The island with a new pond for every day of the year

Block Island, Rhode Island:

- Eight miles off the south coast of Rhode Island

- A total area of less than 10 square miles

- 365 freshwater ponds

- Barely 1,000 year-round residents (which they determine with a Groundhog Day tradition)

- But more than 25 places to get a drink ...

It seems I return to this tear drop-shaped oasis every two or so years. I first spent the summer of my freshman year of college working as a waitress at the popular restaurant The Oar. I followed my brother and his then-girlfriend Tara in an effort to bond with my big brother. That was the summer my mom died, so this place has since held a particularly special place in my heart.

I then came back in 2003 to earn some extra cash after getting sick while studying abroad. I returned in '05 to visit for Lauren Von Bernuth's 24th birthday and again this fall to visit Bri and show Alex a piece of my past.

It's a different experience each time around, previously marked by excessive teenage drinking which now revolves less around the bars and more around old friends. With less than 1,000 year-round residents, it's like school is out here because most island businesses have officially closed. Really, you have to check and double-check the hours of operation even at the Block Island Grocery store before knowing whether or not you could go hungry for the night. It makes Tahoe City look like it's got serious nightlife.

Since it's offseason here, locals are drinking Mudslides rather than serving tourists the vodka milkshake. So "when in Rome," that's how we started our island vacation - with a 'slide at The Oar.

The weather hasn't been great - windy, chilly and a little bit wet - but the company, per usual, has been great. Meg and Roscoe, friends from Telluride, Colo. (and UPS) are also out for the week. Chefs B-Love and Roscoe cooked up a meatloaf one night, followed by another overindulgent dinner at The Manisses where brother Brian works as the sous chef. We managed to squeeze a four-course meal - or "breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack," as Bri called it - into just a few hours, with perfect drink pairings, of course.

He's off to work doubles for the weeked, so it's vaca style for the rest of us - sleep, eat, drink, repeat ...

We're off to Baltimore to visit the Hartman's tomorrow, then fly out to Buenos Aires from Maryland on Oct. 16.

JMH