Shrouded in Fog
High Speed Ferry Returning to Point Judith
The ferry cast off and as soon as we cleared the jetties it was apparent that we were going to hit some heavy seas. I was on the top deck (a true glutton for punishment) which was open. The deck below was enclosed and warm but silly me wanted to stay topside. It was kind of like riding a bucking horse.
The bow would go up and up and then ever so slowly we’d begin to tip into the trough and then picking up speed the stern would rise and with a crash of spray the bow would slice the waves at the bottom of the trough. 
Up and down! I watched the rollers moving toward us and tried to judge how much the boat would buck by the depth of the trough approaching.
All though it was cold and wet the 55 minute trip passed quickly. Pretty soon we were passing another jetty into a calm harbor. 
The waves were crashing over the sea wall making a spectacular scene.
The Ferry unloaded quickly and I found myself standing in the middle of the parking lot a bit lost. In my rush to catch the ferry this morning I had left my reservation confirmation in the car. It had the address for my guest house. I thought it was right near the ferry but I didn’t see it as I looked around but I did see a Chamber of Commerce building.
At the Chamber I asked for directions to Ashley House. At first the woman at the desk seemed puzzled but she quickly brightened up and told me to go through the Harborside Inn. As I headed over there I was approached by a taxi/tour driver. He also said I’d find it in back of the Harborside Inn so I short-cutted down an alley and sure enough..there it was. Only one problem. There didn’t seem to be an entrance. But there was an ice cream and pastry shop so I asked there how to get into the Ashley House. The girl took me out to the front and around the corner to an alley, pulled open a door and pointing said “Up the Stairs”. So up the stairs I went following a long corridor of polished wood floors and doors along the length but after I wandered the whole length and went back down the other stairs, I found myself back out side and still no place to check in.
I began to retrace my steps to the Chamber building for more detailed directions when I bumped into the Chamber lady leaving. She asked me if I’d found Ashley House. I told her yes I found the house but where do I check in?. She then went into more detail. The Harborside Inn owns Ashley House and if I go to the front desk of the Inn they will do the check in and give me my key. It seems so obvious in retrospect.
Check-in, once I found it, was quick and simple. The clerk even gave me a map and a list of restaurants that were open. Since this was still the “off-season” many of the restaurants and shops were still closed although you could see them being freshened up with new coats of paint and displays set up for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
The clerk pointed out the 2 Lighthouses. She said the southern lighthouse was an easy walk from town but the other lighthouse was more challenging. I thanked her and headed to Ashley House to find my room. I was anxious to see what the inside of the rooms would be like after my trip down the corridor.
I wasn’t disappointed. It was a beautiful room with a large sleigh bed, a TV and a private bathroom with shower. That was important to me as a lot of the guest houses on the island have shared bathrooms. I was very pleased.
It was beginning to lighten up and the rain had stopped so maybe I’ll be able to get a sunset picture after all! But first I need to stop in at the Ice Cream shop and buy something as a way of saying thanks. Without the clerk’s help I could still be wandering around looking for the entrance!
Block Island is about 13 miles off the south coast of Rhode Island. On a clear day you can see Montauk Point Long Island, N.Y. Block Island is also known as New Shoreham. I wish I’d known that when I was searching for accommodations. I eliminated any in New Shoreham because I didn’t realize it was part of Block Island. The island isn’t that large. It’s about 3 miles wide and 7 miles long. It is part of The Nature Conservatory. 40% of the island has been set aside and protected. The only way to get to the island is by ferry or by plane.
There are 2 lighthouses on the Island and a chance to photograph them was the impetus for my trip. I planned it about 2 weeks ago. We’ve been getting a lot of rain so I was hoping we would have dried out by the time I headed out on my trip. Canceling was not an option. Next week is Memorial Day weekend and the room rates triple with the start of the summer season.I couldn’t afford that…not just to get a couple of pictures. National Geographic hasn’t discovered me yet! 🙂
So you can imagine my disappointment to wake up to pouring rain Tuesday morning. The weather person was all smiles and telling all the viewers that there was only 40% chance of rain. We might get a passing thunderstorm but it wouldn’t last more than 30 minutes. I guess they haven’t looked out the window.
