We caught the early morning ferry to the mainland and drove the route to Woods Hole to catch another ferry to Block Island, a 7 x 4 mile dot in the Atlantic, just off Long Island.
On arrival on the island we took the short walk to our accommodation The Blue Dory Inn, a beautiful early Victorian villa in Old Harbour. The inn was completely furnished in the Victorian style.
Selfie on the ferry
Rush hour in Old Harbour
As there was nothing much to do by the time we actually arrived we chilled in the inn for the evening and joined the only other couple staying there for a glass of wine and nibbles in the early evening.
The next morning we had breakfast and went off in search for a hire car (ours was back at Woods hole as we had crossed as foot passengers). It was a wonderfully warm day.
We eventually found a man who came to pick us up in a battered old car and we had the car for the rest of the day.
It was a leisurely drive around (25mph max) and we saw lighthouses and beaches interspersed with beautiful autumn colours
The island was very quiet, the indigenous population is around 900 but in the summer the visitors swell the population to around 16,000 at times. Most businesses are only open for 5 months a year, and most were closed while we were there! There are two grocery stores, sparsely stocked, the Island Depot and the Island Store. Apparently, should you become stranded on there, you need to grab toilet rolls and bread. They are always the first things to run out!
The next morning we were ready for the choppy ride back to Woods Hole and on to Newport, Rhode Island......
Days 17 & 18
We arrived at Newport after quite a long journey and found our hotel, The Viking Hotel on Belleview Avenue, a beautiful hotel built in the 1920's as a place for the guests of the local mansions. By law only blood relatives were allowed to stay in the (private) mansions!?
We dumped our suitcases and went out for a long walk around the area and had a sandwich in the local Seaman's Mission and a mooch around the harbour and a look at the beautiful yachts and the shops that were still open, then back to the hotel.
On waking after a really good night's sleep we showered, dressed and took the car back to the harbour for another look but it was raining and cold so we went to Bristol for a visit to the Hereschoff Maritime Museum where craftsmen are building a 1/6 scale model of the America's Cup winning racing yacht Reliance plus there were a lot of other boat/yacht memorabilia and the boats themselves.
After a very late lunch / early dinner we carried on to look at the mansions mentioned before (in the same street as the hotel) and Ian went to look around a motor museum while I sorted out the mess that the car had become!
To round off our last day we took a trip to a mega Walmart! I was in my element but Ian was not! We bought another small suitcase to bring back our extras and returned here to the hotel to pack in readiness for our return to Boston Logan Airport tomorrow evening for our flight home, arriving at Heathrow around 10.05am on Monday.
I, for one, am sorry to leave our holiday behind but am very excited to be seeing my family and friends and Dylan again after nearly three weeks away.
Dylan, who has been very good for his dogsitter, I suspect will be glad to see us but reluctant to come home after his holiday with a minimum of Amanda's three Bichons plus her other 'boarders' and 'day dogs' and his new BFF, one of her three cats, Freddie, whom he grooms and lays with and they are in love according to her texts!!! I fear his old BFF (aka Panda, a soft toy from Ikea) will no longer be carried around like a puppy by the scruff of his neck, but become abandoned like the rag he has become!
We shall see!!!!!!!!!!
See you on the other side (of The Pond)............................................................
