"Atlantic Island Hopping in the Northeastern USA" - Time Out #82

A few years back, bride Debbie and I decided to definitely go "outside our comfort zone" and chose a small ship for an American-based ocean cruise. My dear sister, Beverly, and her husband had cruised with this particular company several times, so we decided to book with Blount Small Ship Cruises, Warren, Rhode Island. The small vessel we chose was their Grande Mariner.

Just how small you ask?

Very small---83 passengers and 17 American crew on a 3-deck ship that Ms. Debbie called the "African Queen" when we first saw it docked on our embarkation day.

By that time in our lives we had already been on many big and bigger ocean-going cruise ships, so this little vessel was quite an initial adjustment for us. However, we REALLY wanted to experience the places it was going to take us during the future week.

We flew a commercial airline to RI's capital city, Providence, and then were transported to the Johnson & Wales (J&W) University Hotel facility in the Warren area. This educational operation is very similar to Oklahoma State University's Atherton Hotel, a location for its students to gain valuable practical experience in a high-end facility. It primarily functions to teach their students the "real world" of hospitality. Again, like Our Town's OSU operation, at J&W, they also have a beautiful restaurant where we dined. After a restful night enjoyed courtesy of J&W, we were taken to our cruise vessel the next morning, and prepared for our exciting adventure to 5 port stops in very unique places. Because of the limited harbor areas of the port stops, it would have been extremely difficult for any large ship to accomplish our schedule. So, we traded on-board ship luxury for off-board unusual ports-of-call and places not normally visited by the usual ocean cruiser.

Our first night stop was at isolated Cuttyhunk Island, MA, about 12 miles south of New Bedford, MA. This small (580 acres) island is in the Elizabeth Island group, and has a permanent population of about 50 people. In fact, since we didn't arrive until twilight, the island shop owner we visited, had to unlock her store so we could go inside. For about an hour, we briefly shopped in their only store while she gave us a history of the island. Back on-board for our first evening, we ate informally in the ship restaurant, then went fast asleep in our stateroom.

The next morning, we were treated to a port everyone should enjoy at least once in their lifetime, Newport, RI. Over time, we have been fortunate to even stay in this charming town for a week, but on this particular cruise, we enjoyed it for a few hours. Quaint Newport (4,000+ people) is the absolute living museum for a glorious gilded-age past, over 125+ years ago. Then, the Vanderbilts, Astors Morgans, and other extreme wealth of the northeast area, built incredible summer mansions there. Most of these summer palaces are open for public tours, and a walk through them overpowers the human senses in many many ways. If you are EVER in that area of our great country, you should absolutely spend some time in wonderful Newport.

Next stop was another haven for the well-to-do, but this time another island, Nantucket, MA. It is said property costs on this island, 30 miles south of Cape Cod, MA, are more expensive per square foot than the high-end real estate in the Hamptons along the southern shore of Long Island, NY. We enjoyed the island's cobblestone streets, beautiful historical architecture and toured the historic Nantucket Whaling Museum, established in 1929 in an island structure built in 1846. The museum's centerpiece is a male sperm whale skeleton, totally suspended from the ceiling, and measuring 46' long. We had such a meaningful experience inside that educational museum and on that jewel of an Atlantic island, Nantucket.

Island hopping continued the next day as our cruise ship anchored at colorful Martha's Vineyard. This extremely popular place is only 7 miles south of Cape Cod, and only sports a permanent resident population of 15,000+. However, each summer, the daily population continually swells to over 100,000 folks--WOW! As was the case on all the islands we visited, we had a bus tour around each one, and because of it's large size (87+ square miles), the Martha's Vineyard tour was the most extensive of our trip. Most memorable item there were the many colorful gingerbread homes in the Oak Bluffs area.. Like all the islands, too, we we shown several lighthouses, some with very unusual construction.

Our last island and port was Block Island, RI,relatively isolated about 14 miles east of Long Island, NY. With only about 1,000+ permanent residents and 9.7 square miles in size, it is the least visited of the 3 major islands we saw on this cruise. Block Island has been visited by 4 U.S. Presidents, and has an adequate number of structures to support its summer visitors.

Having completed our cruising schedule, we returned to our safe harbor for disembarkation in Warren, RI, and flew home from Providence.

In a brief few days, we were able to experience a very unusual part of Americana. All these aforementioned areas are rich in history, unique attractions and live a somewhat different way of life than we have in Our Town. If you have the opportunity to enjoy this rare travel experience, be sure to capture it and keep it in your mind's eye forever.