Martha's Vineyard Trip report
 

We drove from Virginia to Martha's Vineyard on 9/15, A Wednesday. The trip took about 8.5 hours including the ferry ride, not too bad. We had no trouble getting across without reservations, which (as will become clear) lulled us into complacency.

We stayed at The Shiretown Inn in Edgartown. We were happy with this choice - great location, comfortable room, nice people. We were smack in the middle of downtown and could walk anywhere in 5 minutes which was great. Also we were very close to the bike paths.

We stayed in the Sharon House at the Inn which is the newest part. The Inn consists of 4 or 5 separate buildings. The front 2 are old Captains Houses, the reception/bar/dining area is in the middle. One side of the lot has a motel type structure that runs along it with "Cottage Rooms" that looked clean, if a little sparse. They have attached baths and closets and looked decent - a good deal for the price. I bet you'd be very lucky to get into one in high season.

Our room was a little cramped and was definitely dominated by the king size four poster bed. But I thought the decor was beautiful. We had a gas fireplace and good size bath with a nice tub. The Sharon House is the most expensive part of the Inn but they had a special going and we were glad we sprang for it.

Thursday AM we took off on our bikes, riding around the park in the middle of the isalnd and then to Oak Bluffs. We loved the Methodist campgrounds and the cottages there. We walked around, windowshopped and ate on the harbor at Coup de Ville. A local had said that was the place to go. It was fine - decent burgers and chowder, good view, but nothing to knock your socks off. The bike ride home was LONG (esp when you don't bke too often at home) but had beautiful views of the water. The weather held out for us - it was misty and grey but never really let loose.

We went home, got cleaned up and then decided to hit a movie. We drove back into Oak Bluffs, a surprisingly short trip by car ;-) We had dinner at Linda Jean's which was quick, good old fashioned American (meatloaf, etc). Saw Vanity Fair at the theater - good movie!

Friday we went to Chappaqudick. We took our bikes across on the On Time ferry - it was funny, took all of 45 seconds. We rode out to Cape Pogue and walked on the beach. Looking back, if we had planned better, we might have taken one of the tours offered there. But we enjoyed some sunshine and just kicking around. Saw "the bridge" - site of Ted Kennedy's famous Chappaquiddick incident. It has been rebuilt but you could actually see how one might drive into the water. Incidentally, the place we were staying was where they started at a party that night and where he returned to drink at the bar before reporting it.
On the way back we stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens - it was okay, we weren't impressed enought to spend too much time.

We had lunch at The News from America and we loved this place! It has a great atmosphere - kind of cozy and dark, with exposed stone and wood beams, a couple of great big fireplaces. You could really imagine those whaling captains and crews crowsing in for an ale.

We explored Edgartown a bit, walking around and shopping. We also took advantage of the afternoon tea at The Shiretown - it's included. Excellent pumpkin cookies!
Dinner was at The Wharf in Edgartown. Loud, happy atmosphere, good service and okay food.

Saturday the remnants of Ivan really came in. We got up very early and walked to the Edgartown lighthouse to see the sunrise. By late AM it was raining hard and the wind was strong. We braved the rain to walk back to the News for lunch (we really liked this place!). Then we drove around the island, stopping at a pottery and some galleries. We hit the Isalnd museum in the afternoon. Really, I dragged my husband out in the awful weather with a promise to let him watch football unimpeded later. It was a nice museum. The exhibit I liked the best wa in the gift shop. There were oral histories from many locals and they were fascinating. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and one of the staff members gave us a flashlight so we could read the displays because it was so dark!
We got back to our room, took long showers and fired up the gas fireplace. We snoozed, watched football, read and played backgammon - bliss (with the rain pounding the windows). We finall got a little stir crazy and went out for dinner to David Ryan's. More of a contemporary feel to this place - good salads.
Sunday we finally tired of the continental breakfast (yogurt, cereal, fruit, pastries, etc) and went to Lola's in OB. Highly recommend this! If we'd know we might have gone everyday. They had eggs, Eggs Benedict, sausage, bacon, fried chicken, greens, potatoes, an awesome selection of fresh fruit and pastries - all for $8.99 each. We had spent SO much on meals by this point that we just sat dumbfounded when the bill came to $20. What a bargain.
Sunday we went to Menemsha and Aquinnah( aka Gayhead) and walked and walked. The beach at Aquinnah was lovely - great views. Reminded us of Point Reyes in CA. Then we came home and lounged some more. Okay, I shopped, he lounged. We finally decided we couldn't take another restaurant meal so went to the grocery store and got some meat and cheese and fruit and camped out in the room.
Monday we got up at the crack of dawn and packed, left the hotel by 7am. Our plan was to get on the road early, see a bit of Providence, stop at Edison NJ for some Indian food and be home at a decent hour. We got to the Steamship authority in vineard Haven at about 7:30. We entered the standby line for the ferry. And we waited. And waited. 2 ferries left without a single standby car on them. About 10:30 the car behind us decided to give up and asked us to move forward so they could get out. We tried to comply and realized DH had left the car on for 3 hours and the battery was dead. Got that jumped and let them out.
We started talking to other people in line. Got the scoop that Mondays leaving the island were generally a mess and that when a hazardous waste truck gets on the fery no other cars are allowed on. And that the 11 am ferry only runs on the weekends. We decided to leave our car in line and walk around.. We got breakfast, explored some great shops and came back around noon. Thank God we got onto the next ferry!
We decided to leave Providence and Edison for another trip and just try to get through NYC rush hour. We made it home by ten, exhausted but happy.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Make reservations for the ferry.
2. Dining in MV is expensive. And we never got around to our "one nice meal out"!
3. Take bikes or rent them - the island has wonderful bike paths.
4. You can't go whalewatching form Martha's Vineyard - okay you can but it involves 6 or 7 hours of travel time.
5. The News from America rocks! Try their french onion soup and their turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, yum!
6. Make reservations on the ferry.
7. Oak Bluffs has the highest concentration of cheesy t-shirt shops on the island - but "Tourist Trap" in Edgartown had very nice things at reasonable prices.
8. In the off season - go for a room with a fireplace.
9. Make reservations on the ferry.

