Martha's Vineyard- Vineyard Haven and Down Island

A short hop from Wood's Hole is Martha's Vineyard.  A super popular spot with ferries coming from all directions to 3 of the island's harbors.  We were lucky enough to snag an anchoring spot in the Lagoon Pond.  It was a bit longer ride in the dinghy to the dock but it kept us out of the way of the wakes from all the boat traffic. The island is old and historic.  What, you were expecting something else from a spot in New England?  The island of Nantucket, famous for its whaling, is a short distance away.  Some of Martha's Vineyard sea captains got rich being guides through the treacherous Wood's Hole cut and other were whalers.  Martha's Vineyard is large enough to have very distinctly different areas.  Edgartown is home to many of the old sailing industry due to it's location nearest to Nantucket.  One lady explained that for pilots, the first one to the incoming ship got the business so being in a position to see the boats coming over the horizon was a plus.  Another town is Oak Bluff.  It's claim to fame is the unique cottages around the old Methodist camp church.  Vineyard Haven has the largest harbor and is more of a working class town.  Lots of tourist shops to be sure, but also good facilities for boat repairs.  The rest of the island is referred to as Down Island.  The movie Jaws was filmed in spots around the island but most of those you'll recognize are in Menemsha.  Sadly, we didn't make it there due to weather.  It was rainy most of the time so we bought a 3 day bus pass to get around.  We were only able to take advantage of the bus for 2 days but we got our money's worth in those 2 days. Again, we're grateful that we saw as much as we did.

This is quite a collection of glass bottles and plates.  The downstairs windows
were just as decorated but I wanted the detail of the close-up picture.

The Grange in the small hamlet of West Tisbury.  The day we visited
the World Market was going on.

The bus terminal in Vineyard Haven is adjacent to the ferry terminal.
It was constantly busy since the buses run from about 6am to 1am.

This is my kind of yard.  Just enough lawn to walk from one bed to the next.

One of the many large homes on one street in Vineyard Haven.

 

We are always fascinated by the stone buildings we see.  It has to be
so much harder to build with stone than regular sized bricks.

The town hall of West. Tisbury.

This is such a unique sail plan with the shapes and location.

The main street of  Vineyard Haven.

Looking the other direction.

Typical buildings in town.

The William Daggett house, He was prosperous enough to not only
build a fine mansion but the street its on is named after him, William St.