Martha’s Vineyard

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We didn’t have far to travel to reach our next destination. About 75 miles south along Interstate 495 will get us to Wareham Massachusetts. The Elks Lodge in town is our stopping point. We wanted to visit the Cape Cod area and had considered 3 different lodges. None of them have any real RV camping facilities, so we were just looking to dry camp for several nights. The lodge in Falmouth or Hyannis would have gotten us closer to the things we wanted to do in the region, but the parking lots looked rather small and might not easily accommodate our size of rig. The one in Wareham has a rather large paved parking lot as well as large field adjacent to it. There were no trees around so we should be able to get decent solar gains as long as the skies are reasonably clear.

Since we were coming from and going to a lodge without a dump station, we needed to fill up with fresh water and find a place to dump our holding tanks. It turned out the Hudson lodge had a spigot on the building that was easily accessible in the morning when nobody was around. Finding a dump took a little more effort but we found Canoe River Campground not too far off the interstate along our route that allows us to pay to dump. Their dump station was way back in the campground and the roads were in rough shape, but we made it in and out without incident.

We pulled into the Wareham Lodge parking lot and went in to talk with the members about our setting up in the field for 4 nights. I’m not sure they get many traveling Elk but we’re quite friendly and accommodating. Since we have never been to this part of the state, we have yet to find geocaches in the area. But having arrived early enough in the afternoon to be able to head out and check out a few local sights and find caches in two Massachusetts counties. One of our stops brought us to Ned’s Point Lighthouse on Mattapoisett Harbor. It was a beautiful afternoon and quite a pretty location.

Ned's Point Lighthouse

View at Ned's Point

Another stop was at a highly favorited geocache in somebody’s front yard. We aren’t always keen to wander around somebody’s yard when looking for a cache, but given how many others have logged this one, we felt the property owners are likely used to having visitors. Underneath one of the large trees in the front yard were dozens of colorful lawn ornaments and our cache was hidden amongst them - very cute spot. The owner was out on his riding lawnmower but didn’t even give a a glance.

Decorated Cow

One of our main goals for this stop was to take the ferry to either Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. When we had asked lodge members in Hudson, it sounded like both would be fun but if we only picked one, they felt that Martha’s Vineyard would be the better option. We had done a fair amount of prep work to understand how the ferry system worked as well as the bus system on the island. The ferry leaves the mainland out of Woods Hole but there is no parking at the ferry terminal or nearby so they have a remote parking lot in the town of Falmouth. It’s about a 25 minute drive from the Elks Lodge to the parking lot and then a 15 minute bus ride to the terminal. The first ferry departs at 6AM with subsequent departures every hour or so. We target the 8:15 ferry which should get us to Martha’s Vineyard by about 9AM.

We arrive at the parking lot a little after 7 and find it to be a very large lot - at least 500 parking spots and surprisingly, it was two thirds full. We park and figure out where the bus stop is and wait less than 10 minutes before the bus arrives.

The Bus to the Ferry Terminal

We had purchased ferry tickets online, but still need to go to the counter to get a physical ticket. The attendant tells us that, if we hurry, we should be able to catch a freighter leaving at 7:30 which would save us the 45 minute wait for our intended ride. We rush over in the direction she pointed and sure enough, the M/V Governor was still at the dock and loading a few more vehicles. From the looks of things, this boat is designed mainly handle trucks and other tradesmen’s vehicles heading to the island for work or deliveries but they accept foot traffic too. Most of the workers simply sit in their vehicles for the 45 minute ride.

Boarding the Governor

Ferry Fills Up

We check out the interior seating upstairs but it felt a bit claustrophobic and since it was such a pleasant morning, we spend the trip standing on the deck near the bow of the ship and take in the views.

Stairs to Passenger Seating

Large Research Vessel in Port

West Chop Lighthouse on  Martha's Vineyard

Along the way, we spot a ship heading from the island back to the main port. This was likely the ferry we would have been boarding in 30 minutes. The water was rather calm so it was a smooth ride. I knew Martha’s Vineyard was big, but as we approached the island, it became clear that this is much larger than I was expecting. My mind had envisioned something more like Mackinac Island up in Michigan but this place is around 25 times bigger.

