I will be attending the lighthouse conference in New Bedford in September and would very much like to go out to Block Island. Which ferry is the best one to take? Once on the island is there transporation available to the North Light; I understand you can walk to the SE Light.

What other lighthouses are in the local area that I should plan to visit? Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

Darlene

Some answers to your questions can be found here...

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/forums/Forum15/HTML/000450.html

more Block Island information

Ferry Service-Schedules

other Lighthouses in the area are many... you can leave on the Ferry right down the road from the Pt Judith lighthouse for one


[This message has been edited by engbrady (edited 07-02-2002).]

Hi Darlene, ...There are plenty of taxis on Block Island that would be more than willing to take you anywhere on the island. Grab a Ferry out of Point Judith and let the fun begin. We dock our boat at New Harbor and usually we'll take a cab out to the Southeast Light then walk back to New Harbor via Old Harbor.

The North Light is a little further out and is a rather lengthy walk. Your best bet is to take a cab, visit the light and take lots of pictures, then call the cab back to bring you back to town. As always, you could also rent a bike if you are up to some serious peddling. There are lots of upgrades and downgrades to the Southeast Light. The road to the North Light (Corn Neck Road) is a little less hilly, basically flat.

While you're in Rhode Island, there are many lights that can be viewed in a day or less. If you have the time, try to visit as many as you can.

Bob

Darlene, last fall when I.O. and I did some of the Connecticut lights we used "Atlantic Coast Lighthouses A Traveler's Guide" by Kenneth Kochel. The 4th Edition has been updated and revised by Jeremy D'Entremont. This isn't a fancy picture book but has good info and directions (once you figure out the little maps)! Obviously it covers more than the area where you'll be but for $20 you can't go wrong.

Just went on a Block Island lighthousing excursion a few weeks back...We took a ferry from New London, CT over to Block Island...we headed out in some heavy fog, so the ride over wasn't too fun (we came pretty close to a sail boat at one point)...but it wasn't bad on the way home at all once you could actually see where you were moving...think it was about a 2 hour plus ride.
We went from town to one light and then to the next (then back to town) via a school bus!
The walk to the North Light wasn't too bad (I think it was easier than walking out to Cedar Island here on Long Island)...just stay along the shore more by the rocks...the loose sand towards the dunes gets hot in the sun and is hard to walk through.
There's a parking area right at the beach there...and then you just walk up the beach to the light...you can see the lighthouse the whole way there...so even if you didn't opt to walk up the beach, you still can get some great views.
We saw a lot of poeple who rented bikes and scooters and were riding around...and we saw people taking taxis and getting dropped off there.(Guess you'd need a cell phone to get back...unless you made a deal with the cabby?)
The Southeast Light is pretty unique as far as lighthouses I've seen - absolutely beautiful!...despite the fact that it needs a lot of work.

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KRISTIN ERIN SCROOPE
kristin@scroope.net
http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/lhlist.htm
http://www.LILighthouseSociety.org

Hi Kristin, ...You don't see many school buses on the Block during the summer. Usually I never see one. I did see one this summer. We were having breakfast at Ernie's Old Harbor Breakfast when I saw a school bus pull up into the ferry parking lot. There was a cruise boat in called the Niagara Princess and I think the bus was there to take them on a tour of the island.

We've spent 20 of the last 28 days (a/o last Thursday) on the island. The weather was super the whole time. It's truly a wonderful place to spend a relaxing vacation.

Bob

Hi Bob!
Lucky you! It definitely looks like a nice peaceful place to spend a relaxing vacation.
I was there on a Sunday - June 30th, I believe...my first visit there...and only for the day.
I had been told that it was the only place in America like Ireland, but after being there, I don't see many similarities to Ireland at all...aside from the narrow windy roads, stone fences, and rolling green hills...the types of houses and Old Harbor are definitely New England! It reminded me more of Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard.

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KRISTIN ERIN SCROOPE
kristin@scroope.net
http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/lhlist.htm
http://www.LILighthouseSociety.org

Bob, the Niagara Princess is one of the cruise ships that pass by my place. These boats are out of Rhode Island. They go up the Hudson, then take the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal eventually winding up in Canada (Montreal?) There they pick up a fresh load of passengers and head back along the coast to R.I. So you get a one way trip and you are bused back to your originating port. We see them in the morning as they overnight at Sylvan Beach just before the Erie Canal traverses Oneida Lake. In the winters they go south.
[This message has been edited by mombo (edited 07-20-2002).]

Darlene,

I'm sure you'll love block Island. My wife, Esther, and I spent some time there last week and thouroughly enjoyed it. (With some reservations- it was extremely hot and humid and they don't seem to know what Air Conditioning is on the Island).

I got some great recomendations from Bob M and Paul. We took our car, but riding bikes, mopeds and walking can get you around along with the taxis. Everyone was very nice and the vast majority of drivers are very courteous and careful of the others on the road.

I'm going to post a longer version soon of our trip shortly.

Dennis