Martha's Vineyard

We decided a couple of weeks ago that we'd make a trip to Martha's Vineyard once the kids were back in school and Labor Day week was over. This was the week.

We considered various alternatives: 1) Taking the truck over on the ferry, 2) Renting a car once we got there or 3) Taking advantage of the excellent bus system on the island ($10 for a senior 3 day pass). We went with the bus option.

The ferries from Woods Hole offered 2 destinations, Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. Oak Bluffs offered a lot more hotel and restaurant options so we went with Oak Bluffs. Oak Bluffs was the nicer of the two and, given the information that we had, we made the right choice.

If we were to do it again, we'd make a couple of changes. Vineyard Haven has a protected ferry terminal where Oak Bluffs terminal last weekend (during hurricane Dorian) and, when a storm came up on our departure morning, they closed it right after our departure. In exploring the island, we found that Edgartown was the nicest place to stay by far. So, doing it again, we'd ferry to Vineyard Haven and catch the bus to Edgartown.

The ocean view from or "ocean view room". That's the ferry terminal across the bank parking lot.

Zoom on the ferry.

Ferry terminal at sunrise from the shoreline.

Our first day's travels took us to Edgartown and then back to Oak Bluffs via Vineyard Haven. We took advantage of the occasion to explore Vineyard Haven.

This yacht (the Freedom out of Newport, R.I.) was spectacular. We overheard that it had been a presidential yacht but didn't find anything like that on Google (but we did learn that a 5% stake can be purchased for $350k).

These next pictures are of the Chappaquiddick ferry. Very much like the Balboa Island ferry which I always thought was one of a kind.

That last picture was from a raised viewing area. Down below the viewing deck, we talked with some fishermen who were chumming traps with horseshoe crab meat and mussels. We assumed that the traps were for lobsters but learned that the conch fishery is important on the Vineyard.

The following are more pictures that we took from the viewing area:

A sand spit connects Martha's Vineyard (on the right) to Chappaquiddick (left).

We really liked this whale's tail statue.

We ate lunch up on the deck at the right.

A closer view of that whale's tail.

We explored Vineyard Haven on our way back from Edgartown.

On our second day, we made our way to Aquinnah Cliffs and the Gay Head Lighthouse on the far Western tip of the Vineyard. We traveled through Edgartown on the way out and through Vineyard Haven on the return trip.

After last weekend's hurricane, we were a little bit concerned about the weather but, as it worked out, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were beautiful. The rain held off until it was time to leave on Thursday morning.

-JC-