Unusual Day At Oliver Mill Park
I’ve been keeping an eye out for my friend, the Great Blue Heron, that hangs out at the herring run in Middleboro. Since there are actually 2 of the “herring runs” in Middleboro I like to refer to this one off Rt 44 as Oliver Mill Park. After all, there a sign there that calls it that.
A few days ago I saw a large number of photographers all running around with their gear and tripods trying to get pictures of “Blue”. Since then “Blue” hasn’t been around. I figured he felt harassed by all the attention and was giving us the cold shoulder. Now with rain keeping all but the most intrepid away, he was back.
I couldn’t pass up the chance for a couple of shots even though I didn’t have the big telephoto with me. He watched me as I made my way down to the sandy part of the river bank.
Once there we were eye-ball to eye-ball, mono a mono so to speak when I got dive bombed by something! My first reaction was to swat it away which I now regret. I wish I’d tried to grab it instead because it was a little bird. A few minutes later one zoomed over “Blue’s” head so close he ducked!
The birds reminded me of the swallows I see at Daniel Webster but they didn’t have the “V” tail like a swallow. They were swooping all over the place. I took my pictures and left “Blue” alone. I stopped on one of the little bridges and took a picture of the miniature waterfall. Then I headed back to the car.
I was almost in the parking lot when I saw one of the Canada Geese families. They were paddling around the upper part of the river were the water appears to be smooth.
As I watched they swam really close to the top of the fish ladder and sure enough, one of the little goslings got sucked over the edge. Now he could have just continued to float down the ladder and he would have ended up on the sand where the family could reunite but these aren’t people and all they could think to do was get back together.
So the little gosling struggled and the parents honked. Finally one of the parents went over the edge too and swam to the gosling as if to push it up but that didn’t work. It took the adult goose several tried to get back above the ladder and the baby was still stuck.
About then we humans had seen about all we could take. One guy headed for his car to get a golf club to try to push the baby up. I was getting a shovel out of my car when the men in the 3rd car yelled that the baby had finally made it.
Mama & Papa Goose wasted no time in getting everyone away from the top of the fish ladder then. We humans were relieved that the little drama had ended well.
That sums up my unusual day at Oliver Mill Park. It isn’t every visit that I get dive bombed by a tiny bird and get to see a life and death struggle play out right in front of me.
A Poor People’s Lunch
The taxi tour of Block Island covered a lot of the same ground I’d walked the night before so once I got to the 2nd lighthouse I was happy.
Mission accomplished. Once we left the lighthouse it was just a short drive back to town and the taxi stop by the ferry terminal.
On the way back Jim told me about a book he’s written about living the Christian life. He said it was called “Overcoming” and it was geared toward people who were already active in their church. It is non-denominational so any one can read it and enjoy it. He was very low-key about his accomplishment. Since he said it was his first book I asked him how he got published. I’d heard so many times about rejection slips for new authors that it seemed amazing to me that he got a publisher first try. He admitted it was tough so he had finally gone the “self-publish” route. Even so, I found the book listed on Amazon.com.
Back at the terminal I asked him where he would suggest I go for lunch. He gave me the same suggestion as the “Jim” from the day before…”The Poor People’s Pub“.
Unlike the Mohegan Cafe where I had dinner. The Poor People’s Pub was supposed to be more reasonable and where the “locals” went to eat. To get to the Poor People’s Pub I started back down Water St in the direction we’d just come. I can’t get over what a beautiful day it turned out to be. 
As I meandered along Water St I admired the little park that ran between the street and the water. There are benches where you can sit and watch the ocean. Folks were walking dogs. It was just lovely.
At the end of Water St. I turned left, passed through a 4 way intersection and walked about 2 more blocks before I spotted the pub on the right.
I went inside to be seated. The interior was dark and cool but I asked if I could sit outside. It was too nice a day to waste inside. A wrap around porch held additional seating and there were quite a few patrons there already.
The menu was typical pub food..French Fries, Onion Rings, Burgers but they also offer French Onion Soup, sandwiches, pizza, salad and a kid’s menu. I actually ordered from the kid’s menu because the portions were gigantic from what I could see at the other tables. A kid’s hamburger and a soft drink was just enough for me for lunch.
While I was eating the signature car arrived. That was when I remembered someone telling me I would know I was in the right place when I saw a car with steer horns on it. Sure enough, a set of long horn steer horns were mounted on the hood of the car. Now that was a sight.
After lunch I returned to the Harborside Inn and their lovely porch to just kick back and relax. I decided I would take the 3pm ferry back.
My bags were in lockers by the ferry terminal so everything was set for my departure. This was just enough of a break… like a “nugget” of vacation …but it was time to return to real life.
Photo of the Week~ Week 22
Here Kitty Kitty
A New Day
What a difference a day makes…or in this case a night. It was humid and foggy when I went to bed but I woke up to sunshine! A lot of the humidity seemed to have passed, as much as could be expected when one is on a small island surrounded by the ocean.
The one remnant of yesterday’s adventures was that my legs are sore and very tired. They ache. I can really tell that I over-did it yesterday. I guess that’s what they mean by being a weekend warrior..but I did it in one day. So the only thing I have on my to do list today is to make it out to the other lighthouse.
The first order of business was to find some place for breakfast. That wasn’t too hard. The Pastry Shoppe had their version of egg mcmuffins as well as cinnamon rolls and Danish and various breads. Juice was Nantucket Nectars by the bottle.
Breakfast over, I tested my legs by walking up to the porch of the Harborside Motel. Not promising. If they were just sore I figure I could walk it off but my right calf kept cramping. I sat down on the porch and let the morning sun wash over me. There was a breeze off the harbor. I could just spend the day there watching the world go by. It was so nice…and so not me ! No, no matter if my legs hurt or not I need to find some way to get to that 2nd light house.
As I sat there debating my options… bike rental, moped, taxi….the taxi company with the friendly driver pulled up to the taxi stand. I hobbled over to ask about the “Tour”.
Apparently all of the taxi companies also offer a tour of the Island. It’s a nice drive, about an hour-long and the driver doubles as a tour guide telling you about the history of the island. It’s $55.00 and the rate is the same for all of the different companies.
The driver I was talking to was named Jim and he said he would stop so I could get pictures too. That decided it. I climbed in and he let his dispatch know he was doing a “tour” and we were off. He had a small photo album of old pictures so I could see what the island used to look like. A familiar refrain seemed to be …Right here was ____________until it burned down . Some of the places that burned down were rebuilt but many were not.
We made it to the Southeast Lighthouse but since I had already told him I’d been there the night before he just drove past. We stopped a little farther down the road where a dirt path took us to the top of the Mohegan Bluffs. There was a stairway down to the bottom. 
I’d like to climb down there someday but my tour stop wasn’t long enough for that today.
We passed through a “Hollow” that Jim explained had miles of hiking trails and was all preserved land. No one can ever build on it. We reached another little town where we passed the New Shoreham Police Department. Jim explained that the town was New Shoreham but the island was Block Island. That explained some of the confusion I had when I was looking for accommodations.
Then we reached the North side of the island and the lighthouse came into view.
Now I could see why the locals said it wasn’t an easy walk. The shoreline was not a sandy beach but covered with rocks and stones. It would be hard walking and very easy to turn an ankle. It ‘s a pretty lighthouse.
I took my pictures from the parking lot and once I had them we started back toward the ferry terminal. 
Hard to believe it was almost lunch time. I felt sure I’d be spending some time roaming around looking for a place to eat.Even though I’d taken the easy way with the tour, I still had some walking to do if I was going to find the “Poor People’s Pub” for lunch.