September 24, 1998 - Block Island's postseason beauty6A • The Suffolk Times • September 24, 1998
Rollin hills and the sea $uffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Rolling typlty this Block Island retreat. Like our own East End, It's undergoing growing pains as more and more people flnd out about Its charm.
Block beauty
Barbara and I waited patiently for
the day to come when we would head
for Block Island. Our son had called
and offered us his boat that was
docked there to use as a home while
we visited the island. We watched the
weather reports, changed appoint-
ments and took
care of meetings Focus
in anticipation of
getting away for ON
a few days. NATURE
Finally, with all
that behind us, by Paul
we were up early Stoutenburgh
and by 6 a.m.
were heading for Montauk to get the
only ferry for Block. We traveled light
with only one backpack and our bicy-
cles.
Even at that early hour traffic
slowed down to a snail's place heading
into Southampton. Perhaps it was the
bridge construction or the light at the
college; no matter, everyone was head-
ing east. Our trip to Montauk was
uneventful. It was interesting to see
East Hampton with no one on the
streets at that hour. The village had not
awoken as yet. Further along, just past
that long stretch of Napeague, we
swung into Hither Hills State Park to
see if this "most popular" seaside park
was still filled up. No — here and there
were vacancies, a sign that we would
take advantage of later in the month by
taking our camper over to enjoy a few
fall days at the ocean.
Montauk village seemed just about
the same as we remembered it, with lit-
tle new construction. The tall 10 -story
building of the '20s still stood as a
headstone to Carl Fisher's dream of a
•deepwater paradise molded after his
Miami Beach development in Florida.
The great crash put an end to all those
plans. Leaving the village, we passed
the Montauk Manor, another remnant
of that original dream now converted
into modem -day condominiums.
We found the Viking Starliner, a pas-
senger -only ferry, lying quietly at the
dock awaiting its sightseers and bicy-
cles, ours included. A little after 9 a.m.
we were steaming out of Fort Pond
Bay. Outside, whitecaps greeted us.
With a strong northwest wind blowing,
the spray drenched the forward part of
the boat. Then our direction veered
more eastward and the ship's tossing
moderated. We were in a gentle roll
and most ventured outside to enjoy the
crisp northwest breeze. We scanned
the sea for birds but saw none. TWo
i W" No" 9w i wO�>> V% M i -
75 years ago
Sept. 21, 1923
Southold news: Some people are satisfied to draw
seines for fish. Not so for "Capt." Joe Tuner. He scrapes
the bottom and salvages copper and much brass.
"Farmer" George Wells has raised this year some of
the largest cantaloupes ever seen on the East End. They
are so big as to attract the attention of some curious per-
sons who went out and gathered some. Farmer Wells
"gathered" them all in and melons, too, and it cost them
$10 to get out. Warning: Take small melons next time
and ask for them.
50 years ago
Sept. 24, 1948
'Disorderly house' raided: The Greenport police sta-
tion was a scene of bustling activity last Saturday
evening when a crowd of about 40 men, eight girls, a
woman hostess and the proprietor of a disorderly house
were all arrested and arraigned before Police Justice
Ansel V. Young.
Due to complaints received regarding conditions in
the neighborhood, the raid was staged by the various law
enforcement agencies. When the police arrived the place
was in full swing. In the restaurant on the ground floor
between 50 and 60 men were standing around or danc-
ing to music from a jukebox. A number of well- dressed
gulls and six terns were all we saw on
the hour -and- three - quarter trip to the
island.
Nice accommodations
Once we arrived, we wasted no time
in getting on our bicycles and pedaling
to the marina where our son's boat was
docked. All the comforts of boating
were there and we soon settled into
our new lifestyle aboard. We had little
unpacking to do and nothing to do but
enjoy the day. As we got on the boat
we noticed a multitude of floating,
almost- transparent egg cases or larvae
in the clear water just at the stern of
the boat. These jelly -like strips were
about one inch by three - eighth of an
inch and there was a double line of
what appeared to be eggs along the
clear jelly. We'd never seen anything
like it before and so pedaled to the
local library to see if it had any in-
formation about them. The library was
small but efficient and up to date with
its computer and new shining books all
along the walls, but nothing they could
find could help us. We thought they
might be the egg cases of comb jellies,
those familiar walnut -size globs of jelly
we see illuminated at night throughout
our local waters. We'll keep looking.
girls made the men feel at home. On the second floor a
crap game was in progress. A number of small rooms on
the second floor were also rented to couples for $1.50 for
15 minutes.
The proprietor was fined the sum of $275 and given a
10 -day sentence in the county jail in Riverhead. The
bookkeeper, or hostess, was fined $250 and was also
given a 10 -day jail sentence. The eight girls were also
fined as were the 40 men who were crowded into the
building when the police arrived.
25 years ago
Sept. 20, 1973
A town pound ?: Will Southold Town build a dog
pound? Any pup with a good nose would be picking up
the scent about this time of something in the air. The
Town Board has been mulling over the possibility of a
haven for strays and discarded pets ever since Dr.
William Zitek made it known that he doesn't wish to
continue contracting with the town to harbor dogs.
Town Hall choice narrows: Right now the Town Hall
is leaning, 4 to 1, toward purchase of land in Southold
for a new town hall. The three sites under consideration
for new town offices are 22 acres on Middle Road in
Southold; eight acres on Moore's Lane in Greenport;
and five acres on Route 25 and Locust Avenue,
Mattituck.
We ate lunch at one of the many
good eating places along the docks and
then were off to explore the island by
bike. We did a lot of both pedaling and
walking. Those hills and an old bike
wore me down and it proved much eas-
ier to walk up rather than struggle ped-
aling. Actually we didn't mind it for it
gave us the added time to look closely
at the unique landscape this island
offers. Stone walls framed neat pas-
tures here and there while others were
almost hidden by overgrown fields of
goldenrod, bouncing bet, evening
primrose, milkweed, wild roses and
other plants and grasses all trying to
make a place for themselves.
Monarchs butterflies danced across
the rolling-fields; they'd stop here and
there to renew their energy from the
many blossoms that dotted the land-
scape. After all, they have a long
migration trip south ahead of them and
Block Island was their way station for
renewal. Trees seemed stunted and
grew in clumps of weathered green.
Evidently the harsh salt air keeps them
low and well trimmed. Some of the
pastures had cattle munching quietly.
Most of the homes were weathered
gray shingle with white trim. All
looked well kept. Like our East End
many of the homes are second homes
and only used during the summer. Our
afternoon went all too fast and seeing
we would have to be back at the boat
before dark for safety, we headed for
Ballards restaurant, one of the favorite
eating places on the island.
A good time to visit
It was a good time to visit the island;
the crowds had left and the food and
lodging were at bargain prices. On the
edge of the Atlantic Ocean we ate
fresh Block Island lobsters along with
steaming bowls of New England clam
chowder. We were in the lee of the
island's northwest wind so the sea
hardly ripped at the water's edge. We
had picked the perfect time to see the
island. After dinner it was back to the
boat and bed. The only sound was the
lapping of the water on the hull that
soon spun its magic and lulled us to
sleep.
The next day was bright and sunny
so we decided to follow in the footsteps
of the tourists and start the day by eat-
ing ashore, and why not? We ordered
western and Spanish omelets at The
Oar overlooking Great Salt Pond. Just