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When you make landfall in Block Island from the Point Judith ferry, you disembak in Old Harbor, which is the hub of life on Block Island. If you are staying at the Surf Hotel my favorite hotel, you go off to the right and you are treated to the Cyr family hospitality for your stay. The hotel has wonderful porches and rocking chairs, a private beach, and a daily continental breakfast. If you're going for the day, bring or rent a mountain bike, stop at the Star Market and pick up a sandwich, and go either to the left or right. I always end up going to the right, stopping at Mansion Beach, heading toward North Lighthouse, New Harbor, Roadman's Hollow, and Southeast Lighthouse(if you have the energy it is well worth the trip down all the stairs for the view--bring some cold beers!). It's mostly downhill from Southeast Light back to town. If you're hungry, stop at the Mohegan Cafe for some Island-brewed beer and some great food. The National Hotel has a great view, good entertainment and you can hang out there until it's time for the ferry ride home. Back to Top
Gay Head has one of the most spectacular views looking up toward the lighthouse. Edgartown is a great place to sit and watch all the sailboats going in and out of the harbor. From Edgartown you can take a small ferry to Chappaquiddick and hike out to East Beach (Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge and Wasque Reservation). It's well worth the hike. Take the time and eat at the Black Dog Bakery and visit the bookstore across the street. The Vineyard is very hilly and there's lots of traffic on the roadways. So be careful! Back to Top
As you can guess, Nantucket is expensive, but like Martha's Vineyard there is a Youth Hostel (Star of the Sea) that costs $15-$20 a night, which is a bargain! You can walk to the beach after dinner and listen to the waves on the beach at night! This is one of my favorite hostels; it's located in Surf Side and is an old life-saving station built in the 1800s. Star of the Sea has just been restored; I haven't been there but I'm sure it's beautiful. Going to Nantucket is like going back in time--there are still cobblestone streets, a farmer who sells fresh produce on Main Street, old taverns the sailors used to go to after coming back from whaling trips. The Nantucket Whaling Museum is worth visiting; they have a great collection of whaling artifacts. Back to Top
Okay, maybe there are other places to go, but think about it, the plane ride is only 2 ½ hours long and tempartures are in the high 70's in March (how much snow have we had this winter?). I have gone to Miami in October and Hurricane Irene came along and it was no fun. But in March the weather is near perfect, not too hot yet, and the water is warm enough for swimming. You can sit on the beach forever. When you go to Miami, check out some of the Cuban restaurants, and a must is Joe's Stone Crab. Back to Top
Tulum is the only ruin that is on the ocean, there's a wonderful beach to cool off after you have walked around the ruin. Cozumel has some of the best diving in the world; we hooked up with Eagle Ray Divers on the Island. I took a resort dive course and learned the basics on diving, I was able to dive to 40 feet and Lowell dove at 85 feet. It was a wonderful experience and if you have never dove before I highly recommend it; Antonio at Eagle Ray Divers made it a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. Next time I go to Cancun I hope to get certified, in Cozumel! We also went snorkeling on the Isla Mujeres when we arrived on the Island we found some locals that take you out to the reefs for snorkeling the water was pretty clear and we saw lots of fish and some coral. Another very memorable and funny thing happened to us at Actun Chen. Actun Chen. The name means "cave with an underground river inside". Around the cave there is a jungle with wild animals, i.e.: monkeys, deer, snakes, iguanas. When you turn off the main highway to Actun Chen, you are on a dirt road that seems to go forever thru the jungle we saw some iguanas along the way to the parking area. After we parked the car and got out there was a family with two young children, the children came running over to us and very excitedly told us that there was a monkey in there jeep. Their parents told us to make sure we locked the car doors before we left the car; apparently the monkeys open the car doors and make themselves at home. They tried coaxing him out with a banana, but that didn't work. I was having a Power Bar and the monkey seemed to be attracted to either the smell or foil wrapper, so Lowell decided to try and use the Power Bar to get the monkey out of the Jeep and it worked. Back to Top |
