Exploring the Island of Martha’s Vineyard

 Only seven miles off the Cape Cod mainland we made a quick trip to the Vineyard by ferry. After disembarking we boarded an Island Tour on to an old school bus for a two and a half hour sightseeing trip around Martha’s Vineyard. It seemed the best way to get a good overview of the island and its six towns.
Our driver Lee was a free-spirited soul caught up in his own humor as he narrated about the island. He was reminiscent of a ‘60s hippie dawned with a pony tail and beard. At Vineyard Haven, one of the Vineyard’s main ports of entry, the bus took a quick drive passing the Main Street’s shops and sites.

Along the roadsides heading to the outer island the landscape is densely woven with wild grape vines. When the 17th-century British explorer Bartholomew Gosnold discovered the island replete with wild grapes, he named it for his daughter Martha.

We continued on a scenic drive passing ponds and through the fishing village of Menemsha, which is home to the Island’s Coast Guard Station.

At Aquinnah (Gay Head) a thirty minute stop off the bus allowed time for a view of the brightly colored Gay Head Cliffs and the historic Gay Head Lighthouse.

Back on the bus Lee regaled us with lots of stories about celebrities. Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama have visited here often on vacation.Others have summer homes on the vineyard such as news anchor Diane Sawyer, Ted Danson from the TV show Cheers, Meg Ryan, and former John Balouchi of the Blues Brothers. Most of their ocean front private properties, even the Jackie Kennedy Onassis estate, are set back far from the road down long gated driveways behind the trees.

Jackie Kennedy Onnais's driveway on the Vineyard

Lee explained that one cannot build on the island unless their land ownership is three or more acres. Land has not been cheap costing as much as one million per acre back in 1980 when he first came to the Island.It is understandable why today Meg Ryan currently has her house up for sale. Lady GaGa has purchased land to build a home on next to Meg's property.

 

Arriving back in Oak Bluffs we disembarked to enjoy Circuit Avenue, which is the equivalent to the Santa Cruz boardwalk with shops, ice cream parlors, restaurants, an arcade, and America's oldest continuously working carousel, the "Flying Horses". It was extremely crowded with droves of summer tourists. A short walk from Circuit Ave. is Martha's Vineyard nineteenth century Methodist summer camp consisting of hundreds of colorful Victorian gingerbread cottages off the village green.

In order to escape the crowds at Oak Bluffs, we hopped on a VT Bus #13 to return to the elegant town of Edgartown. The scenic route took us passed the long stretch of State Beach, along the Eastern shore of the Island, and over the famous “Jaws” Bridge where the film was done.

We strolled around the streets of lovely Edgartown in the afternoon. The town is known for its stately white-painted captain houses and churches that are reminiscent of the great whaling era. It is also home to many great boutiques and fabulous restaurants, as well as beautiful waterfront inns and unique upscale Main Street experience. Black Dog logo items seemed to be quiet popular amongst several of the shops.

Flowers climbed along white picket fences, bloomed in window boxes, and adorned the front porches of charming colonial homes everywhere. Several youngsters had their little lemonade stands set up along the way.

By 4:00pm it was back to Oak Bluffs to allow enough time to catch the 5:15pm ferry back to Falmouth on Cape Cod. Six hundred people waited to be loaded on board. With the hordes of summer visitors coming to visit Martha’s Vineyard we decided not to make a second day trip back. There was a certain quaintness to the Island, but in many ways we felt it has been over romanticized.

Greetings from Cape Cod, Massachusetts

In a snapshot you’ll find sandy beaches, rolling dunes, gray-gabled homes, family fun, golf, biking, summer theater, art and antiques, galleries and fresh-caught seafood here. Personally JR prefers gravitating to the harbor marinas to checkout the boats and yachts, while Christa likes window shopping and browsing boutiques and galleries.






 There are lots of choices of things to do, so we picked a few gems to narrow down our stay on the cape.


The Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich features Americana folk art, antique cars, a carousel and, in summer, masses of hydrangeas and tiger lilies in bloom.




















The Glass Museum contained beautiful 17th century pieces from the first glass making factory in America. Here was a chance to see a fascinating glass blowing demonstration.

