Block Island

This past weekend, my cousin Elizabeth flew up for a visit. She'd asked forever ago when would be a good time to come, little did I know the poor thing would end up having to spend her last day with us in a frenzy because of the lockout ending. She can attest to the fact that we really ARE crazy and probably shouldn't be let out into public as often as we are. 

We picked her up at the Boston airport just in time to swing by Henrietta's Table for dinner. We've only eaten breakfast there, and dinner lived up to every expectation and more. Elizabeth had that amazing salmon with a chive-butter sauce, Thomas had the Yankee Pot Roast and was beside himself with joy, and I had hake (a delicious white fish I'd never heard of) served atop roasted veggies and spinach. We enjoyed every morsel of our meal, then proceeded to burn off every calorie by walking/sweating part of the Freedom Trail in Boston. We were having a major heat wave....it was hotter here than it was in Las Vegas!

Of course we had to introduce Elizabeth to Mike's Pastry. Don't worry, we brought back half of these pastries for Danny and Stacia, we didn't eat all of this. But we did determine that the Florentine cannoli is our very, very, very favorite. 

 The next morning we took the ferry to Block Island.  We've been hearing how wonderful it is out there and it truly felt like we were in another country. Although we had quite the nauseating ferry ride and a mediocre lunch after we landed (we needed food quickly for our nauseated bellies) the rest of the day only improved. The island is just 11 square miles about 13 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, so the water was chilly and the breeze was refreshing.

I dared Thomas to swim out to a rock in the water (he was the only one brave enough to go in past his knee caps) and of course he did. But only on the stipulation that I make him a pot roast similar to the one he'd eaten the night before at Henrietta's. There he is on his way back from the little rock. He wouldn't climb on top of it because he claimed it was covered in bird poop, so I told him all bets were off. 

We rented mopeds for part of the day and it was definitely worth every penny. It was such a fun way to see the entire island. Here we are at Mohegan Bluffs, which made me feel like we were in Ireland or somewhere far, far away. 

Farmhouses, rolling hills and rock walls were everywhere. 

Thomas loved every minute of riding the mopeds. He had one in college and misses it almost every day. He likes to lean forward because it "makes him more aerodynamic." 

We ended our Block Island experience with an amazing dinner at Eli's.  I can't decide if it was better than Henrietta's, or if they were both just that good. The best part about it, you could come in looking like bums (which we did) and they still served you an amazing meal. I had swordfish on top of an edamame, corn, tomato and barley salad. And that is a truffle butter sauce around it. I don't even remember what the other two had because I was so focused on enjoying every single bite of my own meal.

We had a nausea-free ferry ride back to the mainland (thanks to Dramamine and sitting in the middle of the boat) and we all slept soundly that night. It was so much fun to have Elizabeth here, and we'll definitely be visiting Block Island again as soon as we can.