never visited this little paradise that is only 3 hours away? Let’s just say, I am glad Laura pushed me into going. It was kind of difficult for me to pull away from my work, but I had my sister, Steph, handle things while I was gone.

There are a few ways to Block Island, either by small plane (hmmm…inspiration), the Block Island Ferry from New London, CT or Point Judith, RI. We decided that we would take the shorter and less expensive ($15 round trip instead of the $30 round trip) ferry from Point Judith.

Now, you have to remember that this little vacation was only for a few days, but I haven’t been away for quite a few years, so I was very excited. The minute we reached Point Judith, I was just giddy. I hopped out of the car and called my mother asking her if we have ever been camping here, because the entrance to a campground we passed on the way in looked very familiar. She said yes, so that brought up a lot of memories of running around ankle deep in water looking for clams. We made it to the ferry and jumped on for our 55 minute trip. I really didn’t know what we would find.

The minute you see the port for Block Island, you just want to jump off the boat. You see people all over the place and really cool looking historic Bed & Breakfasts. People are riding bicycles and scooters up and down the roads. It really is a great vacation spot. I guess that’s why people like islands, because they are cut off from the rest of the world.

So we got off the ferry and walked up the road. Laura wanted to show me this great hotel she had discovered with her friend Jade on a previous trip here. On our way up the road, we passed an awesome farm and some great gardens that gave us lots of good ideas.

We finally made it to The Spring House Hotel. Now this was something. They had a large front porch were people were eating lunch and had a really interesting inside. We walked through and could sense the age by the uneven floors with carpeting over the original wood. I can only imagine how many families have had great vacations here. Their website says that important people have stayed here, such as Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain and Billy Joel. They have even hosted weddings for the Kennedys. This was my kind of place.

As we walked through, we came to the back patio, where there was a great view of the road heading south towards the cliffs.

I think maybe next summer we will stay at The Spring House. After a bunch of walking around taking tons of pictures, we had a great lunch/dinner at one of the hotels near the water. A nice ending to a perfect late July day.