Great report

Thanks for posting

Thanks for reading - I thought no one had and was lamenting staying up that late posting! Why does it always occur to me late late at night?

I enjoyed your report, too. We've never been to MV or Nantucket but would like to someday.

shaya,
We just returned from a trip to Martha's Vineyard (9/24-9/28). The weather was picture perfect, except for the day we were leaving (Jeanne!!). We rented a house in West Tisbury, which is on the "quiet side" of the island.

We ate all of our breakfasts at the house, but ate every lunch out. FishBones in Oaks Bluff was a favorite (right on the water), OffShore Ale Co. (also in Oaks Bluff) and The Navigator (Edgartown), again right on the water. We had planned to eat dinner at Homeport in Menemsha, but it was closed for the season.

Since we ate late lunches (2:00-3:00, after the guys played golf), we never went out for dinner. Each night we packed a bottle (or two) of wine and some hors'doerves and headed to a beach to enjoy the sunset! This was a highlight for all of us!

Going to MV during the "shoulder season" was great - much less crowded and easy to find parking spaces! However, some restaurants were closed and others were closing soon, so were out of some items. I made ferry reservations about 1 month in advance and to get there on Fri 9/24, the only time left was 8:45 PM! I did get on a waiting list and we finally got a 3:00 PM ferry.

We shopped in Vineyard Haven (great!), Oak Bluffs (tacky/touristy) and Edgartown (fun - loved watching them make fudge at Murdick's). We toured Chicama Vineyards (great) and walked Moshup Beach near the cliffs at Gay Head (incredible!). The guys played golf at Mink Meadows (9 hole course - not bad) and twice at Farm Neck (fantastic!). We also walked around Camp Meeting Grounds in Oak Bluffs and were amazed by the many, many gingerbread cottages - like nothing we'd ever seen before. Also enjoyed the carousel (oldest in the country) where you still grab the brass ring!

This was an anniversary celebration for 2 couples (20 years each!) and MV was the perfect choice. We all agreed that our kids (combined total of 5 boys) would have been bored silly, unless they were at the beach!

Hi BBear-
I agree, the shoulder season is definitely the time to go! Everyone we spoke with made the summer sound rather hellish ad crowded.
Next time we rent a house! We are hoping to persuade some family to come along (how hard can that be?). We'd love to take advantage of the fresh seafood available.
The day we left (the 20th) was beautiful, and the forecast said the whole week we'd be lovely (waah!). But we really did enjoy our rainy Saturday.
We both took our clubs along but never did play, next time!
We also saw a pottery out in Chilimark (sp?) and picked up a couple of things. The potter is kind of a character. My husband picked up the tiniest pot - just big enough for a cork stopper to fit into,- and asked what it might be used for. The guy replied many people used it for storing marijuana "it's a little pot - but a little pot can bring a lot of happiness" ;-) How funny.

Thanks, both of you for taking the time to post your trip reports. I'm also working on persuading family to rent a house there. The golfing angle might just tip the scales in my favor ;).

Funny what you take for granted. Growing up in Mass., I would just jump on the New Bedford-MV ferry anytime the mood suited, most times just for the day. I haven't been back there since I moved to Southern Cal. (Catalina is nice, but just not the same.)

Thanks again!

Hi Ivk!
It's interesting that you and I keep crossing paths (Atlanta for Tae Kwon Do Jr. Olympics and I believe a SW thread!). DH and I lived in South Dartmouth for 2 years before moving to NW Mass - and took the ferry from New Bedford to MV for a day on our 1st anniversary!

DH and his golfing buddy have played many courses and were very impressed with Farm Neck. Many holes right on the water - the golf card even tells you what to do when a seagull steals your ball!

We were quite fortunate that a friend (and co-worker)'s parents own the house (3 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths) right on a large pond. They let us have it for $100/night and left a bottle of wine as an anniversary gift - and we don't even know them! I'm not sure we would have gone otherwise!

If you have the chance to go to MV, I highly recommend it - there are so many diverse landscapes all on one small island. I agree that it would have been nice to have brought or rented bikes