Martha’s Vineyard 2018

We spent a lovely weekend away at Martha’s Vineyard a couple of weeks back. There was a lot of traffic driving down to Cape Cod.

But we finally made it onto the ferry, it’s expensive and there are limited spaces to take your car on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard – also when you get there there is not a lot of parking so we just used Uber to get around like last year.

We stayed at the Pequot Hotel where we stayed last year – I’m not usually one to go on holiday in the same spot twice or stay in the same hotel but we had such a nice time last year and as it’s only for the weekend I think it’s allowed.

We were up bright and early Saturday to look round Oak Bluffs, there were a lot of dogs out. I think if you’re the type of person who likes to take your dog on holiday this is the perfect spot.

It was Tivoli day in Oak Bluffs so there was lots of market stalls along the main street.

We browsed the shops, and the houses. I saw a little skunk (lots of skunks on the island) meander past which I was very pleased about, Kim less so.

And then we borrowed some deck chairs and an umbrella from the hotel and went to Inkwell Beach for a paddle.

In the afternoon we took an Uber to Edgartown, a different part of Martha’s Vineyard, it seemed to attract a slightly wealthier tourist and a more nautical crowd.

We got some gelato and walked around the shops and town.

Murica was alive and well.

Then we found a lovely seafood restaurant that had a roof top terrace.

And it had a lovely view out over the harbour and over to Chappaquiddick (famous for the downfall of Ted Kennedy).

 Then it was back to our hotel.

We had a jolly nice breakfast, and then we toured the original gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs.

All these beautiful decorations and some idiot puts up a Liverpool FC flag!

And that was our glorious weekend.

Martha’s Vineyard Part 2

The next day we woke up for some breakfast and they had some tasty quiche, muffins, and fruit etc.

Then we went for a bus tour of the island, and a while after we set off we were passed by a limousine and several black SUVs on a small country road because President OBAMA was in them and was holidaying on the island. Excitingggggg. (Not photographed, President Obama… sob)

So that was cool, then we drove out to see the Gay Head Lighthouse, it almost got destroyed by erosion but it was picked up and moved back from the coast to save it.

There were some beautiful cliffs we could look out over.

We stayed this side of the beach because the other side was a nudist beach – even though it was Kim’s birthday she didn’t want to wear just her birthday suit.

Our bus tour guide was an extra in Jaws and we passed the ‘jaws bridge’ where kids like to jump off.

We stopped for a quick lunch.

And then we went to the oldest carousel in the USA.

As you go round you can collect rings from a little dispenser machine, if you collect the brass ring you get a free go (hence the phrase to ‘grab the brass ring’).

After the carousel we went to look round the original ‘gingerbread houses’ that started off as a Methodist summer camp and progressed from tents to cottages.

They all had different colour themes and names. There was also a tiny cottage museum we looked round for $2.

There were lots of artefacts from the original Methodist camps that were nice to look round.

Also we tipped over the scales for out gaying ourselves when we got chatting to a nice elderly lesbian couple in the gift shop who wore rainbow neckerchiefs (I swear) and Kim started exchanging cat photographs with them on her phone. This really happened. There was actually a very large portion of gay holiday makers there and a lot of English people, a lot of resist trump signs everywhere in shops and on car bumpers; I feel like I fulfilled my holiday stereotype by picking Martha’s Vineyard but I really didn’t know it was so popular with my people.

We spent quite a while looking at all the houses, it was like we had permission to be nosy although I think the people who owned the houses must not have minded it because they were all sat out on their porches. Some of them had clearly put things out on their porches to attract tourists like this cute little dove who had a sign next to her.

And activities for kids (or childish adults like myself and yes I did manage to find all 26 thank you very much).

Who knew that Methodists were such skilled craftsmen?

After that we walked back to the hotel for a change of clothes.

And stopped off for Mexican food.

A squashed penny to add to my collection (vital to my travels).

And then, THEN, the most exciting part of the whole trip other than seeing Obama (Kim vehemently disagrees), we saw not one but two real live skunks. And no they were not stinky, they only smell if they’re threatened or they get run over. I thought they’d be bigger but they were happily snouting about. Our bus tour guide said the island was over run with them since hippies brought them here as pets and they have no predators on the island. They were just so cute, Kim didn’t agree and screamed, when I went to take a photo she assured me that if I got sprayed I’d be sleeping outside. Hater.

So that was our lovely trip, I would really recommend a visit if you get the chance there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about Martha’s Vineyard. Back on the ferry we got.

And then it was time for my latest entry to the birthday cake construction contest, this year was tough because America just doesn’t seem to sell cake in packets. There is no Mr Kipling, no cherry madeira (my go-to crafting cake) so I had to buy cakes from the freshly baked section which is all very well but they lack the uniform shape of factory produced cakes for construction.

Kim requested a castle.

Martha’s Vineyard Part 1

Last weekend we took a trip through Rhode Island and Massachusetts to get to Martha’s Vineyard for Kimmy’s 27th birthday.

We had to park up and get a shuttle.

The shuttle took us to the ferry which took us over to Martha’s Vineyard. The ferry is the main way on and off the island and the only way to take a car on or off the island although you can fly. We made a buddy on the shuttle called Jaime and she was late to meet up with her friends for a hen party, we were all sailing to Vineyard Haven but we needed to get to Oak Bluffs so we shared an Uber. None of us had used Uber before but it was very cheap, very fast and we got delivered safely to Oak Bluffs by our friendly driver Slobodan.

We stayed at a hotel in Oak Bluffs called the Pequot and there was a mermaid theme there which was fun.

All the buildings in Martha’s Vineyard look very pretty and follow a ‘gingerbread cottage’ theme and the hotel was no different.

Luckily we were able to check in early which was handy so we could dump our things in our room which was very cutesy.

The staff at the hotel were very friendly, after we’d dropped our bags upstairs we had homemade lemonade and cookies on the porch in rocking chairs.

Opposite the hotel was my dream house if I was still a child, all in purple.

So after all that the hotel offered to lend us deck chairs, beach towels and an umbrella and we went 3 minutes down the road to Inkwell Beach. It was great weather and we had a good swim.

I like to shell hunt on the beach and I found part of a quahog shell which was used to make wampum. Wampum was used by the Indians as money.

I added to my weird foot tan that I’ve been cultivating this year from my sandals.

After the beach we went back to the hotel to change and then our hotel had a porch party with live music, wine and cheese. Then we were back out again for a little walk around the park.

There was a beautiful dock we found on our walk.

Then we went to a restaurant called 20byNine that serves food that is like tapas but gastropub dishes.

We had some artisanal ‘deconstructed’ smores (who thinks of these things?).

And then we had a beautiful walk back to the hotel through the houses in Oak Bluffs.

It wasn’t too late so we got to partake in my favourite tv channel – the home shopping network. Yes. Really.