Martha's Vineyard, MA,

Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Fri 14 Sep 2012 14:53
This was our last port of call on our way back to Mystic.  We have heard a lot of good things about Martha's Vineyard while we have been travelling about so it seemed a shame to miss it out.  When we first made our plans for the time between California and coming home, we were going to leave Thomaston on Saturday and sail first to Provincetown, Cape Cod for a few nights before going on to Martha's Vineyard.  However, Hurricanes Michael and Leslie put paid to our well laid plans and we had to choose either one place or the other.  The distance to Martha's Vineyard was about 160 miles so we left about 10am planning to arrive about 3pm the following day.  The main factor in planning this trip was the Cape Cod Canal.  When we came east we had a very quick journey through as we had the tides just right and wanted to make sure we got it right again - it is even more important to get it right going west as any sort of bad weather, coupled with an unfavourable tide, can create a washing machine effect which, according to the books, will try even the strongest of stomachs!  Fortunately, we got it right and had another fairly easy transit.  
We arrived in Edgartown, the main town on Martha's Vineyard, and took a mooring for 4 nights.  After a short snooze, we set off ashore to see what there was to do so we could plan our time.  The town is a bit similar to Nantucket, but with a more laid back and relaxed atmosphere.  As with Nantucket, the island made it's money out of the whale trade and the larger houses lining the waterfront in Edgartown are mostly those built by the sea captains of days gone by.  Martha's Vineyard is perhaps an unusual name for the island, as firstly there are no vineyards at all to speak off and, secondly, some villages have no licence at all to sell alcohol, in either bars or restaurants! The reason for this is that Martha's Vineyard was known in the 1870's as being the most famous Methodist Camp in the USA and thousands of people came from all over New England to hear the preachers and holiday in Oak Bluffs, the town that grew around the Methodist camp. 
I was suffering from a bit of a cold on our first full day, and didn't really fancy cycling round, so we got the bus out to Gay Head, on the far west of the island, which was a bit far to cycle anyway.  Gay Head, had recently been renamed Aquinnah, in honour of the American Indian tribe of Wampanoag who first made their homes there, and who still live there today.  The cliffs at Aquinnah are red clay and have over the years yielded many fossils from ancient flowers to animals as diverse as sharks, and oddly enough, camels!! There are the usual tourist shops and cafe but no much else so we decided to walk to the next village of Menemsha for lunch, a stroll of around 5 miles.  We set off only to find a sign when about half way there, that the bike ferry we were relying on to get us across the water to Menemsha only runs on Saturdays and Sundays now as it is 'off season'!  Luckily, there was a bike tour group on the island that day and the ferry was running as it would have been an awful long way round otherwise! 

 The cliffs and lighthouse at Gay Head

 John spotted this preying mantis crossing the road - actually he nearly fell over it!!

 This sign prevents anyone who is not a member of the Wampanoag tribe from walking along the beach.

Menemsha is a very traditional fishing village on the western end of the Vineyard and is probably most famous for being the set of Amityville in the film 'Jaws' - I was shocked to find very recently that Jaws was actually filmed in 1975 - much earlier than I thought.  The village is famous for it's fish markets and, though tempted, we had a bit more exploring to do and it was too hot to carry fish with us - next time maybe.  On our way back to Edgartown, we stopped off at Vineyard Haven, confusingly also known as Tisbury - the names are interchangeable on road signs and bus routes which makes things a little complicated!  This is similar to Edgartown in that it was the home of the old sea captains, and is the main port of entry for the tourist ferries to the island.
Chappaquiddick, is a small island which was originally joined to Edgartown until a storm breached the beach at Norton Point effectively cutting it off. It is still part of the town, but it is now a ferry ride across the water.  We took our bikes here for a ride as there are some great beaches.  There are also two large wildlife reserves known for the bird who gather there. We rode down to the beach at each point but decided against walking 6 miles along the beach to the lighthouse, to get the sea views - we get these every day and are probably less impressed by them than most of the visitors who come here!  Chappaquiddick has long been a holiday home destination for America's first family the Kennedys', and has also been the venue for some scandalous episodes in it's day, including the infamous incident in July 1969, when Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge in Poucho Pond, Chappaquiddick, causing the death of the young woman he was with, one of the women who had worked on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968 .  He waited over 10 hours to report the incident on the basis that he 'panicked'.  It was only due to some serious political manoeuvring that he managed to keep his job. According to reports, Kennedy had broken one of the most basic rules in politics - "never get caught with a live boy, or a dead girl"!!

 A small sandy atoll off Chappaquiddick Island

 The beach

 2 very hot and sweaty cyclists enjoying the view

On our last day it was Tivoli Day in Oak Bluffs, a celebration of the end of summer. As I said earlier, Oak Bluffs has always been more of holiday resort than a working area, and the celebration which has a long history, was to celebrate the end of summer.  Unfortunately the weather was not that good and we had to get the bus rather than cycle as it was looking a little grey and overcast.  We had a little rain over lunchtime but still had time to see what there was in the town. Due to the slightly inclement weather, we headed back to Edgartown for a spot of lunch overlooking the harbour and, as we sat down, the sun came out and we spent a pleasant couple of hours people watching and relaxing - a great end to the trip.

 One of the grander properties on the waterfront at Oak Bluffs, recently rebuilt after a fire

 At least these Canadian Geese were enjoying the rain!!

From here we head over to Block Island.  We had planned to stay for 2 nights so we could go ashore and explore, as it will take us most of the day to get there (60 miles), but there is some bad weather due to come in on Tuesday when we are supposed to be travelling to Mystic.  Due to this, we have amended our plan and will stay only one night and head to Mystic a day sooner - better safe than sorry, don't want to miss the flight home! 



Only days before, Kennedy had left the scene of a fatal car crash on the small island of Chappaquiddick on Martha's Vineyard, taking the life of 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne.

The second-term senator waited nearly 10 hours to report the accident and offered virtually no explanation other than he "panicked."

The details of the July 19 accident were salacious: a Regatta Weekend reunion party at a friend's cottage with all married men (except one) and six women -- the "boiler room girls" -- who had worked together on Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.

After a day of sailing and heavy drinking, Kennedy drove his black Oldsmobile sedan off a small wooden bridge into Poucho Pond, trapping Kopechne in seven feet of water.