At the same time, we knew that Hurricane Erin was barreling up the East Coast, but was projected to be far out to sea by the time it reached New England.

Little did we know that in four short days Erin would take a slightly more westerly path to bring it within relatively close proximity to our island home for the week.

For those who are not familiar with Block Island, it is an island just 12 miles off the coast of Pt. Judith Rhode Island, in the Atlantic. The island is ringed by both Sandy and Rocky beaches, large clay cliffs, a hilly interior and the great salt pond in the middle popular with boaters.

With a year-round population of just 1,000 people, over 10 million people visit between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This can make for very crowded roads with many people riding bikes and rental scooters. It can also make it hard to get a reservation at restaurants.

Typically we boat over to block Island or make day trips on the ferry, but this year we rented a house on the eastern shore near Mansion Beach for the week. For the first few days there, we enjoyed time at the beach, taking long bike rides and enjoying meals at our favorite eaterys.

By Tuesday afternoon it became clear that the hurricane had shifted direction and would have some impact on the island. By Wednesday afternoon ferries to and from the island had been canceled and there was a mass exodus of boats from the harbors. Ferry service would not resume again until Friday afternoon.

By Thursday morning wind speeds had increased to 40 mph and the waves had reached a height of 12 to 15 ft, and would stay that way until midday Friday.

While we feared that the proximity of the hurricane might put a damper on our vacation, it did just the opposite. The ferries had stopped running and boaters had left the island ahead of the storm. The island became very quiet. Although we had wind and large surf, it didn’t rain so we were able to do all the things we enjoy doing on the island and we were able to get into our favorite restaurants with no reservations needed. The many scenic attractions, beaches and hiking trails on the island were our own personal playground for 2 days.

When the wind finally subsided Friday afternoon, we spent a beautiful afternoon at the beach enjoying fewer crowds and great waves.

At the end of the day, Hurricane Erin turned out to be a blessing in disguise. So the moral of the story is, don’t let the prospect of bad weather deter you from a vacation. That weather might just turn out to have a silver lining. It did for us.