New England Road Trip; Chapter 11 - Cape Cod (Martha's Vineyard)

(written by Bill)

This is a series of blogs covering a 21 day road-trip my wife and I made through eight New England States during the month of September – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts (Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, and Plymouth Rock).

We’ve covered Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts Cape Cod – Provincetown, Chatham, and Nantucket to date.

Chapter 11 - Is it possible to see anything more enjoyable than Nantucket?  What about Martha’s Vineyard…

Okay, I’m not really trying to compare the two islands.  They are very similar yet so different to visit, but one minor observation is that Martha’s Vineyard seemed a bit more residential, than touristy Nantucket.

We had thought about renting a motor bike but as we got off the ferry and walked toward the rental shop, we watched a young lady crashing up and over the sidewalk into a small building on a rented motor bike.  She was okay and there was no damage to the business, but this little episode convinced us that the tour bus was right for us.

While on the bus, we saw the Grange Hall, Gay Head Lighthouse, a neighborhood known as the Gingerbread Houses, and lastly, we stopped and ate at Nancy’s Restaurant on the harbor, where President Obama, and family, had lunch during their visit to the island back in 2010. We were glad we opted for the bus because the tour guide (host) was extremely knowledgeable about the island and filled us with numerous fascinating facts.

After another long day taking in the sights on Martha’s Vineyard, we were ready to hop on the ferry and head back to Chatham.  It would be our last night on the Cape and we were anxious to enjoy a peaceful evening with good weather and reminisce about all we had seen over the past many days.

This is where we caught the ferry over to both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of an old fishing vessel, “Caroler”, while waiting for the ferry.

The Grange Hall in West Tisbury, Massachusetts is a historic post-and-beam building that was built in 1859. West Tisbury is on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

The Gay Head Lighthouse was built in 1844 and is lighted every evening after dark throughout the year.

Spectacular view of the coastline on Martha’s Vineyard near the Gay Head Lighthouse. If you zoom in closer you will notice a sun bather on the beach.

This neighborhood is called Oak Bluffs and there is a whole cluster of houses known as the “gingerbread houses.” They were built in the 1800′s and luckily the current owners keep them lovingly colorful, ornate, and kept up.

Another view of the Gingerbread houses

This gingerbread house is called the Dog House of Blues.

President Obama ate here at Nancy’s when he visited Martha’s Vineyard in 2010

Click here to see more photo’s of Martha’s Vineyard.

From Chatham, we are going over to Boston, which will be the topic for our next blog, then on to Plymouth Rock and lastly, a chapter on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Hope you enjoy…