Martha’s Vineyard

Up early for the 45 minute drive to Falmouth for our short ferry ride to Martha’s Vineyard. The ferry was much smaller than our last one and we all got our seats as they announced that there would be high winds on the trip. Thus began our terrifying, nausea inducing, clenched fist ride across the Vineyard Sound. Water bashed the front of the boat and we were rocked side to side for what seemed like an endless ride. One of the young passengers in front of us had a mild panic attack but we all made it across without losing our breakfast. We finally arrived to the port and it was raining so we walked down the way to a group of shops to rest and regroup. After a quick recon, we found a bus to Edgartown - the main hub of MV - which made us even more sick with the starts and stops. After another break and ginger ale and meclizine, we walked through town and found the oldest pagoda tree in the US and then went to Carnegie Heritage Center to get out of the rain and learn a little bit about the history of MV. It was a nice chance to regroup. From there, we walked out to Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse - the area looked just like it did in Jaws (though I think it was filmed at a different beach). Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in the lighthouse but it was a nice walk in the drizzling rain. We then picked out a lunch for restaurant - The Wharf - which we later found out was run by an actor from Jaws (the little boy on the yellow raft that was the second one eaten by Jaws). There was signed paraphernalia all over the restaurant and we all ate our fill before doing some shopping around town (Lululemon and Faherty’s). Then our real adventure began. We got on the return bus to the port but were told by the bus driver that our ferry had moved to a different port location due to the poor weather. We confirmed this with a website and two other passengers so we didn’t get off at our planned stop but instead went to Vineyard Haven. When we checked in at the port, the receptionist said that the ferry was never moved and we were at the wrong stop… and we had about 25 minutes before our ferry left. So we all ran back to do over full bus and re-boarding (after asking our driver to confirm via radio that she was wrong and we were supposed to go back to our original port). The bus finally took off but got stuck in traffic and it finally pulled up to our stop with just 4 minutes before our ferry was set to depart. Jocelyn and the kids ran down the road to try to catch it while we stayed behind with mom. Somehow, they made it with no time to spare and begged the crew to wait for the rest of us to catch up. Mom ran as fast as she could (just a few days after being in urgent care for walking too much) and the crew, seeing her effort, waited for us all to board. We even had a few claps from the balcony as we all got on. Relieved to have made our boat, we figured we would deal with the bumpy ride back. We were rewarded with a smooth, calm and enjoyable ride as we watched MV vanish in the distance. All the kids said it was the highlight of their day and I have to agree - beautiful and peaceful and a good reward after being afraid of the return trip all day long. On the way home, Grandma Connie rewarded everyone with a roadside ice cream stop and we ordered pizza in and played cards (blackjack and then Liverpool) while the young kids played Mario Party in the next room. A late night but it all worked out in the end. We get to sleep in tomorrow!Read more