Hey everyone! As one last hoorah, my mother and I took a 3 day trip to Martha’s Vineyard before I move back to Spain for another year. Despite having a little rainy weather, we had an amazing trip. This was both of our first time visiting Martha’s Vineyard and we were able to explore a lot of the island, eat some yummy food and relax at our quaint B&B.
We started our trip by taking the Island Queen Ferry over from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs. It costs $15 a day to park your car at a nearby lot and $20 round trip for an adult ticket. I know that some people like to bring their cars over, but I don’t think you need to at all. It was very easy getting around the island using Public Transportation. (It costs $2.50 to travel one way between two towns and it’s $8 for a day pass). You can usually purchase your tickets on the bus. We found that the drivers were always very helpful!!
Once we arrived in Oaks Bluff, we walked 10 minutes from the Ferry to the Pequot Hotel. I absolutely loved this place and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to visit MV. It offers a free breakfast, has a beautiful front porch with rocking chairs and is about 5 minutes walking distance to the center of town!
After settling in, we decided to head out and explore the town. After browsing some stores, we decided to get lunch at Linda Jeans (a place we actually went to twice during our trip). My Mom loved the crab roll there!
When we had finished lunch, we continued our walk up Main Street until we reached the Flying Horses Carousel. This is no ordinary ride however, it’s actually the oldest Carousel in the US (built in 1876). Children (and adults) who ride this, try to reach out and grab a ring every time they go around. If you get the Brass Ring, you win another ride on the carousel!
After the Carousel, we headed to a place we had been looking forward to the most! The Gingerbread Cottages!! We learned there are over 300 cottages in the campground. Most of them are passed down through families, but if you wanted to buy one of these it would cost you about a half a million dollars!! Most of them are not winterized and they don’t have foundations…but they sure are beautiful! (They also have a Cottage Museum that you can go inside for $2 and learn more about the history of the campground.)
All of our walking tired us out, so we took a break back at our hotel before taking a short trip over to Edgartown. We walked around by the harbor and up Main Street, but we didn’t find there was much to do in this area. When we were back in Oak Bluffs we decided to get dinner at Slice of Life. We ended up sharing a chicken pesto flatbread pizza, but the highlight of our meal was ordering the Truffle Fries!! If you’ve never had them before, you definitely need to try these!
To end our busy day, we headed out in search of Back Door Donuts! At the back door of a bakery (Martha’s Vineyard Gourmet Cafe to be exact), you can get freshly made donuts from 7pm-12:58am every night!! This was one of the highlights of our trips (seriously, they’re amazing donuts). It might be a little difficult to find at first, but follow your nose and you’ll have no problem!! We ended up going back again the next night, and even brought a box home for the rest of my family to try!
The following day was a little rainy, but we made the most of it. We were able to buy a day pass for the busses ($8) and go all over the island. Our first stop was Gayhead in Aquinnah. We had heard from friends that this area was beautiful and it did not disappoint. The cliffs and lighthouse were one of the most picturesque places on the island!
After a short stop there, we headed out to Vineyard Haven where we walked main street and explored the harbor.
For lunch, we stopped at Waterside Market for some sandwiches. They were great!
After browsing Main Street for a while, we left Vineyard Haven and headed back to Oak Bluffs. Since the weather was still rainy, we decided to try out some beers at a local brewery, the Offshore Ale Company. Most of the beers were very hoppy, so if that’s not your style, this might not be the place for you. However, they also serve food and even though we didn’t eat there, we saw some plates come out that looked good!
For our last night on the island we went to the Lookout Tavern for dinner. We got great seats on the porch, looking out at the Ocean. After going to Back Door Donuts one more time, we called it a night!
Overall, I was very impressed with Martha’s Vineyard. I found it to be very quiet and peaceful in September, and would recommend visiting the island when there are less tourists in the off season months! The water was still warm, even in September, so you might even be able to squeeze in a beach day too. We found 3 days to be the perfect amount of time to do and see everything we wanted. Oak Bluffs was our favorite town on the island and I am glad we spent the most time there. It’s safe to say we’ll be back again one day!
In just 5 short days we will be back in Spain for another year, so stay tuned for some more posts about our adventures abroad!
-Amanda
