Block Island!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Laura and I traveled to Block Island, Rhode Island. Amazing. It was amazing. I cannot begin to explain how awesome it was for us. We had a great day. I probably can't explain it- or have anyone understand it unless you were there- but I will not quit trying. I think overall really for both Laura and I it was exactly what we needed. We have both felt the weight that comes with being away from home, family and friends- as well as feeling the stresses of starting a new job/assignment!! We had a great day together- bonding, laughing, and exploring Block Island!!! The following is the best I can do in explaining our day to anyone reading this... Enjoy. :-)

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Block Island is in the Atlantic Ocean 13 miles South of the coast of Rhode Island.

We drove from Middletown to Point Judith, Rhode Island to catch the ferry. The drive was just under 2 hours. Driving through Rhode Island is short, but beautiful...

Driving to the Port to catch the ferry we saw all of these people... we think they were clamming. Laura and I are going to try it- someday. :-)

"Downtown" Point Judith, Rhode Island

There were a lot of fishing boats docked at the Galilee State Pier- where we got on the ferry.

There is a high speed ferry and a slower one- the high speed takes about 30 minutes to get to the island and the slower one is 60 minutes. We chose to do the faster ferry- which was good because it was sort of a rough ride... if any of you know me very well you know how well (NOT WELL AT ALL) I do on boats in the ocean!!!! :-) The ferry was only $35 round trip.

Buying tickets for the ferry.

Before leaving- we were so stinking excited!!!

The ferry ride was fun. The water is beautiful and the houses from the dock to the end of the jetty were beautiful. I can only imagine how much they are worth....

Looks like a postcard.

The ferry was sort of rough- the waves were big.. made us laugh in the beginning...

And not laugh towards the end!!!!...... I was SO glad we only did the 30 minute ride. Makes me feel old- I used to love rough fun wavy rides. Now- I just get sick. Bummer. I did not throw up this time thank goodness..only a headache and that dizzy feeling. It went away after we docked! :-)

Starting to be able to see the island.

Facts about BI... The ferry came into Old Harbor and we explored most of the island.  

 Docking at Block Island, Rhode Island.

The hotels are all old buildings- similar to these. They all had the bed and breakfast feel to them- no chain hotels at all. It's such a beautiful place. The town itself is there right when you get off the fairy- cute little shops and restaurants.

We saw this truck with a big box of mail on the back of it- in case you wondered how mail gets to the people who live on an island....

 

After getting off the ferry we decided to rent some mopeds. The idea of this just makes me laugh- we looked so cool!!  ;-) We paid for the mopeds, signed our lives away if we crashed,  picked out very cool shiny helmets and we were off to get our lessons. Ms Laura has never driven a moped before... I don't even know what to say. Long story short she had a rough time figuring it out and thought she would feel safer if we just rented one and rode together. So... we got a refund for her moped and took one for the day. Bless her heart- we (or maybe I) got some great laughs watching her...

After figuring out the moped situation we rode from the town into the country to the Southeast Lighthouse!! It's amazing.. history.

A view from the side of the lighthouse.

 I thought this window shot was cool. We took the tour to go up into the lighthouse and saw where the light keeper, his family, two light keeper assistants, and their families all lived. I couldn't help but think of how many people have dreamed while looking through that window.. with three families living in the lighthouse throughout all seasons of the year. Can you imagine the light keepers four year old little boy looking out the window during winter wishing he could go out to play? It's a far out there thought-- but things like that intrigue me.

From the bottom level looking up to the tower. Those stairs go all the way up the tower into the actual lighthouse. They are completely original to when the lighthouse was first built.

This shows the erosion that was mentioned in the facts sheet above. This was why they moved the lighthouse in 1993.

The view from in the tower of the lighthouse. You can see the glare through the glass. I didn't actually take pictures of the lighthouse past the first level and I regret that... I was taking video listening to the history. Cool, cool stuff.

After the Lighthouse tour we hopped back on the moped and headed down the road to the Mohegan Bluffs. This could be the most amazing, beautiful, fantastic, marvelous, extraordinary thing I have ever seen. :-)

The Bluffs were my favorite part of the day. They are hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the "town" on the island. You have to ride a bit on the moped to get to them and they would be easy to miss. You have to know where to turn in off the main road to find them. I feel like when we walked through the path to find these stairs we sort of discovered this magnificent scene that God had painted. It spoke to my heart.. in a way I can't even really explain on this blog. But it was amazing. I feel like God used not only this part of the day but the entire day to remind me of how BIG and AWESOME HE is. He created this. It's beautiful. It's untouched by humans..as in not devloped. It's natural and real. Realistically I know we did not "discover" it, there have probably been millions of people there before us and I'm sure millions to come.. but it spoke into my heart as if I was the only person there that day. One on one with the ONE who created it.. the ONE who knows my heart best- who knows the sturggles I've had the last few weeks.... It confirmed to me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I'm meeting who I'm supposed to meet and becoming friends with many. I have no idea if what I'm writing explains how I felt- and that's OK, but it was an amazing experience I will never forget. I know for a fact that God took me to Block Island and to this bluff for a reason- to speak into my heart. He has a way of doing that- catching me off gaurd. Have you ever had an experience like that? I hope so... it's priceless.

There are several pictures of the bluff because I had a hard time picking one. :-)

Beautiful Ms Laura walking down the stairs to the bluff.

I'm thankful for Laura.

I could stare at it all day... but we had more to explore.

 Thank you GOD for the reminder....



After the bluffs we put our helmets back on and hopped back on the moped. Off to explore the next adventure....



The views while riding the moped were amazing...

We saw several little farms- very cool houses.

This is the Settlers' Rock- placed right before the beachwalk near the refuge. A neat little piece of history.

The Wildlife Refuge walk... you can see the lighthouse at the end of the walk (below).



Willy's Dog Wagon- in case you would like a hot dog before your beach walk. :-)

After walking a little on the Wildlife walk we decided to head back towards the other side of the island to find something to eat. We decided to eat at The Beachead. Great food and an even better view!!!!

The table we sat at had seashells in it... I'm sure any of you that do woodwork would know how that's done.. very cool.

The view from our table.



 I ordered seafood nachos!!! Very good and very filling!! It had lobster, shrimp, and scallops!! Very good!!!

After eating we decided to head back to the beach. We spent a couple hours here just enjoying the water. It's beautiful. The sand was very nice- not too rocky and the water was so clear!! I don't think Laura and I really had expectations because niether of us really knew what it would be like- but we were pleasantly surprised. :-)

Walking over the dune to see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean!!

Do I have to explain this one? :-) Tradition.

Beautiful Ms Laura.

Downtown Block Island- our dock on the
right- the little shops on the left.

We had to leave the beach and return our awesome moped (and sadly our helmets as well). We still had an hour so before our ferry left so we decided to walk out on the jetty...

 Fishing off the Jetty.

A view of how clear and beautiful the water is!!

 We decided to try to be artsy and were using the sun for some fun pictures... I'm sure a professional would not approve but we had fun none-the-less. :-)

I was trying to clean my feet off so I climbed down the side of the jetty- I left my sunglasses in the Atlantic. :-)

Another amazing part of the day- just to top it all off- was watching the sunset both on the jetty and then on the ferry ride home. Beautiful!!!!!

The slow ferry taking off just before we headed to board ours.

 The following explain themselves. Beautiful.

On the ferry heading back to Galilee State Pier in Point Judith. It was a fantastic day.



 I am sure that the words or pictures do not give justice to the day. I cannot explain how much I needed the reminders from God- it's been a tough couple weeks with missing home and trying to readjust to the new assignment. God is so good!! I will never forget this day.