Block Island guide: An easy getaway from Long Island

Most people claim that it is shaped like a pork chop, others a teardrop, and a few an upside-down mini South America. And the shape of the island matters, or so you’d think, given the sheer number of caps, pillows, bumper stickers, tumblers and “There’s Always the Next Ferry” T-shirts containing an ink blot version of it. Is Block Island a Rorschach? Yes. For some, it is an avatar of simpler times, shingled cottages, lazy summer days, small-batch fudge, yacht races and disputes over why the hydrangeas aren’t performing. For others, it’s 50-ounce mudslides, string bikini-ed crowds gyrating to tribute bands like Don Jovi and roads choked with mopeds, so much so that Block Island once threatened to secede from the state over the issue, briefly entertaining offers from both Connecticut and Massachusetts.

It may seem surprising that so many people see so many different things in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, which is the actual name of the municipality that comprises Block Island and holds the distinction of being the smallest town in America’s smallest state. But, fitting for a patch of land that’s been causing shipwrecks since before there even were ships, Block Island is all about surprises, a 10-square-mile shapeshifter with something for Long Islanders' taste.

Getting there: The slow and the quick

The choose-your-own-adventurism starts before the boat even departs, with travelers having two options during Block’s brief May-September season. Every day during it, Block Island Express (860-444-4624, goblockisland.com) operates multiple sailings requiring a connection: Long Islanders can take an auto ferry from Orient Point to New London, Connecticut, and then a second from New London to Block, a three-hour odyssey. A better option is the passenger-only fast ferry, which sails to and from Block on Thursdays through Sundays only, twice daily, a quick 90-minute trip aboard a Seajet catamaran whose top speed is roughly 57 miles per hour. Whichever itinerary you choose, the cost is the same ($66.50 round-trip for adults, $33.26 for ages 2-11, free parking at the Orient Point dock) and all boats have onboard concessions and bars serving potent Bloody Marys — considered by some a crucial prelude to the Block Island experience.

Block Island hotel stays: Expensive and not

Block Island boasts a number of hotels as pricey as they are beautiful, among them the 24-room 1661 Inn (43 Spring St., 401-466-2421, blockislandresorts.com), where accommodations with one queen bed start at $325 a night. Not only does the property host the island’s most celebrated breakfast (more on that later), both hotel guests and non- are welcome to visit the farm across the street where 1661 grows much of its produce, as well as an adjacent animal menagerie, which houses a greater variety of species than some zoos, everything from camels to llamas to lemurs to kangaroos.

Rooms with one king bed start at $410 at Spring House Hotel (52 Spring St., 401-466-5844, springhousehotel.com), the island’s oldest property, its 1852 main building a riotous Victorian edifice under a rust-colored mansard roof, with a huge wraparound porch and a hilltop location offering sublime views of the cerulean Sound from Adirondack chairs on an endless lawn.

Budget-minded travelers will appreciate the fact that the Victorian era also gave birth to rooming houses on Block Island, several of which have been converted into functional if spare accommodations — think AC, TV, one queen bed, private bathroom and that’s it — with a (relatively) cheap price point. Among these are the 18-room Seacrest Inn (334 High St.), where stays start at $199, and the 14-room New Shoreham House Inn (53 Water St.) where stays start at $219. Both are close to the ferry landing and use the same reservation service (401-466-5504, blockislandreservations.com).

Block Island restaurants: No frills to fancy

Arguably the island’s most beloved place to eat is also its cheapest, Payne’s Killer Donuts, a food truck with no phone or email address usually found on Ocean Avenue astride the harbor. For more than a half-century, fried bread fans have been rising early and lining up at 7 a.m. for Payne’s cakey doughnuts, which are offered in just three varieties — cinnamon, sugar, plain — but are unfailingly warm and will set you back just $1.50 apiece (cash only). Housed in an old meeting hall and just a stone’s throw from the ferry is Odd Fellows Cafe (232 Water St., 401-466-2250) which features a funky, college town-ish vibe, well-priced sandwiches at breakfast and lunchtime, and stellar housemade baked goods from morning till night.

And no list of Block bargains would be complete without a mention of takeout-only Rebecca’s (435 Water St., 401-466-5411, rebeccasseafood.com), although a few picnic tables are available for those who can’t wait to dig in to its seafood-centric fare, especially Rebecca’s cold lobster roll (a steal at $23.99), shrimp roll ($13.25) and heavenly sandwich of fried cod ($13.50).

A good mid-price choice is The Surf (32 Dodge St., 401-466-5500, thesurfblockisland.com), where you order at the bar from a grab-bag menu that includes everything from fish tacos ($21) to burgers ($19), barbecue brisket sandwiches ($19) to steak frites ($33), and then snag a table offering dramatic views of Crescent Beach, one of the island’s prettiest.