I got everything in the car and went to the “Facilities” for one last stop before I got on the road…oh oh the flush mechanism on the toilet seems to be on the blink. I spent more time than I should have trying to get it to work but only ended up leaving a note of warning for the Pet Sitter. Then I was on my way. That is until I checked the driving directions. When I downloaded them I thought I had the directions to Point Judith. Now here in the car I realize all of the directions were to Newport.
No time to go back now, I tried my GPS…no luck. So I pointed the car toward Narragansett and crossed my fingers that I’d find the ferry. Of course I got caught behind a car doing 20 miles under the speed limit. I began to resign myself to the possibility that I will miss the 11 am ferry.
Made it! But it’s still raining and none of the Ferry Parking lots seem to be open. I finally found one…$20 for the overnight. I took it and headed as fast as I could toward the ferry terminal. I should have taken my time. I missed the boat (literally) by 10 minutes. The next one wasn’t until 3pm. With the rain coming down like it was, I didn’t even feel like exploring. Instead I sat on the benches in the terminal until wind kicked up. Then I moved to the benches in the restroom area. At least it was warm and dry there.
There didn’t seem to be much open in Point Judith so about 1:30 I went in search of lunch. There was a little restaurant and bar on the 2nd floor of one of the retail buildings. I lugged my stuff up the stairs and entered the bar. There was only one other patron and the bartender. You could say I got exceptional service. And the fish sandwich was wonderful. If you are ever in Point Judith and want a place to eat I recommend Clam Jammers.
It was clear that Point Judith Harbor had an active fishing fleet working out of there. Trawlers where coming in and going out the whole time I was waiting. Finally the ticket windows opened and the Ferry came in from Block Island.
At about 2:30 they started loading. The trip on the “traditional” Ferry takes about 55 minutes. It’s about $25.00 for a round trip ticket so the price isn’t bad. They also had a High Speed Ferry but it was much more expensive and I didn’t think an hour was all that long anyway.
I had one of the seasick patches and had applied it in the morning so I was ready. Let the cruising begin! I’ll be able to handle any rough seas now!
I couldn’t help but be thankful that my “travel” philosophy is not to take any little mishap too seriously. It made the rough beginning to my little jaunt a bit easier to take.
It was a beautiful day for an adventure with the kids. My friend Nancy’s kids that is. I picked up Nancy and her daughter Dawn and son Alex at 11:15 for the drive to Worcester to the Ecotarium. We’d checked out the website but still weren’t sure what we would find.
When we reached Worcester we decided to stop for lunch before we went on to the Ecotarium. We had a nice (if slow) lunch at a Friendly’s Restaurant. They were doing a good business but were clearly under staffed. I have to give our harried waitress a pat on the back. In spite of being pulled in many directions she maintained her pleasant attitude.
Finally out of the restaurant we found we were just around the corner from the Ecotarium. Worcester streets are not easy to navigate but we finally found it.
You buy your tickets at the gate as you drive in. Then follow the signs to the parking area. There was ample parking while we were there. There were several trails out of the parking lot. The one we took led to the main visitor center. As we passed along the trail we stopped to look at the Bald Eagles and 2 Barred Owls. All of the animals here are rescues. They have some injury that has healed but was severe enough that it left them crippled. The Ecotarium tries to give their animals a good quality of life.
Eagles mate in the air but these two are unable to fly so it makes mating difficult. The female eagle is currently sitting on a nest and has laid eggs. This has happened before but the eggs have always been infertile. It is too early to tell about this year’s clutch.
The owls also have a handicap so will not be released and will live out their life here in their habitat.
At the courtyard in front of the Visitor Center there was a sundial and another sculpture made of different sized pipes. You can blow in the pipes or hit the tops of the pipes with an over-sized sandal to see how different sized pipes create different tones.
As we entered the Visitor Center we were assaulted by the noise. I think it would be safe to say we had found the other families! There were tons of exhibits ranging from a terrarium where you can put you head in from he bottom to a hurricane wind chamber. There was a machine that made mini tornado and an interactive room for budding engineers.