 

Whimsical glass blown flowers

 

Provincetown, the last town on the outer cape, has a 225 ft. Pilgrim Tower honoring the first Pilgrims landing in 1620.

It’s also known for its legacy as an art colony and for the warm welcome it extends to gay and lesbian visitors today.  There is a colorful carnival like atmosphere along its Main Street’s narrow crowded sidewalks.

Lined with old dilapidated buildings are street folks enticing you into the various funky shops pedaling their goods. It is hard to imagine the shock of dismay the Pilgrims might have encountering the town’s scene today.








A stroll along the Provincetown wharf brought a good vista of the harbor and the outer arm on the Cape. We grabbed an ice cream cone to share and literally made way out of Dodge.

 It didn’t take long for us to quickly escape washing away the colorful quirkiness of Provincetown. At one of the magnificent white sandy beaches along the Cape Cod National Seashore we planted ourselves at the edge of the Atlantic for some seaside relaxation on the sand. This is a primary reason that brings most folks to the cape for vacation anyway along with catching some great sunsets.

A Taste of Pilgrim Life in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Pilgrim's first settlement at Plymouth

Mayflower II in Plymouth Harbor is a relica

Plimoth crier calling folks to a meeting house

It certainly seems like traveling in a time warp through American history as we explore various historical sites. Before turning the timeline back to 1620, we found ourselves during the past week amidst the 1900s industrial revolution at the Lowell Cotton Mills, the 1775 Battles at Concord and Lexington in the Revolutionary War, and the 1800s country estate of John and Abigail Adams during his presidency.  Next the time capsule has brought us to 1627 where the Pilgrims on the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock established the third colony in the New World.

Plymoth Rock isn't much of a big deal other than its 1620 inscription 

Wampanoaq winter hut covered with cedar bark

Pine log burnt and char scraped out to build a mitsoon (canoe)

Wampanoaq youth on one of eight sleeping cots in the winter hut

Native Wampanoaq dressed in his loin cloth

The Plimoth Plantation site is a reconstruction of both a Wampanoaq native people village and an English Village established by the Pilgrims as their first settlement. Definitely worth adding a visit to Plymouth on your bucket list.

Drying fish from Eel River nearby

Plimoth thatched roof houses are common.

Mayflower crew potential candidate 2020 for the 400th Anniversary voyage

Travels Along the Road to Independence

Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts are one of the best places to be for any history buff. It was at the North Bridge in Concord where the first shot rang out starting the American Revolutionary War in 1775. We rode our bikes along the Liberty Trail known today as the Battle Road through the countryside between the two cities. 

Biking the road of Paul Revere's midnight ride

 Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode their horses on parts of the same path during their midnight ride to warn the colonists that the British Redcoat Regulars were marching to seize any militia ammunition held in Concord. 

Arriving at the Hartwell Tavern, a costumed interpreter dressed as a militia minuteman was demonstrating how to fire a musket rifle in the field.

The young soldier entered the tavern and sat at a corner table. Seeing a checkerboard on the table, Christa engaged the fellow to join her in a game of checkers.

Checkers with the colonials at the tavern.

 British Redcoat 1775 re-enactors

Many historical taverns and old houses of famous authors branch out around Concord are worth a visit. One is The Orchard House, home of Louisa May Alcott and her family, and setting for the beloved classic Little Women.

The Wayside along Rte 2A nearby was once also home to the Alcotts and later on to Nathaniel Hawthorne.

A tour of the Old Manse proved interesting during our last stop. It was once the parsonage home for Reverend William Emerson, grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson, until he died. His widow remarried and stayed in the house. Later in November 1834, Ralph Waldo Emerson moved to the Manse where he lived with his aging step-grandfather Ezira Ripley. While there, Emerson wrote the first draft of “Nature”, a foundational work of the Concord Transcendentalist movement.

A tour revealed the writing room shared by Emerson and Hawthorne and their desks. Later on Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife rented the house. The Old Manse itself seemed a bit dreary, almost depressing, but the etchings in the glass windowpanes made by Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne with her diamond ring were rather romantic and made up for it.

David Thoreau rented a room in the house as well, but never paid his bills rumor has it. We are having great fun as life long learners traveling along on the coat tails of history.