Day 367, Year 10: Day Trip to Martha’s Vineyard
Date: Monday, October 12, 2015
Weather: Gorgeous, Gorgeous Day and Warm
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
What a beautiful day for a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard. There was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was near 70 degrees with just a gentle breeze. It was perfect for the ferry ride over and back. We arrived in Oak Bluffs, bought a $5 (senior citizen price) all day bus ticket and took a walk through Wesleyan Grove. Shortly after the Civil War, this area became the summer meeting ground for open-air Christian revivals. People came to the island from the mainland and stayed dormitory style in large tents known as society tents. Eventually the tents were placed on wooden platforms and then small gingerbread cottages were built on the platforms around the central open-air church tabernacle. The cottages are charming and it is delightful to walk amongst them. After our gingerbread cottage tour, we hopped on a bus and went to Edgartown. There we visited some of the major historical sites and had a great lunch on the waterfront at The Sea Shanty. From Edgartown on the eastern end of the island, we rode on the bus to the far western end to what was once known as Gay Head. The area is now renamed Aquinnah after its Native American origins–land of the Wampanoag tribe of Aquinnah. The clay cliffs that lead down to the ocean are quite dramatic but we really didn’t have time to get off the bus and explore. Mark and Lee made a mad dash out to the viewing area and then back to the bus just in time for departure. We ended our day in Vineyard Haven and celebrated the gorgeous weather and lovely day of exploring by having ice cream cones. We were back in Woods Hole by 5:45 pm and spent the rest of the evening on Windbird.
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| 151012 Day 367a Cape Cod, USA–Day Trip to Martha's Vineyard |
I received a multi-media text message from Jed while we were having lunch. It was a photo of the boys playing on the beach in Quissett Harbor with Windbird as their background. There was no school today, so they enjoyed a beach day. Heather is still in Boston at a conference, so Jed was a single dad today. Obviously the boys were enjoying their day off school with one last summer of 2015 beach excursion.
Tomorrow morning our plan is to take Windbird to the dock to fill up with water. After that, Mark, Lee, and Mary Ellen will take off for Boston. They all plan to walk part of Boston’s Freedom Trail in the early afternoon and then get Mark to Mass General for his 3:30 pm radiation treatment. After that they will all head to the Hope Lodge for night. Lee is a huge Cubs fan and they won another game in the five-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight. The next game is at 4:30 pm tomorrow and they hope to get to the Hope Lodge in time to watch the game. I’ll be staying here, rooting for the Cubs, and getting back to the preparations for our upcoming sail south.
