Martha's Vineyard

Every part of Martha’s Vineyard was quaint and had a great local pub scene. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. In Oak Bluffs, we saw hundreds of pastel-colored gingerbread houses that were built and occupied by the working class and probably go for a pretty penny today. People in this town seemed very hard-working, generous and helpful. It was easy to make friends here, especially over beers at happy hour.

Even the guy who owned this truck with threatening bumper stickers was friendly. He insisted we take a picture since he was proud to be a "Masshole," (see bumper sticker) and proud to show it off. It really screamed for attention in this really quiet gingerbread house neighborhood. It made me want to be a masshole too.

We rented a smart car since it was too cold to do the scooter. Apparently, a safer choice as well, since we saw some article posted by an activist just next to the rental about the significant loss of life due to scooter accidents on Martha’s Vineyard. The smart car was fun, and everywhere we went people were pointing, smiling and sometimes laughing. The thing could get around, but everytime it shifted into gear, I practically slammed into the dashboard. Stephen swore that there monkeys under the hood doing the shifting.

At the local brewery, we met a great couple, Bill and Lisa over a couple of beers and pizza. They were amazed that we were living on the boat and had so many questions. They introduced us to “Backdoor Donuts,” which sounded kind of kinky. There is a local donut shop that sells donuts out of the back door at night time when they come in to make the donuts and they are fresh out of the oven. It feels very underground operation, since people sneak up to the backdoor and whisper their orders through the screen. Apparently the neighbor complained about the noise and there are signs posted asking patrons to be quiet. We bought some apple fritters at Bill and Lisa’s suggestion, which were drenched in sugar and goodness.

We rode through little fishing villages and stopped anytime we felt like it, walking along empty beaches, checking out more bluffs on the West Coast of the island and basically going on an eating frenzy. Of course, we needed a layer of blubber for the cold nights ahead of us.

We ate more clam chowder at their snack huts and finally tried a crab roll, which is nothing more than crab salad on a hot dog bun. We stopped at a real farmer’s market along the side of the road that was a farmhouse selling produce inside and pumpkins and flowers outside. They had really yummy apple cider, and monkey bars made with “organic” chocolate, bananas and coconut.

The wind was really blowing when we got into Martha’s Vineyard, about 25 – 30 knots steady and we were worried about holding with just one anchor down. When the Harbor Master suggested that we throw out another, Stephen told him with confidence that our boat would hold. I was worried, but Synchronicity didn’t budge the whole time we were there.

Surfing the waves and chop in the dinghy was wild, like a water ride at Six Flags, we were practically laying on the floor of the dinghy to keep from flipping over. The water was so frigid up here, we would have had hypothermia no doubt. With the temperatures dropping, it felt good to have a hot shower on land for once where I wasn’t shampooing my hair vigorously to get the suds out before my body turned blue. I think this is the last time I showered until we made it back to Annapolis (baby wipes excluded).

We couldn’t leave here without having lobster, and picked out (2) 2lb lobsters at a fish market near our anchorage in Vineyard Haven. They steamed them for us and wrapped them in foil so they stayed hot until we made it back to the boat. We took the picture above as proof to our parents that we are not going hungry on this trip.