Andressa Rodrigues, 30, grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Jeff Kershaw, 29, in Rhode Island. They met three summers ago on Block Island at Yellow Kittens tavern and were married at the Sullivan House on June 1. Their 100 guests included a number who flew in from Brazil, among them pastor Eric Thompson who...

The Dickinsons have spent ten weeks a summer in this west side home for the last two decades. It was the first house they bought just after they were married. “We lived in an apartment in Harvard Square back then,” recalls Pam Dickinson. “We had a little bit of money because my husband had sold a...

I know a lot of people who pride themselves on their cooking. One of them is my sister-in-law Regina, a grad of the Culinary Institute, in other words, a real chef. One of her favorite eyewitness stories is of working in a New York City restaurant with two feuding kitchen guys, one of whom ended up...

Photographing in tight spaces can be difficult — the photographer is unable to move far enough back to include all he or she wants in the picture. One solution is to use an extreme wide angle lens. For example, the remarkable 8mm. fisheye lens has a 180-degree field of view. What this means is that...

Brad Marthens knows his wine. It’s evident as he excitedly gushes about the wine list at the Atlantic Inn, the island hotel he and his wife Anne own and manage. It’s evident, too, why the Inn and its restaurant, Restaurant 1879, have once again won a Wine Spectator award. In fact, they’ve...

For the past 13 summers on Block Island, the majority of my time here has been spent at my home away from home, the Block Island Club. Located on the northeastern side of the Great Salt Pond, the club was a place for me to further my passion for sailing, expand my (short-lived) interest in tennis,...

Though it’s been many years since I first sat down with Michael Oppenheimer on the open porch of his West Side island home, finding him there several weeks ago felt quite natural. The familiarity of the setting allows us to fall easily into conversation while looking out at rolling hillsides...

It’s never hard to convince me to go on a bird walk at Andy’s Way with Kim Gaffett, director of the Ocean View Foundation, whether it is a Crazy as a Coot meet-up or another OVF activity, it’s always fun and informative. I’ve done a few and will likely do many more. They are almost always at low...

All summer long people come into the store to tell me how good certain books are, to tell me I simply must read this or that. But summer on the island is so (happily!) busy for island shopkeepers that I don’t get around to reading most of these recommended books until winter. Winter on the island,...

The beauty of Block Island can be as arresting as a siren’s call: rolling hills, salty air, the resplendent smell of Rosa rugosa. It’s no surprise then how...

Cars and dogs... We can’t help but notice how these two go so well together, especially when the sun comes out and the wind is just right. Perhaps it’s the necessities in life that never go out of style. Vintage or new, capricious or predictable, dogs and cars have personalities all their own...

On the island with three friends in the house, I was looking for something interesting to do at night during their visits besides the usual drinks with dinner or a movie, and while I was thinking, I happened to focus on a postcard lying on the dining room table in a large pile of recent mail. Maybe...

An island institution for forty years, Finn’s Seafood Restaurant is the quintessential something-for-everyone place. It’s hard to find an island resident who doesn’t have a favorite Finn’s menu item. Summer visitors have their favorites, too, the things they look forward to all winter. It’s almost...

I watch oyster farmer and entrepreneur Dave Deffley swim out to his boat; while I take photos from the dry shoreline my sense of adventure pales in comparison. He swings around the back pond and picks me up at the Hog Pen, camera and note pad in tow. Once aboard, I find a place to perch amidst tubs...

On winter mornings when even the sun has difficulty deciding whether it should rise, almost nothing stirs on Block Island, not man nor beast nor machine. On our road, unless the transfer station is open, Howie’s yellow school bus is often the first and only vehicle to pass by my house until mid...

The Not New Boutique is a signature island rummage sale event. It used to run once or twice a summer, now it is open every Wednesday through the tourist season. For weeks ahead of its opening date, we year-rounders search through our closets for clothing we no longer can use and then drop it into a...

Gary Ryan became a town councilor this past December and he’s been a member of the Rescue Squad out here for 25 years. But most of us know Gary best as the knowledgeable butcher and friendly face behind the deli counter at the Block Island Grocery store. We caught up with him recently at the BIG...

I’ll always remember the first striped bass I caught while surfcasting on Block Island. It took place in 1985 when my wife Karolyn and I visited the island together. I had gone into Twin Maples Bait & Tackle to seek advice on where to fish. Shop proprietor, the late Mac Swienton, gave me sound...

This summer, the Block Island Club will celebrate 50 years of providing recreational activities to its members. The club, a not-for-profit run by a Board of Governors, is situated on the Great Salt Pond, and offers its members lessons in tennis, arts, swimming, sailing and other water sports. In...

I first met Leonard Perfido last spring after he and his wife Ruth returned from a Great Ape Encounter tour in Africa. Like them, I am intrigued by the works of gorilla researcher Dian Fossey and chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall, but unlike them, I have never entertained the notion of trekking to...

“I try to have one project every winter,” Highway Department Head Mike Shea says, quickly qualifying it with: “Of course, it’s all weather dependent.” The comment brings to mind the clean-up of superstorm Sandy, winter storm Nemo, and several blasts in-between, which consumed their time last winter...

Gloria Hall Daubert wrote a book. To those who know her primarily as the longtime (29 years and counting) bartender at Winfield’s, the news come as a bit of a surprise. But the truth is she’s been pondering the book almost as long as she’s worked at Winfield’s. “It’s a bucket list thing,” says...