Block Island and H.J. Willy's Dog Waggin'

Block Island has fast become one of my favorite New England vacation spots. It's quiet, relatively inexpensive, and almost completely free of traffic, all attributes that are generally not associated with Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket.

Last month Jeanine and I spent four days on Block Island, our second visit to the island in as many years. We like to stay at The Old Town Inn which is right in the middle of the island, away from the day tripper crowds in the Old Harbor, and a short walk or bike ride away from dinner, the beaches, and the downtown area. The owners of the inn, Lucinda and David Morrison, are fantastic; David cooks up a delicious breakfast every morning that always includes fresh baked breads and pastries.

We have never brought our car over on the ferry, opting instead to bring our bikes which we ride to the beach every day! On our most recent trip we rented a moped/scooter and explored a little more of the island than we would have on our bikes. Our exploration brought us all the way up to the tip of the island, 'up the neck' as the locals say. We drove to the North Light at the end of Corn Neck Road; get it, 'up the neck'?

When we reached the end of the road, much to our surprise, there was a hot dog stand, John Kisseberth's H.J. Willy's Dog Waggin'! This hot dog stand was the most well equipped, well stocked stand I have ever seen! All beef hot dogs and bratwurst with your choice of ketchup, yellow mustard, John's homemade spicy mustard, relish, onions, sauerkraut, chili, cheese, or jalapenos! John also stocks an assortment of beverages as well as candy, cookies, gum, island maps, rain ponchos, sun block, disposable cameras and sunglasses!! His service bar is a beautiful surf board, and his presence in that location has resulted in a cleaner beach leading to the North Light house (people pick up trash on their walk back from the light and dispose of it in his barrel.) John also recycles!

Jeanine ordered up an all beef hot dog with John's homemade spicy mustard and sauerkraut and I ordered a bratwurst with John's homemade spicy mustard, onions, and jalapenos; John's mustard is spicy and delicious and the hot dog and bratwurst were excellent! This was a great treat and good fuel for our continued island exploration.

John and his H.J. Willy's Dog Waggin' (the stand is named after his children)

John is assembling my delicious bratwurst

One Bratwurst, hot off the grill!

Not a bad view from John's 'Office', huh?