There was a rock wall for climbing and at the top of the wall a mountain lion was waiting.
There were programs and presentations, a chess board, a live parrot, a huge taxidermy bear.
The Africa gallery was a beautifully done series of dioramas.
The kids were running from one exhibit to another. They were being exposed to science without even realizing it. Everything was interactive so they could try it and to them it was just fun.
Eventually we got outside to another walking path. The animals along this path were skunks, porcupines and a large ‘possum. Near the playground were two gorgeous red foxes. From the Red Fox enclosure we walked down to the “pond”. We could see loads of fish swimming in the tea colored water.
By now it was almost 4:15 and the last chance to grab a ride on the little steam engine so we hustled back to the station. That was a fun ride. It even went through a tunnel.
Ride over, we made a quick stop at the gift shop as they were getting ready to shut down. We took the long path back to the car so that we could go by the otter habitat. Unfortunately the otters were in hiding but as we crossed the wooden bridge over the marsh we could see loads of frogs. A lady was there with a net trying to catch tadpoles.
Our final stop before leaving was at the stegosaurus. What would a museum be without a dinosaur?
If you are looking for a Zoo you will be disappointed. There are only a limited number of “live animal” exhibits but if you are looking for a nice day with lots of “hands on” exhibits and some lovely walking trails I would give the Ecotarium a big thumbs up!
I can’t believe its April 9 already. April Fool’s Day is behind us. Passover was Friday and Sunday was Easter and it’s still cold! After that mild winter I thought we’d be in a heat wave by now. At least it’s been sunny most days.
Still the problem with that is that now we’re having brush fires. The fire danger alerts are all at critical…in the red! And it’s only April! Some of the area is considered to be in a drought because there was no snow melt and, in stark contrast to the spring of 2010 when it rained so much we had flooding everywhere, each day now dawns nice and sunny. A few passing clouds may drop a few sprinkles but nothing near to what’s needed to wet down the soil and brushland. This is New England! Not Texas or Arizona which have been struggling with drought for the last few years. What is going on with the weather?
I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog a bit since I came back from Florida. Trying to launch my little side business has been time-consuming. I have to laugh because I set up that little store at dustyroadsphotos.etsy.com and I am getting visitors to the site but so far no orders. What I’m finding is it’s all local folks that are checking it out to choose the cards they want and then they just tell me. That’s ok by me but I hope the word starts to spread beyond my “inner circle”.
I’m going to be adding custom decorator pillows and some prints to the line. I’m waiting to get my sewing machines back from the shop. I hadn’t done much sewing in the past few years so I wanted to have the machines cleaned and checked before I tried using them again. I am really excited about this idea so am quite anxious to get started.
When I was in Florida I was given a 4 day cruise for 2 from my time share. There were two hitches. 1) I have to pay the port fees (around $185.00 per person) and 2) The cruise has to be used within 18 months. I’ve been toying around with my schedule and vacation time and so on and I’m going to try to secure a date for next January. My friend Joe aka JR will be by cruise companion. We’ll be leaving from the Port of Miami and going to Cozumel. Once this is actually booked I’ll share more info on the itinerary.
I just got approved for some time off in July so I’m going to take a mini vacation in Maine. Just have to book the hotel. I’m looking at Portland as my “Base camp” for the 4 day get-away.
Late September is also in the works. I have approved vacation then to go to upstate New York to visit family and friends. There’s a hot air balloon festival in Glens Falls the weekend I’m going and my sister mentioned the Scenic Railroad trip through the Adirondacks. It’s still early in the planning stages.
And the Big Alaska Cruise is back in the works. Goal for that is now May/early June of 2013. We want to see baby animals so spring is the time for that.
So as you can see, there is some travel in the planning stages. My local jaunts have been curtailed a little by car issues and the demands of the new business but that was to be expected. Still I love my aroundustyroads.com blog and don’t want to neglect you either.
Thanks for hanging in with me during this slow posting period.