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The ferry from Falmouth runs nearly every half hour to Martha's Vineyard. We drove from our campground early this day's morning to catch the ferry for an all day trip. The ride lasts only 45 minutes or so, and was uneventful on the way over, except for one incicdnt in the thick fog. I mean really thick fog; pea soup thick. About 10 minutes into the crossing, the ferry horn blew -- deafeningly -- 5 or 6 times, for 10 seconds a blast. I looked up and casually said "there must be a boat in our way". This was a giant boat, over 100 feet long, so it could not exactly turn on a dime. Just as I finished saying that, the girls came running up from the bow and said "there was a sailboat RIGHT in front of our ferry! We missed it by only 10 feet or so!" etc. This got our adrenaline going good. Better than a double espresso. 
During the crossing we had all mutually determined to rent bikes once we had made landfall, as "MV" is much too large for walking only. They were $20 per bike per day, but since we were renting at nearly noon, they gave us a break for the 4 bikes for $65, and we were off. Our first stop was the odd little Presbyterian "Campmeeting" cottages in out Oak Bluff, a 20 minute bike ride from our landing at Vineyard Haven. There were many dozens of these tiny summer cottages, built long ago and now all privately owned by summer folks. Below is a picture of one especially colorful example, with the 3 ladies in the foreground on bikes.
The Campmeeting Association is still in operation, and still holding meetings and gatherings. It was not clear to us to what extent they exercised control over the cottages themselves.
This shot gives you a better sense of how this little neighborhood looked.
As we were leaving the campmeeting neighborhood, we encountered this small street. Since we collect all things Jordan, Jody snapped this shot as Jordan whizzed by.
We did not really have a destination (surprise!), except to eventually find a beach. Once we came across the spot depicted below, the girls were hooked: they both wanted to jump off, lots of times, and there was a nice beach on the other side of the road. The sign above Joya's head states clearly "No Diving From Bridge"; jumping was not mentioned, and indeed was not only allowed but apparently encouraged. Motorists passing by on the road would shout encouragements, or just point and wonder.
Not to be outdone, Jordan jumped as well -- even I did it. The water was lovely, somewhere in the 70s, so we swam and sunned and ate the lunch we had packed.
As we continued our drive, we stopped in another MV town called Edgartown, and investigated. We found this overlook and took a brief rest to enjoy the scenery. In the far background you can see Chappaquiddick Island, where Ted Kennedy had one of his 'youthful indiscretions'.
We stopped for a much-needed ice cream prior to mounting our bikes for the 12 mile ride back to Vineyard Haven.
The view from the bike path on the ride back was superb.
We took a break at a seawall just before sunset -- good light for photos!
Jody managed to pull a muscle in her thigh as she got up onto the wall. Below, the girls make inquiring noises, and Jody tells them to go away until she feels better.
There a lots of 'ponds' on MV; I took this shot from the bike path.
I hope my dermatologist does not see this -- even with a hat on, I got sunburned pretty badly.
We returned the bikes and boarded the 9:00 PM ferry for the ride back. We were all in high spirits after such a pleasant day. The ladies all stood up at the bow for a bit and got a bad case of the windblowns. Really fun. |
