{Spring Weekend Getaway: Martha's Vineyard}

The first weekend in May, Beth and I took a trip to Martha's Vineyard. Neither of us had ever been, and just thought, we live so close, we should go! We left on a friday morning.

Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket are both islands off Cape Cod in Mass. So to get to either of the islands is quite comparable to something out of the Amazing Rage, though I have never seen this show that's what I envision. We packed up our car with backpacks and bikes and headed south. No problem around Boston, crossed the bridge to the Cape, and then parked in this huge parking lot, and took a special bike shuttle. We left our cars on the Cape becuase it's not necessary to have them, and it costs over $100 to ferry them, no thanks! The shuttle was like a school bus with seats on the side, and hooks for the bikes to hang vertically. It was quite the operation. Part of the time I felt like we were on a shuttle to America, and the other I felt like we were being shuttled to an amusement park. We disembarked from the bus and bought tickets & borded the ferry, which was about an hour ride. What a production! It was just all so overwhelming to figure out! From this point on, I spent much time thinking: "what would it be like to live here?" We watched several kids on the ferry, they had backpacks and lunchbags, we realized they go to school on the mainland, and live on the Vineyard. seriously? We arrived and got off the ferry in Vineyard Haven. We'd printed off mapquest bike directions from there to our b&b in West Tisbury. So we walked our bikes out of the busy part of town, I get on my bike, and notice something was not right. I was peddling really fast, and not getting anywhere! My (brand new) bike got all messed up on the ferry! Fortnately, renting bikes is popular, so there were plenty of bike shops. We popped into one and get all fixed! Then began our journey out to the b&b. It was about a 6 mile ride, quite hilly, and not the burligton bikepath! Thankfully, there was a lovely little bakery on our path where we stopped for a bite (delicious quinoa & black bean burgers and a chocolatey goodness tart for later). We got to the Red Hat Inn (no relation to the crazy Red Hat Ladies), met the owner, and found our home for the next few days. We took a walk around town, which consisted of the Police Station, an amazing General Store, outdoor art gallery, Grange Hall, and Library. We came back and planned our next day.

Saturday we were off! We went to Gay Head Cliffs, amazing reddish cliffs on the coast. We then took the bus to Edgartown. We did a bit of shopping, specifically at a shoe shop that had caught on fire a week prior and now all the shoes were 70% off. YES! I picked up a classic pair of black flats, and a really bright pink/salmon leather flat with a flower on 'em. Really nice classy shoes for 70% off? Love it! We had lunch at a place called "Among the Flowers Cafe" then rode our bikes along the coast to Oak Bluffs. There are some "gingerbread houses" (old victorian cottages) which were quite picturesque, but honestly, Oak Bluffs kind of reminded us of the Fair. We did get a delicious dinner at a place called "Slice of Life Cafe" (fried green tomato BLT). We came back to Edgartown for an evening stroll, then back to the B&B.

Sunday we were off to Menemsha, a teeny fishing village. I think we saw about 5 other people while we were there. We headed back to Vineyard Haven and did a little shopping, and caught the ferry back! On our way home we stopped at Dartmouth for dinner, which might have been the preppiest part of the whole weekend!

Towns of the Vineyard in a word:
Edgarton: Classy
Oak Bluffs: Trashy
Gay Head: Cool
Menemsha: Fresh
West Tisbury: where it's at

Though we brought our bikes, and used them, sometimes they felt like we were traveling with children: "I'm glad you're here, but you're really annoying me right now!" ha!

A note about our B&B....there's a fine line between a B&B and staying in someone's home. We experienced the latter that weekend! The owner was great, and told us the essentials to see and have recommendations, but it was totally like staying in someone's house!

I'm still in contemplation over what it would be like to live on an island like that.