Martha's Vineyard Massachusettes

Her View

Martha's Vineyard - Caywood's perspective

Martha's Vineyard: a city where Jaws was filmed. An island named after some rich guy's daughter. Home to just under 3500 people year round. Vacation spot to Obama as well as past presidents. A place I can't wait to go back to.

Although the weather was gloomy and rainy most of our time on Martha's Vineyard, I loved every bit of it, starting with the ferry ride over. A 45-minute ferry ride (Feliks' first ferry ride ever!) had us arrive at Martha's Vineyard around 10:30am. We got our all day bus passes and were on our way to see the famous Alley's General Store. Very similar to the home of a pack rat, this store had everything from medicine to coffee (actually good coffee), to planting seeds to postcards. We bought a postcard here and headed to the Wednesday farmer's market. Beautiful flowers, lots of local organic fruit and veggies, and sweaters made from alpaca fur were found here.

After Alley's we were off to the Gay Head Cliffs and Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was smaller than I expected. I was excited to go to the top of the lighthouse since Feliks has never been in one, but a $5 per person fee kept us at the bottom looking up. And we were fine with this, because the cliffs certainly did not under-deliver. Since the weather was pretty rough the day we went, we got to see a very forceful sea. This made for a beautiful sight at the cliffs, where we chose to drink the bottle of wine we brought over from the mainland.

Our next stop was to find a good lunch spot in Edgartown so Feliks could get some fresh seafood. We walked around some, then settled on Seafood Shanty since our bus driver gave us a 10% off coupon. To probably no one's surprise, I had the chicken fingers. Feliks got some clams - way too much food - and we sat and enjoyed the view of the harbor. By this time, it was raining cats and dogs to the point where the parking lot was even flooded. After lunch we wanted to walk around some more before hopping on the next bus. This whole walking around idea was killed for a bit by the sight of the First Lady at lunch. The Secret Service blocked off an entire street. Feliks managed to find a way for us to sneak on a dock behind a restaurant to get around the chaos of the motorcade. By this time (still pouring down rain), the majority of the street had lost power. We decided it was time to head back, but still wanted to see a bit of Oak Bluffs.

The bus took us to Oak Bluffs and we went to see the Gingerbread houses: a whole tiny community of probably about 20 houses that all looked like Gingerbread houses. In all different colors including pink, teal, blue, white, and green, these houses had exquisite siding that truly looked like decorative icing. After we snapped a few shots we caught the bus back to Vineyard Haven to get back on the ferry (Feliks' second ferry ride). The ferry was very rough due to the weather, so I was happy to be back on the mainland 45-minutes later. Note to self: next time, remember dramamine.

My advice from our experience:

1. Buy the bus pass. $7 for an all day pass vs. $4 to only one place. To see even half of the island, you could easily need to get on four different bus routes.

2. Take a bottle of wine to enjoy on the beach or by the cliffs. But don't forget a wine opener, like we did. Also a fun tip - a lot of the restaurants on Martha's Vineyard will let you bring your own bottle of wine in while you eat. You just can't leave with it.

3. Do not plan to ride your bikes. A bus driver was telling us that each year at least one tourist dies on a bike because the roads are curvy and narrow, and the landscape is hilly.

4. On the bus, don't take the longer, "scenic" routes. Not worth it. You don't actually get to see the beach at all - it's just a bunch of trees.

5. Pack some dramamine if you get motion sickness (for the ferry and/or for the bus).

6. Get to the ferry to get to the island early. You have to park pretty far away ($13 vs. $40) and then get on a shuttle bus to the dock where you actually get your ferry tickets.

His View

Martha's Vineyard - Feliks' perspective

First, it was a little gloomy outside and rained at certain times. So we really didn't enjoy Martha's Vineyard as it should have been. Nonetheless, it was still an amazing experience. We boarded the ferry in Woods Hole and it took about 45-50 minutes for us to make the cross to the island. Due to the weather, we weren't able to land at Oak Bluffs like we planned. Instead, Vineyard Haven is where the put us. Even with the poor weather, Vineyard Haven was a mess. Obama and Hillary Clinton were on the island, which I'm sure added to the chaos - there were people everywhere.

From the advice we got earlier, we got the $7 all day bus pass and started heading towards the lighthouse. We did take the scenic route on the first bus, which I wish we wouldn't have. It wasn't that scenic, and caused us to miss our connecting bus by 15 minutes. So we had to wait another 45. Our first tourist thing on the island was Alley's General Store, which was a gift shop on steroids. They had everything from magnets to back scratchers to farming supplies for the locals. But no Mountain Dew.

Our next stop was the lighthouse, which I must say - I feel we got the better experience because the waves were pounding against the rocks. And it was magnificent. We enjoyed a bottle of wine in the prairie on the cliff, as we took in the scenic view of Mother Nature at her best. The lighthouse itself was not that tall, probably because it was sitting on a cliff already. It had a $5 entry fee, which we thought was unnecessary. There were gift shops around with some pretty nifty stuff, and if you need a bathroom, it's 50 cents. We had about an hour before the next bus, and that's about when it started raining.

Our next stop was Edgartown, where the rain picked up. We brought our ponchos, knowing it could rain. They did their job and kept us dry - for the most part. Not Caywood's dress. We had lunch at Seafood Shanty right on the bay. The fried clams were really good, but I recommend splitting them because the portion was massive. Caywood got chicken fingers. On our way back to the bus, we did see Secret Service blocking off the street where Michelle Obama was having lunch. I understand that she needs security, but blocking off an entire street is a little frustrating. Especially when you don't know your way around. Edgartown was pretty cool. Lots of shops and restaurants, and good views of the harbor. Still lots of tourists, but I'm sure it could have been worse.

The last thing to do was to check out Oak Bluffs and the Gingerbread houses. We planned to go to South Beach, but again due to the rain we had to skip that. Oak Bluffs was not as busy, but seemed bigger than Edgartown and Vineyard Haven. Again, shops and restaurants everywhere you look - but the scenery was better than the other towns. The Gingerbread houses were a bunch of little houses painted with a bunch of different colors in a very small area. It was kinda cool to look at, and I'd recommend at least checking it out.

Overall, the island was very pleasant, even with the rain. I'm sure I would use different words to describe it if it had been sunny and 80. I would definitely go back and spend more time. We did not get to do everything. If you go, do the bus pass. Don't bring your car, or your bikes. If you get sea sick, bring dramamine for the ferries. And a bottle of wine to drink at the cliffs. Parking - don't recommend. Take the bus.

Gay Head Lighthouse	Gay Head Cliffs
Gay Head Cliffs	Beach
Flowers at Farmer's Market	Art museum on the island
Art museum on the island	Alley's General Store
Alley's General Store	Heavy waves
Gay Head Lighthouse	Gay Head Cliffs
Summer, cliffs, love, and wine	Rainy day!
Michelle Obama at lunch	Flooding
Soaked	Feliks' clams
IMG_2256.JPG	Jaws was filmed here
America's oldest carousel	Gingerbread houses
Gingerbread houses	Cars on the ferry