About 17,000 people live on the island year-round. In the summer because it has become a vacation destination, the number grows to 250,000. The Vineyard is roughly 9 miles north to south and 24 miles east to west. Today the island has 6 towns/townships each with a distinct personality. On Monday we took a van tour of the island through Martha's Vineyard Tours and Transportation. It was a great way to get a look around the whole island with a knowledgeable tour guide.
Vineyard Haven is a port town. This is where we were docked. Numerous passenger ferries use this town's port. There are certainly many ships and restaurants in Vineyard Haven, but it is more of a working town than tourist.
The docks we stayed at in Vineyard Haven
Sailboats in the harbor behind us
Sailboat getting her bottom cleaned next to the marina
Oak Bluffs also known as Cottage Village was a favorite spot back in the 1800's for Methodist camp meetings. People would gather here for multi-day religious meetings and services held under large tents. They would also stay in smaller single family tents at night. As the years went on they built small cottages and adorned them with intricate carving and paint schemes. These cottages have become a tourist attraction in Oak Bluffs.
East Chop Light outside Oak Bluffs
Edgartown was the whaling town of Martha's Vineyard back in the day. Many of the whale ship captains built fine homes and mansions here with ornate top floor rooms and balconies overlooking the harbor often called widow's walks. The name inferred that the wives of boat captains would use the walkways to watch for their loved ones return from sea. This is in fact an old wives tale. The walkways were used to keep a bucket of sand near the chimney top so if there was a chimney fire; it could quickly be put down the chimney to smother the fire.
Chilmark is home to Menemsha. This quaint spot has several fish houses and commercial fishermen bring their catches here to be sold. We stopped on our tour to stretch our legs and grab some chowder.
Menemsha docks
Fishermen coming in to off load their catch
Lobster pots
Chowder spot
Aquinnah is the last area of Martha's Vineyard the tour explored. It is the home for the Native Americans of the Wampanoag tribe. It also has the most magnificent clay cliffs and the Gay Head Lighthouse. We stopped to take a short stroll to see the cliffs and take pictures.
Aquinnah Cliffs
Gay Head Light first built in 1800 to warn sailing vessels of the dangerous underwater rocks in the area called "Devil's Bridge"
In June of 2015 the Gay Head Light was moved as it was in danger of falling into the water due to erosion of the cliffs. It now stands approximately 180 feet back from the edge of the cliffs. It is predicted that it should be safe for the next 150 years in this location.
Cliffs and lighthouse
The beach below the cliffs does has a public access via a hiking trial that leads down to the water.
Our tour lasted about 3 hours and we needed all that time to make it around the entire island. It would take days to really explore everything around the island, but we had to be moving on. Luckily we did get the chance to have some lobster.
Pengi with his lobster lunch
Sadly we also had to say good-bye to Mike and Mary. They are leaving us in the morning and flying home to Maryland. We had a very nice last dinner with them Monday night in Martha's Vineyard.
Our entire group at dinner Monday night
Clockwise from front left Lyn, Gail,Darlene, Mike, Mary, Bruce, Keith, and Pete
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