We started out in Vineyard Haven where our campsite is located and headed out with no real itinerary at hand. We let the road lead our path and discovered so much natural beauty that often we stopped to take it all in. The island is bicycle friendly with miles of bike paths meandering throughout. This being our first time on the Island, we were both surprised to see how little is actually developed. In fact, only 20% of the Martha's Vineyard is populated leaving 80% of wilderness and secluded beaches. With little elevation gain, our 30 mile bike ride took little effort. We headed through the outskirts of Edgartown, stopped at the fire station museum and viewed some firetrucks from the early 1900's. It was nice to cool down in the A/C as the sun was relentless. However, with the constant cool ocean breezes, we didn't realize how warm it really was until we stopped. Back on our bikes we saw a sign for Katama Beach, and decided to explore that area. We passed some beautiful mansions along the water's edge including David Lettermen's house and a home that housed Lamas as pets.
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It seemed a bit eccentric to us but I suppose an easy way to keep the lawn manicured! We continued down the road heading to Katama Beach. You may recognize this place as it was the opening scene in "JAWS" where the first shark attack occurred when the woman was taking a swim at night.
Despite the history, many beach goers were swimming in the cold ocean waters. No Way Jose....and we were on our way! We headed to the beautiful seaside town of Edgartown, another scene from JAWS where the shark swam into the harbour and traumatized Roy Schneider's son on the raft. We ate lunch at Shanty's Seafood overlooking the bay. Guy has certainly had his fill of Lobster!
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Bellies full, we meandered through the seaside town amazed at the amount of wealth that is contained on this Island. The one thing that really stands out is the beautiful manicured lawns and abundance of flowers, especially wild roses, honeysuckle, dogwood trees and hydranga. We played the tourist role with camera in hand and gawked at beautiful old captains homes. Pictured below are some scenes of Edgartown.
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We continued cycling the edge of town to the Edgartown Lighthouse which offers views of the harbor and Chappaquiddick Island known as "Chappy" to the locals.
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My New England Clam chowder that I had for lunch was not agreeing with me and I started to struggle with the remainder of our bike ride. We attempted to board one of the buses that tour the Island and carry bikes on front of the bus, but we missed the bus. Although they round every 20 minutes, we decided to bike the 7 miles back to base camp. It was not the most enjoyable 7 miles for me and I was happy and exhausted to be back "home".
After a short rest, bathroom break and re-hydration.....we were on our way by car to Oaksbluff. The one thing about Guy and I on our trips is we don't slow down. We take in as much as possible starting our day with sunrise and concluding way beyond sunset. We wouldn't have it any other way....in fact our motto is "We can sleep when we're dead".
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