Martha's Vineyard: Edgartown

Wednesday: We arrived in Oaks Bluff from Nantucket via Hyannis. A pricey and roundabout trip, but we missed the schedule that offered direct connections from Nantucket to Martha’s Vineyard by two days. Oh well. At least we knew in advance so it didn’t come as a surprise. We had breakfast and explored the town. We’ve been here before so it was fun to be back, though sadly there was no house hunting this trip. Last time we were here we looked at one of the little gingerbread houses Oak Bluffs is so famous for. I loved it, it fit my tiny house dream. But, in researching it further, turns out you have to “reapply” each year to be renewed as a homeowner. They own the land so permission needs to be granted each year for the homeowner to stay. That was a hard no for us. Our full of energy family is definitely not a fit for a place that needs to approve us each year!

We ate our brunch, explored, and caught the bus to Edgartown where we would be staying this trip. Bill, anxious to get to the hotel and ditch our bags, ran 2 blocks ahead to hold the bus. Zach trailed behind him, Mel and I strolled along wondering why they were getting on the bus going the wrong way. Bill waved us on to hurry so we did and jumped on asking:

Me: Why are we on this bus? It’s not going the right way.

Bill: Yes, it is, it says Edgartown.

Me: Yes, but it also says Vineyard Haven and the sign across the street is where the Edgartown bus stop is.

Bill: No, no, I assure you, this is the right bus.

Me: Did you confirm with the driver?

Lady across the aisle: This bus is going to Vineyard Haven, not Edgartown. You are going the wrong way.

Bus driver: Wait, you want to go to Edgartown? Why are you on this bus?

Me: Great question.

Lady across the aisle: Well you are in for a beautiful drive.

Me (to Melina): This is going to cost a fortune, we should have taken an uber. I need to pee.

So we sat back, enjoyed the ride and our dear sweet bus driver only charged us the original bus fare and wished us luck at finding our hotel (which he had never heard of). Thankfully I knew it existed because we had stopped there on a previous trip to the island so Zach could use the bathroom. We checked in and headed off to explore the town. First stop, the beach. Zach and Bill rode out to the lighthouse. Mel and I wandered all over town.

Edgartown is a super cute little town and was also used as the town in Jaws. My kids love this fact and used this as an opportunity to weave school and travel together so Zach researched, visited the key spots on the island, and wrote a report for school on the making of Jaws. Of course he had to re-watch the movie to make sure he had everything correct.

Keeping with our travel library theme, we headed to the Edgartown library that evening for the art club and lego club. Following that was the teen game night. Zach joined in and both kids had a blast asking if they could stay longer. We happily said yes as it gave Bill and I a moment to catch up on things and then we headed back to the hotel and out to dinner. That is where things started to go south.

I’ll skip the dinner fiasco, let’s just say Zach and I ate in the room and in separate areas of the room. And, both of us with headphones on. The next day was super windy. I mean super windy - turns out it was our first Nor’easter. We used it as a catch up schoolwork day and went to the library. And that is where things really went south, again. Was it the wind? It took hours to regroup, but we managed. Maybe it was the wind? Who knows. All I know is that at one point I was looking up ferries back to Nantucket (solo) followed by a trip to Bora Bora for good and Melina was looking up boarding schools.

That afternoon Z and I stopped by a t-shirt shop and chatty Zachie struck up a conversation with the woman working there. Turns out she is from Novato, went to Novato High, her mom lives in Ross and she had just returned from visiting her. The woman now lives in Edgartown half the year and Palm Springs the other half. Small world!

Friday: Off to a better start today with this whole independent study thing. We are certainly adjusting. Well, not Melina; I think that girl can thrive in any academic situation. We are still working on her social interactions though. The other day she ordered her deli items via the kiosk to prevent actually speaking to the person behind the counter. That kid.

For our last day we decided to take the hotel bikes out for a spin. We biked out to Katama Beach and who should we pass on the bike path? Michelle Obama! She was out walking - so cool! Spent the rest of the day at the beach, lighthouse and Carnegie Library—a hidden gem there. If you go to Edgartown, stop by.