
"The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose." —Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)
![]() "The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose." —Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634) Quahog.org > Attractions > Fort Therapy—DESTROYED Fort Therapy—DESTROYEDThe silence to discover your own small, still voice. Mohegan Bluffs, Block Island [Please see below for updates on Fort Therapy.—ed.] Feeling a little run down, overwhelmed by the pressures of daily life, maybe on the verge of doing something reprehensible to a pompous co-worker that involves several dozen heavy-duty binder clips and a white board marker? In short, are you in dire need of some serious therapy? Well, getting yourself to Block Island is a first step. Making your way to Fort Therapy might be another.
Build something
Much of what makes up Fort Therapy could even be viewed as a kind of folk-art. Give your imagination free rein and see what it comes up with. Leave a message for the universeFort Therapy, like the venerable Painted Rock, is one of those rare places where you can deface public property without the threat of receiving hundreds of hours of community service. Many people have taken advantage of that fact since 1999, leaving messages of love, hope, remembrance, boastfulness, and nonsense. Behind all of these notes is a unifying theme: I am here, and I matter. Remember, your patronage is important to us; do not press three, do not wait for the tone, just unburden your mind. In this age of lightning-fast communication, many people seek to connect in a simpler way with the strangers that inhabit their world. The fort provides that service, as well. Go ahead and tell your deepest, filthiest secret. The resulting catharsis will be well worth any embarrassment or fear of prosecution that you may feel. And who knows, someone out there might even understand and commiserate with you. Or perhaps you subscribe to the adage that 'tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. That's okay, it's just as therapeutic to read the messages of others and make fun of them. Another adage, laughter is the best medicine, holds true in this case. Be sure to look carefully, because some people will try to hide their notes, and those are often the best ones. Relax
There. Don't you feel better now? The Future
Well, all things must come to an end. The present is pleasant, but the future... well, the future is where all possibilities lie in wait, ready to pounce on you and rend the flesh from your bones in big, blood-spattery chunks. Will you allow yourself to be at their uncaring mercy? Or will you be the captain of your own fate? When you return to your everyday world, will you sink straight back into the stinking pit of stress from which you came, or will you take a little bit of Fort Therapy with you, allowing it to bolster and inform your spirit? All choices are yours to make. When you climb back up those stairs, remember Fort Therapy. And return often. Our time is up. Update, September 2006: Sometime prior to August 2006 a section of bluff directly behind Fort Therapy turned to mud and pushed the structure over. The visual effect is now not so much cool Little Rascals-style clubhouse as it is illegal trash dump. Will you be the one to rebuild it? Update, June 2013: Site visitor Joseph reports that "I was at the bluffs today for the first time in many years and was saddened that I could not find Fort Therapy. There was extensive collapse of the clay bluffs... there is nothing left." InformationCost: free Time required: take all the time you need Hours: open year round, dawn to dusk Finding it: travel south from Old Harbor on Spring Street, which becomes the Mohegan Trail; pass the Southeast Lighthouse and turn in at the Mohegan Bluffs parking lot on your left; take the stairs and head down to the beach; at the bottom, instead of going right, as most people do, go left; Fort Therapy is just a short way past a swath of storm-polished rocks. What’s nearbyDistances between points are actual distances, without regard to buildings or man-eating leopards. Your travel distance will be longer. This article last edited September 27, 2015 © 1999–2021 Quahog.org (with the exception of elements provided by contributors, as noted). |
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