Earlier this week we returned home from our annual week of vacation on Block Island.  For those not familiar with “The Block,” it’s a tiny island located about 13 miles off the coast of Rhode Island accessible only by boat.  We’ve been making this our summer vacation spot for 6 years love the easygoing nature of the place.  There’s really nothing to do there except go to the beach, read a book, play board or card games, and, most importantly TALK to each other.   I always tell people who ask about BI as a vacation spot, “If you like doing nothing, this is your place!”  So here are a few things that I love about being with my friends (our friends rent a house there the same week that we do) and family (my mom and step-dad come with us) on Block Island.

Internet and cell phone connection is spotty at best which forces you to LOOK UP!  It also makes you realize how much TIME you WASTE on things like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and how you get SUCKED INTO articles that lead to other articles and by the time you look up, you’ve lost an hour or more of your day.  Being interweb free for most of the day is admittedly kind of nice!

There are so many people exercising that it INSPIRES you to get off your butt and move!  In the morning people are out super early (like 6AM) running, cycling, walking that you feel motivated to do something too!  And when you do get out there, you discover more than just how out of shape you are (some of those hills are really tough!!), you are treated to the fantastic array of flora and fauna of the island – tiny black and yellow finches, beautiful wildflowers, the sweet scent of the meadow air mingling with the briny saltiness of the ocean – and incredible sweeping panoramic views from the hilltops! It’s a treat for your senses.

Lazy beach days, reading books, playing paddle ball, chatting about nothing and everything, remembering things that happened on past trips and talking about how much our kids have grown since we started going there. There’s something special about RETURNING to the same place year after year and creating memories that our kids will treasure long after they are grown and have families of their own.

Enjoying the distinctly adult pleasure that is COCKTAIL HOUR. I’m not necessarily a big drinker (although I admit to enjoying a glass or two of wine on the weekends) but when we’re on the Block, we cherish our evening cocktail time. Fresh from the shower, on the deck with a snack, watching the sun start to sink down into the horizon, surrounded by the people that I love…perfection.

Finishing a book!  Confession: I haven’t finished my book club book in THREE MONTHS and two of those months, I didn’t even start it! This month, I finished my book club book and almost made it through an entire second book!

Vacation SEX.  After everyone in the house is asleep we (very quietly) get busy…and then stay up listening to the crickets and talking. It makes me fall in love with my husband all over again.

And last but not least…on the morning that we leave to return home, we have to clean out the refrigerator of any perishables, which, of course, means eating the leftover ICE CREAM for breakfast – it almost makes leaving bearable.

‘Till next year!