Ferry Heading to Woods Hole

Entering Vineyard Haven Harbor

Large Sailboat

The ferry arrives at Vineyard Haven Harbor just after 8 AM. There are lots of boats at the marina in the harbor. The docking went smoothly but given how many times the ferries come in and out of here, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Lots of Sailboats

Another Ferry Loading Up at Vineyard Haven

We Had a Good View of the Ferry Docking

We head into the ferry terminal first to get tickets for the bus system on the island. There are quite a few towns here and several bus routes. We opt to get the day pass for the bus system so that we have flexibility in where we end up going. One of the places that sounded interesting was Aquinnah Cliffs Overlook - on the far western side of the island. But we realized in advance that if we try to get to there or some of the other tourist attractions, we would spend the bulk of our time here on a bus. It looked like we could easily stay for a week and not run out of activities. So we pick our destinations and save others for a possible return trip.

Ferry Terminal at  Vineyard Haven

From the bus schedule we, knew we had time to wander around Vineyard Haven. It’s a cute town with lots of shops although being fairly early in the morning, many of the places were still closed. It looks like we should have no trouble finding some place to eat when the need arises. We are able to get a geocache and start a few stages of an Adventure Lab that concludes in another part of the island we expect to get to later in the day.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Beautiful Stone Building

Beach Area

We head over to the bus stop back near the ferry terminal and catch the 9:10 bus to Edgartown. At this time of year, this bus route is on a 30 minute schedule so it is fairly convenient to work into our fluid plans. It seemed like many of the passengers were actually locals heading home or out to run errands. One guy had his fishing gear and was obviously on a mission to catch his lunch. It was a little over 20 minutes before we arrive at the bus stop in Edgartown next to the visitor center.

Old Whaling Church circa 1843

Chris had picked out a restaurant for lunch, but since our early ferry ride bumped our schedule up, we had some time to wander around this section of the island. It was a beautiful morning to walk around this town.

Harbor View Hotel

We covered over 2 miles of Edgartown predominately along the harbor. We worked our way over to the lighthouse sitting on the eastern end of town.

Path to Lighthouse

Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse

There is a lot to see in the downtown area and by now most of the shops were open for the day so we could wander around to see if there was anything we really needed to buy.

St Andrews

By 11 o’clock, our designated lunch stop (The Seafood Shanty) was open. It was a bit earlier than we would typically eat, but by coming in then, we were able to get a prime seat on the open deck and enjoy the views and some good fresh fish. Our spot was overlooking the small ferry system that shuttle vehicles back and forth between this island and the neighboring Chappaquiddick. It is only about 500 feet from one ferry dock to the other and the operation was rather fascinating to watch. There are two small ferry boats that operate in tandem. Each loads up to three vehicles and then they both move across the bay to drop off their load and repeat the process over and over. The whole process only takes a few minutes. After finishing lunch, we head past a long line of cars waiting to get over to Chappy.

Ferry to Chappaquiddick

Our next destination is Oak Bluffs. This is only a 15 minute bus ride north of Edgartown along the eastern side of the island. We get dropped off at the other main ferry terminal back to the mainland. We have several things we want to see and do in Oak Bluffs but we don’t have a set timeline. The last ferry back to the mainland from Vineyard Haven is at 9:30 PM but we likely won’t last that long. Another option is to simply catch the ferry from this location. Our return tickets work for any time from either location. The only problem is the last ferry from Oak Bluffs is at 6:15 so we will have to see how their rest of the day goes to know how we will handle our trip back.

Ferry Dock at Oak Harbor

Ferry at Dock

Our first destination is to the Flying Horses Carousel. Built in 1876, this is the nation’s oldest platform carousel. Originally it resided at Coney Island in New York but was moved here in 1884. We weren’t 100% sure if it was going to be open but we discovered visitors were allowed in but it was not being run at this time. It definitely is quite beautiful.

Next we head back over to Ocean Park. This 5 acre park is pretty much just a large grass field with a small pond and fountain with a gazebo in the center. It sits across the road from the ocean and is lined with a couple dozen beautiful homes that have a spectacular view.

