Martha's Vineyard

Day 33: Escaping the big Manhattan, New York congested mess, we made it to the countryside in Massachusetts. Next on the list was Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod.

We woke at Cracker Barrel about two hours away from our ferry port at Woods Hole late (9 a.m.), and we started off the morning with pit stop at a fancy-looking local grocery store. The inside decor was designed after their historic town buildings and architecture. From the deli, we tried their eggplant lasagna ($10???? For a slice) and a ¼ lb of chicken & cranberry salad ($2). We were bummed that the lasagna cost what it did and we still had to heat it up! Should have just gone to a restaurant!

Next stop, a good drive. Skipping the blogging in the morning, Chad beelined it to the landing to catch to earliest ferry to Marth’s Vineyard.

I researched how to use the ferry system while we passed through small towns, greenery (newly budding leaves and flowers, it’s cold here! In the 50s) and a lot of trees. We went over a massive bridge that was reduced to one lane because of construction and when we were on the other side, the line of cars to get over the ONLY bridge (in that area) was backed up at least 5 miles. For a small town, that’s kind of a big deal.

The Steamship Authority website was helpful and we parked at a designated ferry lot in Woods Hole ($13 for the day) and they shuttled us (free) to the terminal where we bought tickets as walk-on passengers ($17 per person).  If we wanted to bring the car, we would’ve had to make a reservation and the earliest we could get it across was at 7 p.m. (grand total of $162.00).

We bought tickets at 11:55 a.m. and the ferry left at noon. Close call! Otherwise, we would have had to wait an hour for the next one.

Recommendation: Just get a passenger ticket, leave the car, and ride the ferry (furry friends welcome).  Then, use the bus system on Martha’s Vineyard Island ($8 per person for an all-day fare) to see everything.  You can rent bikes and cars, but it seemed easier to ride the bus around.

Chad took at 45 minute nap on the first ferry ride. He was so out! The ferry had puppies, people, cars, trucks and a snack bar (didn’t try it this time). While Chad was sleeping, I saw a seal pop its head out splash around!

We walked off the ferry onto a chilly island (we wore our Patagonia Nano Hoodies – bur!) and figured out the bus system (kinda). There was a bus waiting, so we just hopped on it to stay warm and to see a little loop around the neighborhood. The bus driver was kind enough to let me hop out at the tip of the route so I could get a picture of a ‘majestic’ light house. He laughed and said this specific light house was a common misconception (it’s a little house haha).

I asked about the grey shingles on the side of the homes and he told us the cedar siding is great for this area because of the salty air (it doesn’t erode as fast as other siding). With the grey home, grey sky and no greenery on the trees yet, the whole place seemed really depressing. It’s also the off-season for tourism, so a lot of the shops are closed and there aren’t very many people coming/going.

After having a hard time figuring out the bus schedule map, I asked the driver how to transfer to the next town. He told me to flip the map over and all of the times lined up. Ooops. I guess we were looking at the winter schedule and now that May is here, the other side of the map is what we needed.

The rest of the day was filled with bus riding and driving through really remote areas.  The island had a lot of trees, old old homes and unique gingerbread-looking homes. 

This place is highly regarded for vacation escapes and I would assume that is because you can rent out a cottage or B&B space near the ocean (so dreamy!).  But right now, it just looks like a palate of grey colors (ocean water included) and we don’t know what you would do for entertainment!

Summary: Right now in May, it is a chilly beach town environment and there wasn’t that much to do or see.  There were little bits of history everywhere (every town ever has history lol) and you can go on bike trails, hiking and walking, beaching, probably go on the ocean, eat, sleep, and read on the porch.  It would a nice place for actually resting…..but we are on a vacation to SEE things and DO things 😊

We waited to catch the 5 p.m. ferry and we just HAD to kill some time walking around the little downtown.  This then lead to trying some homemade ice cream. 

You could tell it was homemade because you could see the mixers in the back and smell the milk (like you stuck your head in the milk tank at a dairy barn – yep, that’s the smell of milk!).  We tried their caramel pecan, Oreo, mint, and black cherry.  Oh. the black cherry was excellent.  The others were also very good (Oreo mint on accident!).

Once on the ferry, I researched placed to have dinner and Chad fell asleep again. He was out cold again and this time, he happened to forget to close his eyes haha. Retracing our steps, we packed onto a shuttle bus (we had to stand like the subway) and returned to the car. It just started to sprinkle rain and the day became even gloomier.

I found Paul’s Pizza & Seafood (one of the only ones that doesn’t cost $35+ for one plate of food) and it was a hidden gem.  Tucked away in a little secluded drive, the parking lot was packed with people.  We took the time to catch up with Chad’s grandparents and sounds like Minnesota is still chilly.  Cliff said we will most likely be home by the 4^th of July (we gasped, that’s a really LONG trip) and Phyllis said that I might need another purple heart for some of the adventures we have been on (specifically the van ride up the mountain for ziplining!).

For dinner, we tired their New England Clam Chowder (chow-der), scallops (skaaal-ups) and a Quahog (ko-hog). The soup was creamy and yummy. Chad liked the scallops a lot (maybe a pass for me) and the quahog was yummy. It was like stuffing made with the clam meat, breading, peppers, spices, etc. You can spritz lemon and pour butter over the stuffing or dip it.

They also had personal-sized pizzas that looked really good, but we came to try the seafood. I guess they make over 80,000 pizzas in a year, so they are pretty popular!

Finding a local McDs, we pulled in for me to upload content about New York. So far, Mcdonald’s has had the FASTEST upload speeds out of all of the places we have been to (I would very much like another bagel right now).

Only a short drive up the road was our sleeping destination: Walmart. But, it was a nice Walmart because all of the buildings in Falmouth are constructed to look like old buildings with a particular theme. So, this building looked bright, shiny and welcoming with trees in the parking lot. There was also another car camper and a legit camper, so we hung out with those guys for the night.

It started to rain right as we were falling asleep and the ting of the drops hitting the roof lulled us to sleep. It was chilly outside, but nice and warm in our metal mobile tent.

Tomorrow, maybe a shower at the National Seashore??