Windy Lake TashmooSo what would you do all day if the weather was too windy to go ashore…read, watch TV, nap, cook? I like spending my time playing with my photos in Photoshop. What do you think of this one? Thanks for reading our…
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July 21 – Vineyard Haven, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
Lake Tashmoo Mooring
“Don’t settle. Don’t finish bad books. If you don’t like the menu leave the restaurant. If you’re not on the right path get off it.” –Chris Brogan
Strong winds are predicted for the next few days so we needed to find a place to hide out. We’ve been paying for mooring the last week, so we were ready to find a place we could anchor. Most of the little town along the southern side of Cape Cod have filled their harbors with mooring balls…ones they rent out for $60 or more a night. Definitely not what we wanted, so we decided to go back to Martha’s Vineyard and anchor in Lake Tashmoo. It’s a great protected bay that is close to Vineyard Haven, a little beach and easy access to the rest of the island.
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July 19 – Chatham, MA
Stage Harbor Mooring
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” –Robert N. Rose
We left Nantucket today and are now on Cape Cod. We’ll spend the week slowly working our way down the Cape. Our first stop is Chatham. We’re moored in Stage Harbor, a quiet area that reminds us some of Maine…lots of fishing boats a quite a bit of tide.
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July 18 – Nantucket, MA
Nantucket Town Moorings
“As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, all my dreams, come back to me.”—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Today we took the bus over to Siasconset or Sconset, as it’s called locally, it’s on the eastern side of Nantucket over looking the Atlantic Ocean. The area was settled as a fishing village in the 17th century. The oldest home dates back to the 1670s and many other cottages are from the 1700s.
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July 17 – Nantucket, MA
Nantucket Town Moorings
“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama
This is the first time in years we’re actually in a new place. Weve’ stayed in a few new harbors and anchorages, but Nantucket is a whole new destination. We’ve been in New England for a week and this morning was our first time to wake up to fog. We waited for the fog to lift some before we headed to the floating water dock. We filled up our water tanks and then head east in Nantucket Sound to Nantucket.
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July 16 – Edgartown, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
Edgartown Moorings
It was a beautiful New England summer day and a Saturday…so the harbor was very busy and very entertaining. There were boats of every size coming and going all day. We spent most of the day on the boat watching the parade of boats go by. Late in the afternoon we took the dinghy out to the lighthouse beach so we could see the action in the outer harbor and take a swim. There were sailboat races, day trippers looking for a free mooring so they could enjoy the island and boats just cruising through the harbor to take a look. What a show. We’ve really enjoyed our time in the Vineyard.
July 15 – Edgartown, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
Edgartown Town Moorings
“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”—Henry David Thoreau
Another beautiful day in the Vineyard. Today we took the “Chappy” ferry across the entrance of the harbor to Chappaquiddick. The ferry only carries three cars at a time…luckily it’s a very short ride. We spent the morning biking around “Chappy” (over 10 miles, mostly on sand roads) exploring the countryside and walking on the beach.
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July 14 – Oak Bluffs, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
Edgartown Town Moorings
“I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.” ―Albert Einstein
Today we took the bus over to Oak Bluffs to do a little shopping and exploring and enjoyed lunch over looking the ferry dock. Oak Bluff is a very quaint little town that is noted for its “gingerbread cottages” and well-preserved late-nineteenth-century buildings, but it’s definitely more touristy than Edgartown or Vineyard Haven. The ferries brings tourist by the hundreds to the docks here to enjoy the beaches, boats, parks, boutiques and cafes…there are tourist everywhere.
Oak Bluffs is well known for the Methodist Camp that was developed here in the 1830’s. The Methodists gathered in the oak grove each summer for multi-day religious “camp meetings” held under large tents and in the open air. As families returned to the grove year after year, tents were replaced by small wooden cottages. Over time the cottages grew more elaborate. Porches, balconies, elaborate door and window frames became common, as did complex wooden scrollwork affixed to the roof edges as decorative trim. The unique “Carpenter’s Gothic” architectural style of the cottages was often accented by the owner’s use of bright, multi-hue paint schemes, and gave the summer cottages a quaint, almost storybook look. They became a tourist attraction in their own right in the late nineteenth century and many of these charming cottages are still owned by the same families.
Oak Bluffs was settled by Europeans in 1642 and was part of Edgartown until 1880, when it was officially incorporated as Cottage City. In 1907 the town’s name was changed to Oak Bluffs and it’s the only town on Martha’s Vineyard that was consciously planned and developed specifically with tourism in mind. Nineteenth-century tourists, arriving by steamer from the mainland, could also choose from a wide range of secular attractions: shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors, dance halls, band concerts, walks along seaside promenades, or swims in the waters of Nantucket Sound. Resort hotels lined the waterfront and the bluffs.
These pictures show just of few of the cute little gingerbread cottages in the campground area of Oak Bluffs
Lots of restaurants over look the Oak Bluffs Harbor
Park and beautiful home over looking Nantucket Sound
July 13 – Edgartown, MA (Martha’s Vineyard)
Town Moorings
“If you’re not barefoot then you’re overdressed.” –Author Unknown
We started our day slowly having breakfast on the flybridge enjoying the cool breeze and the sights in the harbor off Edgartown. Later in the morning we took our bikes to town and spent the day exploring Edgartown and South Beach near Katama.
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