I love weekend trips. Exploring the beautiful nature always recharge and refresh my mind. One Friday evening, I was searching weekend getaway ideas online. From one link to another, I “discovered” the Block Island, Rhode Island. The blue ocean charmed me. Then I spent one hour to persuade my husband, Caven, who thought it was outrageous to spend 100 dollars one way per person on the ferry fare, considering where we live was 15 minutes driving distance to Jones Beach or 1 hour to Fire Island without any charge other than gasoline. I showed him photos and travelers’ reviews on the internet, trying to entice him. Still, he couldn’t care less. But I did. I escalated my pitch. “Let’s bring our own bikes and cycle the whole island with the boundless ocean alongside, just like we had always wanted to do it but never did in Tainan, Taiwan. What do you think?” His face lit up. Great! 10:00 a.m. the next morning, we were welcomed on board the Viking Fleet, and heading to Block Island.
One hour later, we arrived at Block Island. With certain expectation, the reality still blew our minds. The glittering blue ocean was so vast and peaceful. On the other side of the road, we saw beautiful houses surrounded by stone walls. The rustic style made me wonder that I was in Ireland. The quietness of cycling and sunbathing on the cycling trail was broken occasionally when mopeds passed us and half-naked teen riders gave continuous honks joyfully as if to say “hi”.
We stopped and put our bikes down whenever something caught our eyes, like a beautiful beach house or garden. While I snapped some photos on the tree-sheltered country road, I saw two old couples waving hands and saying “see you next year” to each other. As a summer vacation destination, I noticed that a lot of people around this country gathered on Block Island. I overheard a story on the ferry coming here. Two girls were best friends from college but started their careers in different cities. After they both had families, they decided to meet each other and their families every summer in Block Island. It continued for 10 years now. How wonderful!
When we were a bit bored of cycling, we jumped into the turquoise ocean to swim. The water was so clear that I felt every cell of my body was craving to be soaked. The best experience about swimming at the beach for me was feeling the gentle waves pushing against me. I think this is the only way to truly embrace the sea. Also, I love to look back at the shore and see how the waves crashed onto it, creating a lot of crystal shining splashes, dangling in the air.
We also rent a kayak in the afternoon, paddling in a small harbor with seabirds flying around. Everything fell perfectly into my plan until we missed our ferry. It was the only ferry of the day from Block Island to Montauk where we parked our car. We didn’t realize that even small, this island has two ferry stations – Old Harbour, located in the center of town, and Champlin’s Marina where the Viking Fleet docked. We rushed to the Old Harbour, which is a 15-minute cycling to Champlin’s Marina. It was too late till we figured out. We pulled out the local travel brochure and called all the hotels and bed and breakfasts listed on it. Even hotels at 500USD a night were fully booked. Till then, both of our cell phones died. We sat at a random hotel lobby, feeling worried and helpless. I already pictured that we would end up at the beach, first time of our lives, cramping up together and waiting for the daylight.
Before we gave up, I approached the hotel concierge. Although we were not their in-house guests, I hoped the concierge staff, I will call him James, could help us for other options. He was really kind and patient to come up with ideas, such as taking the ferry to New England and take the train to New York City. However, it was too complicated and time-consuming for us. I thanked him and walked away. Surprisingly, he called me back, and said to me, “Mam, if you still couldn’t find anything by 9 p.m. tonight, please come back. I volunteered in a church on weekends. I could bring you and your husband there. ” We were both speechless about his generous offer. Comparing to sitting outdoors for a night, lying on the church bench seemed 100 times better. We bought blankets from the convenience store, waiting for James outside of the hotel. Right after 9 p.m., James walked to us with a smile on his face. He wore a white T-shirt and denim shorts. He was dark-skinned, tall and buff like a bouncer. Suddenly, I seemed to see Hagrid in Harry Potter movie, who is a half-giant and half human, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts. James drove us to the church and lead us to a small storage room with two single mattresses on the floor. We couldn’t be happier. James told us that he has spent more than 40 years on this island. In his mind, the Block Island was the safest place on this planet. Before he left, he also gave us some recommendations of fun places to visit on the next day and asked us to call him if we needed help. We didn’t know what to say but felt very grateful. Because of him, we spent a carefree night and another unrushed day to discover more charms of the island.
The next day, we sat on the ferry 30 minutes earlier before departure. On the way back, I was still drown in the happiness with vivid memories of the past two days. The sea, the lighthouse, the live music of the street corner bar, the sunset, the smile on everyone’s face, and the welcome and help that we received from the local people…they lifted my spirit and made me feel so delightful. I asked Caven if he’d like to spend 200 bucks to come back next summer. He said, “Definitely! But let’s book a hotel first.”
