Full Day on the Island

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Alarm went off at 6, you know that we do not really relax on vacation, we are pretty much up and going everyday around 6. The bed was comfortable, a bit soft and the memory foam made it a bit warm, but the ocean breeze did come in the room all night since we left the windows all slightly cracked. Tarragon slept well, until 4, then it was time to prowl. I think he was talking to the house cat under the door of our room.

Today, is our only full day on the island, so as Jerry finishes getting ready, I am getting a bit of a head start on today’s blog. Originally, when the plan was to be here for 5 days, we were going to rent bikes, but with only one day, we will be doing everything by car. There are two lighthouses on the Island, one on either end and much of the island is preserved by the Nature Conservancy. The migratory birds are in full swing and a local glass blower has hidden a hundred small globes all over the Island. If you find one, it gets registered and you get to keep it. We will see if we spot one today.

Coffee service started at 7:15 so having ab it of that before we head down to breakfast. Looking forward to a fairly relaxing day exploring the Island. Tarragon may even get a bit of outside time later today.

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It’s now 5:30 and we are back in our room after a glass of wine during wine hour, I also had a barnacle cookie, short bread with a dark chocolate chunk in the middle. It actually made the so-so wine taste better. So now the rest of the day.

Block Island Tip to Tip and All Points In-between in a day.

Breakfast

The day started with a good but small breakfast. We both had blueberry French Toast. It was really good, but a pretty small piece. We ate in the breakfast room, somewhat reminiscent of Hotel Champs de Mar, in Paris (I said reminiscent not even close to the experience or the breakfast). The French Toast, coffee and OJ, and we were off for the day.

The North Tip

The first stop of the day was Settler’s Rock Monument and the North Lighthouse. The monument marks the spot were the first English settlers landed on Block Island in 1661. The monument is actually in the parking lot, which then leads to a long rocky beach at the end of which is the lighthouse, opened in 1867. It is no longer a working lighthouse but is a museum during the season. It was about a mile and a half to the lighthouse so 3 miles roundtrip. It was a flat walk, but in sand with tennis shoes on does not make for an easy walk. There were few people on the beach, but there was a large, about 30, harem of seals. They were all basically just sticking their heads up out of the water enjoying the day.

Speaking of the weather, it was a gorgeous day, 70, light wind, relative low humidity. Very sunny with just horseshoe clouds in the sky.

As you walk along the beach towards the lighthouse, on one side of you is the ocean (perhaps it is still the Long Island Sound) and the other is a wildlife refuge. You must stay on the beach as your not allowed to swim or go on the refuge lands.

After, spending about 90 minutes on the Northshore (it isn’t really called that), we headed to the southern end of the Island. We made a quick stop at Mansion beach. So named because a mansion stood on the sight above the beach and then burnt to the ground, the only thing that remains is the foundation. The beach was a bit of a walk so we simply looked and headed back out.

Quick aside, as I write the entry, we are having a nice bottle of Block Island Blend, a very nice Rosé we got when we visited Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard. Perfect bottle for a day exploring the island.

On our way to the southern end, we drove back through the main town and by a few of the big resorts that are closed for the season. The Springhill house is possibly the nicest, clearly has the best view up on a bluff, and a pretty short walk back into town. The first stop was the Southeast Light (the southern lighthouse). The lighthouse sits atop the Mohegan Bluffs and is the highest and most visible lighthouse on the New England coast. It again is only open during the high season. Also on the grounds is a food truck that specializes in lobster rolls. It too is only open during the season (a true shame).

Mohegan Bluffs has an interesting history. Back in the day to native tribes were in a battle, the local Manisse tribe ended up driving the Mohegan off the high bluffs.

A more modern interesting tidbit, is that off the shore from the lighthouse is the first offshore windmill farm, which provides energy for 17,000 homes all from 5 windmills.

After, that it was a drive down a series of dirt roads to various points, coves and beaches. We stopped at Dory Cove and Gracie’s cove. We ate our picnic lunch at Gracie’s cove. Before we headed out of the day, we stopped at the only grocery store on the Island and had a couple of sandwiches made and got a back of Cape Cod potato chips. After a tricky walk down the rocky path, we found a nice log to sit on. We enjoyed our lunch, looking out at the ocean and a couple of sailboats. Lunch being done, we were back in the car off to our next stop, the Coast Guard Station. There is a nice path to a very sandy beach and the entrance to the Great Salt Pond, which is where the ferry from Long Island comes in.

We also drove through a cemetery, don’t ask why, that is another story for another time.

That was pretty much the day. I am exhausted, still recovering from tax season. We thought about playing Bocci Ball on the beach, but I really just wanted to do nothing and look out the window and feel the cool ocean breeze on my face.

The sun is setting and we are just hanging out in the room with Tarragon before dinner in a couple of hours. Hopefully, better than last night.

Dinner

Dinner was substantially better than the night before. The restaurant was called Winfields, covid limited menu, but what they offered was all very good. We started with a couple of Martini’s, very strong filled to the rim Martini’s. The place was busy but not crowded, most people were at the Barn, which is the only more upscale place that stays open all season, but only Wednesday through Sunday. That would have required a drive, so we opted for Winfields since we could walk there.

We started with a small Caesar each, average salad the interesting twist here were the English muffin croutons. While we were having our salad, the bread service arrived, hot rolls, but the standout here was the roasted whole garlic head with parmesan and smothered in olive oil. It was good enough we had seconds on that. It could have been roasted a bit longer so it carnalized, but it was still a nice addition in stead of just bread with butter.

The second course was seared scallops with a brava sauce. They were perfectly cooked, just needed a bit more of a sear on them. The brava sauce needed paprika (hot paprika) but was still good. The entrées were a difficult choice, the bourbon brined pork chops sounded very good, but I went with the Andouille and Shrimp Gumbo (still stuck in New Orleans). Jerry had a filet mignon with jalapeño cheddar potatoes au gratin, these were cooked to perfection and nicely caramelized on top.

The gumbo was really good, but the roux could have been thicker and did need at least 6 prawns not just 4 and definitely more Andouille. Jerry’s filet was slightly over cooked, but other than that was nicely seasoned and prepared. Accompanying dinner was a nice 2019 bottle of Caymus Cabernet. After it opened up, it was a very nice bottle of wine, at home we would have decanted the wine, but this was not that type of establishment.

We finished with a piece of key lime pie. Good, not the best ever, but still very good.

There was definitely a dish of the day, and it goes to the jalapeno cheddar potatoes au gratin.

After dinner, just walked back to the room, had some wine and talked, then fell asleep.

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