Two pricey-but-worth-it meals: The aforementioned 1661 Inn ($40 adults, $20 younger than 10), home of a huge daily breakfast buffet with Champagne and tables with matchless cliffside views of the harbor. There’s no dinner on the island better than that served up by chef Brian Hebert and his team at The Barn, a Spring House Hotel restaurant with a wood-fried grill, open kitchen and fresh takes on everything from roasted Brussels sprouts ($18, with hazelnuts and lardons), poached shrimp ($20, garlic- and Cajun-seasoned) and seared scallops ($46, with pea tendrils and a red pepper crème). Best of all is Hebert’s bouillabaisse ($52), in which a generous sampling of fruits de mer — including a half-lobster — swim in a thrilling saffron broth.

Sights: Unspoiled and otherwise

To look at Mohegan Bluffs, you’d never guess that the island’s most stunning and serene natural feature got its name from a vicious battle between two Native American tribes way back in 1590 (the Mohegans and the Manisseans) that ended with the former being driven over the 200-foot clay cliffs to their deaths. Those cliffs, their views and the beach they descend to have appeared in enough brochures and calendars to become a Rhode Island cliché and yet they astonish anyway, as does the steep 141-step staircase that’s been a pilgrimage site since, well, the Pilgrims.

Because of erosion, authorities have closed the very bottom of the stairs this summer, thereby preventing beach access. But fine Block Island sandscapes may be found in every direction, from Crescent and Mansion Beach (which used to have one till it burned down in the ’60s) on the eastern side, to Dorie’s Cove on the western, with its dreamy, spectacular sunsets.

Like many of the island’s most pristine spots, Dorie's is nowhere near the bustling town center, which makes getting there on foot impractical and getting there by bicycle challenging, owing to the island’s hilly terrain. Thus, you can’t walk 10 feet from the ferry landing without being accosted by someone trying to rent you a moped, scooter or some other gas-powered vehicle, none of them ideal ways to appreciate the natural world. That said, they are really, really fun. Once you separate yourself from a pack of fellow renters — no mean feat when you consider that Block Island is just 7 miles long and 3 miles at its widest point — the rides are as exhilarating as the vistas, and you’ll really feel like you’ve been around the block. Two companies near the ferry docks with a large selection of single- and double- scooter rentals on Water Street are Island Moped & Bike (401-466-2700, bimopeds.com), where rates include $45 for one hour and $130 for an entire day, and Moped Man (401-466-2029, blockislandmoped.com), $60 for one hour, $150 for the day. Both helmets and eyewear are required by law.

Activities: Halcyon and harried

“You can unplug from the ubiquitous distractions of the modern world and enjoy the peace and quiet,” reads a description on Block Island’s tourism website of the Sacred Labyrinth, an enduringly popular destination. Here, an appropriately serene setting sets the stage for an ancient ritual, the walking meditation, a stone-lined path with one entrance, one exit, and between them a seemingly endless maze of stone-lined circular pathways. Getting there requires a nerve-jangling moped ride and eagle eyes (for spotting the small sign where it’s located, on Corn Neck Road a few miles from town), but the beauty and simplicity of the labyrinth make it well worth the trip.

Also well worth the trip, though for an 180-degree reason, is Block Island’s surprisingly vigorous club scene. (Who would have guessed?) On any day of the week (sometimes twice daily) bands of every conceivable genre perform at such venues as Captain Nick’s (34 Ocean Ave., 401-466-5670, captainnicksbi.com), a two-floor, indoor-outdoor bar featuring disco, country, and other themed nights.

Other hot live entertainment haunts include the harborside M ahogany Shoals  (133 Ocean Ave., 401-864-3832), and especially Ballard’s Beach Resort (42 Water St., 401-466-2231, ballardsbi.com), which in addition to food has a tiki bar and daiquiri bar as well as an outdoor stage with an enviable location — just steps from the beach — that’s tailor-made for the mudslide-gulping, barefoot dancers it attracts.

Block Island souvenirs: Tacky and classy

Finally, just as there’s a Block Island for every taste, there’s a corresponding memento to remember it by. Some of the more interesting boutiques include Glass Onion (241 Water St., 401-466-5161, glassonionblockisland.com), a well-curated collection of maps, antiques, jewelry and local honey, all gathered into an Instagram-adorable 1920s fishing shack. Solstice (26 Water St., 401-466-2558, bitees.com/solstice) has lovely items like Block pendant necklaces, coasters and handblown work by Eben Horton, the artist behind the Glass Float Project, in which small, bespoke glass orbs are hidden all over the island each summer and searched for by thousands of visitors. The island’s largest souvenir shack, Star Department Store (227 Water St., 401-466-5541), never met an item it didn’t want to Blockify, from T-shirts and toys to hats and hoodies and locally pulled taffy, all of it housed in a historic building just steps from the ferry. And similarly island-made is the Block Island Trading Company (1 Water St., 401-859-1524, blockislandtradingcompany.com), a treasured home of pork chop-shaped Christmas ornaments, flags, Block-Island themed cheese boards, books, candles, silk ties, you name it.

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.