There is something about Block Island that makes life slow down. I wrote this editorial from the front porch of our rental house for the week, coffee in hand. I have a sincere appreciation for this little escape from our everyday life in Newport.
Newport is home and I never take for granted that I get to live and work in a place people travel from all over the world to experience. But even when you live somewhere beautiful, sometimes it feels good to get away. Block Island is that place for me.
We were there for our annual family vacation and it was our first with our son, Bowen, along with Bethany and our dogs, Red and Freya. It was a great week of doing very little, which is exactly the point. Family, friends, the boat, the beach, good food and nowhere we really need to be.
Our connection to the island goes well beyond vacation. My future mother-in-law is a year-round resident who recently retired as the Postmaster on Block Island, so we are fortunate to have family here and a reason to visit throughout the year.
Some of our closest friends, the Drapers, are also deeply rooted in the island. Their family has been engrained in Block Island and its hospitality community for generations, and today they own and operate the 1661 Inn, 1661 Farm and Gardens and affiliated properties, along with the popular Oar restaurant overlooking New Harbor.
If you know the Drapers, you know how much they care about this island and the experience people have when they visit. Hospitality is a tough business anywhere, but particularly on an island where nearly everything requires another layer of logistics. They are some of the hardest-working and most genuine people you will meet, and that comes through in their properties and the way they treat their guests.
Just last weekend, I learned that some of the family was traveling down to New Jersey to celebrate the wedding of longtime guests who turned into family friends. That is the type of people they are.
The 1661 Farm and Gardens is one of those places that is hard to adequately describe if you haven’t been. It is beautiful without feeling overly manicured, relaxed without feeling sleepy, and distinctly Block Island. They grow their own flowers and vegetables and care for an array of animals that have become the unofficial “zoo” of the island, including a camel named Lucky, tortoises and hares, emus, lemurs and kangaroos. Yes, you can see kangaroos on Block Island.
The Oar is another island institution, with one of the best settings on New Harbor for a drink, lunch or dinner while watching the boats come and go. They also make some of the best mudslides you can enjoy, and we were sure to keep their blenders sharp last week.
If you haven’t visited, stayed or dined at one of their properties, I highly recommend adding them to your next Block Island trip.
Our friendship also makes this particular chapter of life pretty special. Ross Draper, who was born and raised here, also has a young son. It is pretty cool knowing our boys will grow up spending time together on the island.
I picture them crabbing off the docks, riding bikes, exploring the beaches, spending summers on the water and probably getting into just enough trouble. I grew up loving the ocean, and I hope Bowen develops that same connection. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve being on or around the water, and now I get to experience those things again through him.
My mom was also able to come out this week for my birthday. Now that she is retired too, I am looking forward to more opportunities for her to spend this kind of time with Bowen and watch him grow. Having everyone together made the week that much more meaningful.
Wednesday started with a trip to the Farmers Market, where local farmers, artisans and vendors sell what they grow, make and create. We couldn’t leave without some bluefish pâté from Sediment, one of my favorites. Shoutout to Ebbin!!! From there, the agenda was pretty simple: get on the boat, find a beach and enjoy the day.
I also managed to do something this trip that, somehow, I had never done before: I got a massage.
Courtesy of our friends Sarah and Lucy at Sol Bodywork and Spa, tucked into the tranquility of the 1661 Farm and Gardens, I finally understood what I had apparently been missing. Sol offers everything from Swedish and deep tissue massage to Thai bodywork, warm stone treatments, cupping, prenatal and lymphatic massage, along with restorative head-to-toe rituals.
It is a really cool addition to the experience at the Farm and another reason to slow down for an hour or two while you’re there. If wellness is part of your vacation, or you just need an excuse to relax after a few days of boating, biking and beaching, it is absolutely worth a visit.
That simplicity and natural beauty are probably what I love most about Block Island.
For all the attention coastal New England and its communities receive, the island has managed to hold onto something increasingly difficult to find. It still feels approachable, a little blue collar and, in the best way, somewhat entrenched in time. It’s known as one of the last great places, and deservedly so.
Of course Block Island has been discovered, but not quite in the same way as Nantucket or even Newport. There is still a rawness to it. It remains relatively “influencer free,” although with every beautiful corner of the world now finding its way onto social media, I am sure that will continue to change.
For now, there are still plenty of places here where your phone feels unnecessary.
The natural beauty speaks for itself. Morning coffee on a dew-covered porch while the sun comes up. Miles of stone walls running through open fields. Winding roads, freshwater ponds, rolling landscapes and pristine beaches. Boats moving through New Harbor, dinghies tied to the docks and that unmistakable maritime energy of a community built around the water.
Then there are the sunsets, when everything seems to stop for a few minutes.
What I also appreciate is how seriously this community takes conservation. Open space is still…open. Large stretches of coastline remain untouched. Trails are available to all. The natural environment isn’t just a backdrop here. It is part of the island’s identity, and there seems to be a genuine understanding of how important it is to protect it.
There are beautiful coastal communities throughout New England, but sometimes places become so polished, marketed and packaged that they begin to lose some of what made them special in the first place. Block Island still feels wonderfully simple and imperfect.
Beneath the summer crowds is a real year-round community of people who work incredibly hard to make life on a small island possible. Families like the Drapers are a great example of that. There is a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to create the effortless experience visitors associate with summer on Block Island. There is character here that can’t be manufactured, and I hope that never changes.
And while summer gets most of the attention, don’t sleep on Block Island in late August and into the fall. In many ways, it is one of the best times to visit. The crowds start to thin, the pace slows down and the island feels a little more like itself again. The beaches are still beautiful, the trails and conservation land are as good as ever, and there is still plenty to eat, drink, explore and experience.
The water is still warm, the days can still feel like summer and those cool mornings and evenings make walking, biking and hiking around the island that much better. You don’t necessarily need a packed itinerary either. Take the ferry over, bring your bike or walking shoes, find a trail you’ve never explored, grab some lunch and give yourself a day to wander. Block Island rewards you for not being in a hurry.
This week, I found myself thinking less about what we were doing each day and more about the memories being made without really trying. Someday far too soon, Bowen won’t be the baby sleeping through boat rides or being carried down to the beach. He and his buddy will be the kids jumping off the dock, pulling up crab traps and disappearing down a path toward the water.
For now, I am happy to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee, watch the island wake up and appreciate this chapter for exactly what it is. Block Island has always been an escape for me. This year, it was even more special.
If you haven’t been before, or haven’t been in a while, do yourself a favor and Sail Away on the Block Island Ferry.
