Twenty-Four Hours in Martha’s Vineyard

continued from A Roadtrip through New England

Originally called Noepe, or “land between the streams” by the indigenous inhabitants of the Wampanoag Native American Tribe, the Island of Martha’s Vineyard was renamed in 1602 by a British explorer named Bartholomew Gosnold. Bartholomew chose to name it after his daughter, Martha, and the “viney” undergrowth found along the islands coast. Martha’s Vineyard is renowned for its stunning scenery, specifically its rolling hills, wildflower fields, and miles of pristine coastline. This quintessential New England island is home to Michael J. Fox, the Obamas, and loads of other A-listers and celebrities, of which we are not one. Hence the reason that we only spent the day here and nothing more.

Woods Hole Ferry

After spending the night in Falmouth, (Massachusetts) we opted to take the ferry from Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard. We chose to not bring our car which meant that we did not require a reservation. For the 45-minute trip from Woods Hole to Oak Bluffs, we paid $17 (RT) for the adults, and $9 (RT) for the kids. The highlight of the journey was watching the crew load the semi trucks onto the ferry, it was a tight squeeze, but they managed to make it work!

When we docked in Oak Bluffs, everyone was looking to rent us a bike. We went with All Star Bike Rentals and paid cash, so it was less than $100 for all four of us to rent a bike. We immediately hit the bike trail from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown. The entire island is designed around bikes so finding our way was not an issue.

Jaws Bridge

En route to Edgartown we stopped at the American Legion Memorial Bridge, also know as the “Jaws Bridge” as it was the site of the “bridge scene” in the Jaws movie. We watched people jump off the bridge, and considered doing it ourselves, but it was not hot enough for us to spend the rest of the day soaking wet. Leaving the bridge we noticed that Greg’s bicycle seat had a nail sticking out directly into his buns. We were too far away from the rental place to exchange it, so Greg, being the tough cookie that he is, made due, scooting up on the seat and away from the nail.

Edgartown

Our next stop was Edgartown and the Edgartown Lighthouse. This working lighthouse offers visitors spectacular views of Edgartown Harbor, Chappaquiddick, and Cape Cod. We parked our bikes and walked to the lighthouse. It was free for the kids to go up, but $5 for each adult. We tried to send the kids up alone (as neither Doug or I wanted to go up) but they wouldn’t let that happen so I accompanied them while Doug stayed behind.

After biking through the streets of Edgartown, we headed to the Martha’s Vineyard Airport because, well, why not. We were all a little hungry, so stopped at Morning Glory Farm for a picnic. Little did we know that a banana here would cost around $7, as would an apple. The kids wanted milk, but that was going to cost more than our ferry ride across so we filled up our water bottles and enjoyed a picnic of whatever we had left in our backpacks.

Martha’s Vineyard Airport

The final stop on the Vineyard was the Martha’s Vineyard Airport. Doug had to take a conference call, so Roy, Greg and I watched planes land from the mainland. I was secretly on the lookout for someone famous but I never saw anyone that met that criteria. On our bike ride back to Oak Bluffs, we stopped at the end of the runway to watch more planes take off and land. This, along with the loading of the semi trucks on the ferry that I mentioned earlier, are all the kids will ever remember about their trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

Oh, and the fact that we promised them ice cream, but when we saw the price of an ice cream on the island, told them they would have to wait until we were back on the mainland.