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 oz. 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. The Block Island Express on its way to Block Island from New London, CT.
, via the Cross Sound ferry. Credit: Randee Daddona The choose-your-own-adventurism starts before the boat even departs, with travelers.