A Day Trip to Martha’s Vineyard

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Back in July after we left Cape Cod, we continued down the coast and used Providence, Rhode Island as our base for the last two nights of our New England vacation. Only we did zero exploring of Providence and, the next morning, made straight for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard—after nearly missing it, that is, because the waterfront in Providence is ridiculously confusing and not at all well marked.

Tip: Give yourself ample time to find the ferry terminal. Also, a map would probably come in handy.

The ride out to the island takes 90 minutes, and I would highly suggest anyone traveling via ferry to take Dramamine beforehand (this from the girl who did not take her own advice and, in turn, spent the entire 90 minutes in the tiny ferry bathroom purging her breakfast).

My mom had booked the six of us on a morning excursion with Martha’s Vinyeard Tour, and while I moaned and groaned about the thought of an educational drive around the island, I was eating my words a few minutes later as our tour guide, who was younger than me and hailed from Azerbaijan (irrelevant to the actual tour, but it’s not every day you meet an Azeri on an American island), and had us hemming and hawing with his sarcastic humor and interesting tidbits about the vineyard. (For example, did you know there isn’t actually a vineyard anywhere on the island?)

For such a small islandโ€”we drove its circumference in under three hoursโ€”it sure attracts a bevy of names: Obama and Bill Clinton are frequent visitors, and Jackie O and a number of other political and Hollywood figures have houses there.

And if the waterfront area looks familiar, it’s because Jaws was filmed in many spots around the island. Eek!

In terms of things going on around the island, it’s a relatively quiet place. Nevertheless, I think I could easily come back with my Kindle—oh, and husband, too—and manage to kill a week, no problem. After all, “doing nothing” is surprisingly one of the areas in which I excel.

 

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COMMENTS
  • October 7, 2011
    Nicole

    Just wanted to point out, since it doesn’t look like there were any people there to confirm this, but that beach you’ve got pictured at the top is a nude beach. I know this because my mom also thought it was very picturesque and insisted we go there one afternoon while we were on the Vineyard. We were walking along, chatting about nothing in particular, when I said, “Um Mom, I think that man in front of us is naked.” She said, “Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just wearing tan shorts.” Then we looked around and realized we were the only ones with clothes on (and we weren’t even in bathing suit so we were really “overdressed”. AWKWARD. Glad you enjoyed my neck of the woods.

    • October 7, 2011
      Kristin

      Haha are you KIDDING me? That just makes it even more awesome. We didn’t trek down to that beach (didn’t even know you could!) so I had no clue!

  • October 7, 2011
    k

    awww, did you guys color coordinate your outfits on purpose. how cute ๐Ÿ™‚

    • October 7, 2011
      Kristin

      Haaaa that happens more often than not without even meaning to…Scott usually makes me go back inside and change if it turns out that we randomly wear the same colors! He’s not a fan =)

  • October 7, 2011

    Oh my god, you guys match. That’s vomit-inducing adorableness.

    Martha’s Vineyard looks like the sunny version of Cape Cod. Looks lovely.

    • October 7, 2011
      Kristin

      OOPS. Hadn’t even noticed until you (and commenter above) pointed that out! We’ve become that couple.

  • October 7, 2011

    No vineyard? What’s up with that?

    • October 8, 2011
      Kristin

      It’s a dry island. (I kid, I kid. But it IS odd.)

  • October 7, 2011

    Also my first thought when I saw the photo – “Ah, they’re colour-coordinated – how cute is that?!?”. Would love to go to Martha’s Vineyard. Did you find out how the island got it’s name if there are no actual vineyards there?

    • October 8, 2011
      Kristin

      There were a couple different stories addressing the origin of the name, so I’m not sure which is 100% accurate, but the most common answer seemed to be that the man who founded the island named it after his daughter, Martha.

  • October 7, 2011

    Looks beautiful. We need to roam back there soon. Surprisingly, Michigan’s Leelanau peninsula always reminded me of the Cape area. Although we no longer live there (Michigan), if you haven’t been to Traverse City Michigan, and in particular the Leelanau peninsula, you should put that on your to-do-list for July sometime.

    Anyway, greetings from Scottsdale, Arizona! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • October 8, 2011
      Kristin

      Greetings from somewhere in the Indian Ocean! Funny, I haven’t actually been to Traverse City but I’ve done a bit of writing about it this year for women’s/travel magazines, which has really made me want to plan a Great Lakes road trip for next spring! I feel like when a place keeps coming up in random and different circles then that’s a sign that I need to get there, stat =)

  • October 7, 2011

    Sad that you didn’t explore Providence! Next time you’re in town, I will happily play tour guide. I may try to teach you stuff, but only the good stuff ๐Ÿ™‚

    • October 8, 2011
      Kristin

      I’ve actually been to Providence before! It’s a lovely place–the whole state really. This time with so few days, we prioritized Martha’s Vineyard and Newport instead. But Southwest flies into Providence, so I promise to return soon and give the city the attention it deserves =)

      • October 8, 2011

        Whew! Slight forgiven ๐Ÿ™‚ I totally understand.

  • October 7, 2011

    You? Do nothing? I am shocked.

  • October 8, 2011

    Oh, so many memories this brings back! Back in the day I spent many a weekend on Martha’s Vineyard. We saw many famous people there, of course Carlie Simaon and Mariah Carey and we danced with Evander Holiyfield (minus the ear). And I know that is the nude beach called Gay Head (no comment there) because in my early 20s my girlfriends and I decided we had to do the skinny dipping thing and run into the ocean for a swim. It is kind of like that Opera thing where they had a bunch of middle aged women do all these uncharacteristic things (including skinny dipping). You need to be careful because there are binocular stands up on the bluff, so you have to go further down the beach so you can’t possibly be watched through the telescope.

    • October 8, 2011
      Kristin

      You’re making me wish I’d grown up in New England and “summered” at the Vineyard! It sounds positively dreamy–nudity and all. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • October 12, 2011

    You captured one of my favorite places in the world beautifully. Glad you enjoyed ๐Ÿ™‚

  • October 13, 2011

    You have got to stop posting awesome pictures of New England because every time you do it makes me so annoyed with myself that I’ve never been up there even though it’s SO close.

  • October 17, 2011

    Looks amazing. High on the list of places to visit. Nice photos.

  • October 23, 2011
    MOM

    Uuhhh… you have NEVER done nothing for a week in your life, oh, dear, over-achieving daughter!

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