Gazebo at Ocean Park

We wanted to visit a section of Oak Bluffs known as the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. This several block region is full of over 300 cottages. They were built in the mid 1800’s as part of a group of Methodists that gathered here for a religious camp. They are all painted with bright colors or pastels. The most prominent feature is the large amount of scrollwork adorning the roof, porches and windows. We spend quite a bit of time wandering up and down the streets marveling at the intricate details and realizing just how tedious maintaining and painting one of the homes must be.

Homes with Attached Porch Roofline

Dog Detail in Scrollwork

In the center of the cottages is a huge covered theatre with room for several hundred people. This part of town is quite the tourist draw. We saw a few people in the homes but it isn’t clear whether these are private residences or rented out like Airbnb’s?

Camp Meeting Association Arena

Cottage Museum

Summercamp Hotel

So far our wandering around had been the tiring kind of walking. With a  mile at Vineyard Haven, a couple miles at Edgartown and 3 miles so far here in Oak Bluffs, we decided we needed to get a more substantial walk where we can get away from the crowds of tourists but still see some interesting things. We picked out a few geocaches in the East Chop section of town and headed that way. It was midafternoon by now and the bars and restaurants along Oak Bluffs Harbor were quite busy. I was amazed at how many people are here in early October. I can’t even imagine how crowded it must get in the summer months.

Empty Ocean Beach

Along Oak Bluffs Harbor

It was a pleasant walk along East Chop Drive. There are some very nice homes here as well with great views of the ocean. Plus they have the advantage of being 40 feet above the water so they may not take as much of a beating during storms. We were able to walk on the road since it was barricaded off to most traffic. Obviously the residents need to be able to access their homes so there was some route in that we didn’t see. About the only vehicle we saw was a UPS truck making deliveries. The East Chop Lighthouse sits on a spot overlooking the ocean. It was a nice stop and there are definitely fewer tourist up here. We only came across a few residents walking their dogs.

East Chop Lighthouse

We debated about retracing our steps back into town since we knew what the walk was like, but it looked like we could continue to follow the road at the top end of Vineyard Haven and then cut back southeast into town. The walk worked well until we got to the very busy New York Avenue that we needed to walk along. I guess the city planners didn’t expect pedestrians to be walking along here so we had to deal with traffic without having sidewalks.

Docks Along Vineyard Haven Harbor

We eventually made it back to the heart of Oak Bluffs having walked more that 6 miles during this stop. Since we were now up around 10 miles total, we decided it was time to relax a bit and behave like many of the other tourists here. It was a little after 4 PM and we had an hour or so before we would need to head over to the ferry terminal for the last ferry from here. There is no lack of food and drink options. We pick Offshore Ale Company and get a seat out on the patio which allowed us to people watch while enjoying some good beers. We even had time to order some food once we saw other people getting selections that looked tasty. It felt good to sit down and relax.

It was only a couple blocks to walk to the ferry terminal. A line of vehicles was already in position boarding and a decent crowd of foot traffic was forming as well. The ferry arrived and hundreds of people disembarked. There were cars and even a large semi that just clears the ferry exit. Many of the people walking off had suitcases in tow. It was a Friday evening so I suspect they are renting a place to enjoy the weekend here in Martha’s Vineyard.

Our Ferry Has Just Docked

Heading Up Gangway

Since this was the “normal” ferry instead of the one we caught in the morning, there was a lot more space both inside and outside for us to relax for our 45 minute ride.

Deck Seating

Seating Inside

Departing Martha's Vineyard

We hadn’t really considered that by taking a ferry ride at this time of day, we would be getting a sunset cruise. But the conditions were perfect for getting a vibrant sunset as we head back to the mainland. We saw another ferry heading to the island - likely the 7 PM into Vineyard Haven. Once the sun set, it got pretty chilly on the outer deck. The bright lights of Woods Hole guided us in and we managed to catch the proper bus to get us to our parking lot. It was a full, tiring but very fun day on Martha’s Vineyard.

Sunset from Ferry

Another Ferry Heads to Martha's Vineyard

Arriving at Woods Hole