Marthas Vineyard, playground for the affluent during the summer, is an island located off of the coast of Massachusetts, not far from Cape Cod. Being in such close proximity, The Nomads had to make a visit.
We woke up early and made the drive to Falmouth, Massachusetts. This is the area where you can both park and take the ferry from the mainland to Martha’s Vineyard. The parking is located at 286 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA 02540. The cost to park ranges from $10 to $15 for the day. You can find more info on their site. One tip when parking, snap a photo of your parking locale with your digital camera. This will help you remember where you parked.
After we parked, we boarded the tram that took us from parking to the port. At the port, we bought our ferry tickets for less than $20 each and waited for the ship. The ships run about every hour or so. Once it arrived and allowed the passengers off, we boarded and were underway in 10 minutes or so. Note, one ship is larger than the other. We rode the Island Home, the larger ship, to Martha’s Vineyard. The trip was around 45 minutes long.
As we were pulling into port at Martha’s Vineyard, we saw ships in the harbor that looked like pirate ships, sitting among many sailboats. It was interesting. Once we landed at Martha’s Vineyard, there was a flurry of people, taxis, buses and people. My advice is to go into the Steamship Authority’s building, located directly in front of the disembarkation area of the ship. From here you can buy day long passes for the bus and grab a bus schedule.
Martha’s Vineyard is broken up into six towns. They are Tisbury (where Vineyard Haven is located), Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah. Tisbury is the primary port and where we landed. Upon arrival and acquisition of our bus passes, we jumped on a bus and headed to Oak Bluffs. We arrived in Oak Bluffs and immediately sought food, as it was around lunchtime. There are may offerings throughout Oak Bluffs. We grabbed a bite to eat and then set out for the famed cottage neighborhood.
In and around Trinity Park, you will see many, many cottages that are decorated in a multitude of different colors and manners. It is definitely a site to see. There was even a Wizard of Oz themed home. This was an area dedicated to details of the past as well as classic beauty of today. It is worth meandering around (which we did for more than an hour).
We jumped on the bus from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown. Along the way, we crossed the famed Jaws Movie bridge. Side note – Jaws was filmed at Martha’s Vineyard. We planned on seeing many of the stately Captain’s Mansions in Edgartown. However, our bus schedule did not allow us to explore Edgartown. Before we knew it, the bus was there and ready to take us to Aquinnah.
Aquinnah is where the Gay Head Cliffs and lighthouse is. Once we arrived, we traversed through the shops to the lookout where we could see the Gay Head Cliffs. It was windy and cold, but the view was amazing. After reading the signs, taking in the view of the sea and islands, and looking at the cliffs in awe, we decided to leave the viewing area.
We began to walk towards the lighthouse. Along the way, half of the crew decided to turn back. Noah, Ethan, and I kept on going. We were looking for a way to get to the base of the cliffs. We went in one direction and it was nothing but personal residences. We came back and went the other way. Along our walk we found a public parking area and a path marked “beach.” We walked for over 1/2 a mile in an opposite direction from the cliffs and never hit the beach. We lost interest and returned to our party.
We made it back just in time to hop on the bus and head back to Vineyard Haven. We jumped on the bus and headed back to port. Some of us napped along the way as it was a long bus ride. When we got to port, we were fortunate enough to jump right onto a ship called Martha’s Vineyard. It was smaller than our other ship; but comfortable nonetheless.
We arrived at port, jumped on the tram and headed back to parking. We arrived, quickly found Ebony and was on our way. Martha’s Vineyard was a unique experience, to say the least, and we certainly had an excellent time. However, the Nomads simply could not understand the mass attraction to this locale. Regardless, we are grateful for the experiences we had and especially seeing the cottages, which were beautiful. If you go to Martha’s Vineyard, add Trinity Park to your list of stops. Safe Travels.
