Block Island

The wind was causing the courtesy flags to flap on the shrouds, tap-tap-tap, as it lowly howled through the rigging.  Waves slapped against the hull.  The sun did not shine.  Nevertheless, we got up, got dressed, had breakfast and set off in the dinghy for land, hoping the little engine would get us there.  (It did!)  We tied up at the dinghy dock at Payne's Marina and walked about a mile into town, past lovely inns, old stone walls and shrub-scrub filled hillsides.

Old stone wall a scrub filled field

Some of the walls were originally built in the 1600's.  Although Giovanni de Verrazano came to Block Island in 1524, and the Dutch ship's captain, trader and privateer Adriaen Block charted it in 1614, it was inhabited solely by the Narrangasett Indians who called it Manisses, "Island of the Little God."  They arrived perhaps as early as 500 B.C.  They lived largely by hunting deer, catching fish and shellfish, and growing corn, beans and squash until the 1630's, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony sent 90 white men with the intention of annihilating them.  Although these men did not succeed in killing many, Massachusetts claimed the 11-square-mile island by conquest.  In 1661, it was sold to 16 families seeking religious and political freedom.  At the time, there were 1200-1500 Indians on the island; by 1774, there were 51, and the last recorded full-blooded Manisses Indian died in 1886.

The colonists built over 200 miles of stone walls and most are still standing.  When they arrived, the island was forested, but within a few decades they had cut down all the trees.  The island ecology has since reverted to the type of vegetation it had before tall trees muscled out the hardy shrubs and grasses that had existed before.  Luckily, the Nature Conservancy and the community on the island has preserved about half of the island as preserves, so it is a wonderful place to walk through the gently rolling land, past the ponds (there are over 300 freshwater ponds on this little island, some quite large), and along the bluffs and beaches.  This is what Peter and I did for about three hours earlier today.

One of the hundreds of ponds

Another pond with lilies and asters

Our route took us through the town of New Shoreham, the only town on the island.  We admired the gingerbread and Victorian houses and inns, most with mansard and gambrel roofs, widow walks and weathered scalloped siding.

Hotel in New Shoreham

House in Old Shoreham 

Modest farmhouse built in 1813

But the main attraction was unspoiled landscape.  A variety of yellow flowers, purple asters and berry laden vines adorned the fields.  The Atlantic, surprisingly calm despite the north wind, stretched to the eastern horizon from some places, while tranquil ponds surprised us around many turns in the paths and unpaved roads we traversed.

Field of flowers by a pond

We walked to the south end of the island, to Mohegan Bluffs, were the wind and waves have eroded and shaped the cliffs into dramatic designs.  The Southeast Lighthouse was to the east on the bluffs, although not in its original location.  Erosion forced its relocation further away from the water before the land fell away below it.

Mohegan Bluffs

Southeast Lighthouse

In addition to the sweeping vistas, we enjoyed looking at shorebirds on the beaches and ducks in the ponds.  A dark, fluffy little ball of fur went scampering between my feet at one point, and it paused long enough for us to identify this cute little animal as a vole.  Peter also spotted a fluffy black, white and cream-colored caterpillar.

Ducks in a little pond

Caterpillar

After walking for a couple of hours, we returned to town, where we enjoyed lunch at Mohegan Cafe and Brewery.  Afterwards, we stopped at the only grocery store on the island to buy a few provisions before returning to the dinghy dock.  The little engine started but Peter could not push it much, so we slowly made our way across the Great Salt Pond to our anchored home away from home.

A chill has begun to set in here in New England.  We plan to make it at least as far as Boston, but we may have to head south for warmer weather after that.