After a very long winter we had one quick week of spring and are now in full summer mode. In fact, the leaves and flowers come out only last week and now we are in the upper 80s! At least I got to spend last weekend on Martha's Vineyard, where it is quite a bit cooler and the trees and pollen are little delayed. Right from work Friday afternoon we drove down to Woods Hole (yes, where the oceanographic institute is located!) and took the car on the ferry over to the island. It was my first time on the island an I got to go with a group of friends, including Clarisse, Addy, and Emily. I borrowed a sporty road bike and joined team Wild Type to bike 32 miles around the Vineyard.
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| The Wild Types! |
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| Bike MS registration |
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| Getting past the starting line was the hardest part of the ride. I hadn't been on a bike since leaving Australia 7 years ago and I had never ridden a road bike. The handlebars and the position of the brakes were very hard to get used to and I had a couple near-collisions at low-velocity due to not knowing how to brake! The good news was that since I had a super light and speedy bike, I finished in good time and didn't feel achy at all the next day :P |
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| I was glad to borrow a coat since it was cold and windy! |
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| Our first pit stop was at South Beach |
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| The third stop was at Telegraph Hill for a quick photo op |
After the ride, The Wild Types reconvened for a BBQ at the finish line. This was followed by much-deserved washing up back at our rental apartment and a walk around Oak Bluffs, one of the 6 towns in Martha's Vineyard.
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| Our group of 10 had two apartment units which were the top two floors of the Historic Arcade, located right on Oak Bluff's main street. Yes, we were right above Sharky's Cantina, where Clarisse and I had dinner the night before. |
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| The town was still sleepy since tourist season had not quite started yet. Many stores and restaurants were still closed. |
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| Lobster boat |
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| Oak Bluffs Harbor |
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| Oak Bluffs is famous for their campground cottages. The pitched tents at some point were replaced with hundreds of tiny, colorful, permanent gingerbread cottages. |
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| These are real cottages! |
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| The cottages were decorated with bright colors and intricate woodwork |
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| Mini, winding streets not meant for vehicles |
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| This tiny cottage-mansion was not only an oxymoron but had the most beautiful woodwork! |
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| Does this make you think of a certain Disney movie with dwarfs? |
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| Back at our apartment... |
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| The view from our Historic Arcade |
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| Circuit Ave |
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| I guess the thing to do in Oak Bluffs is to wait in line for an hour, late at night, for a Back Door Donut. They don't open until 9pm and are hot and fresh, just like Krispy Kreme. I bet if Krispy Kreme (or even Dunkin) were allowed on the island the locals and tourists wouldn't have to torture themselves for some late-night sweets! |
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| This local guy waiting in line in front of us must have been bored because he started picking on me for wearing a borrowed sweater that sported The Eagles and not "The Pats". I got chatting with him and asked about the donuts and what he recommended getting. After a while he asked what I do for a living. I said I was a dietitian and the guy started busting out laughing over the irony that I'd wait in line for donuts. Upon hearing me, a lady standing ahead of us turned around and said "Really? I'm a dietitian, too!" I thought it was a joke, but no, she was serious. We caught each other in the act of midnight donutting! |
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| Only three people working, including the cashier. No wonder it was so slow! |
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| Hot and fresh |
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| After the donut binge I felt the strong urge to go for a nice run and get a closer look at some of the local sights |
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| A return to East Chop Lighthouse |
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| A more modest, cute street |
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| Trinity Park, right behind our apartment, and surrounded by gingerbread cottages |
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| Upon checking out, the majority of our group went for brunch at the Black Dog Tavern. It is a large complex with its own sailboats, shop, etc. |
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| Despite the high-profile name and location, the food was actually really great! |
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| My dream came true at Island Alpaca, a farm full of cuties! |
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| They have dinosaur feet |
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| This gal has my dream job. One day... |
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| Alpaca petting!!!! |
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| <3 nbsp=""> |
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| Some have natural colored spots but they all have crazy mop tops. |
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| The one lone llama |
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| A little boy with great hair |
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| I could admire the view all day! |
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| Erin, Dave, Clarisse, and I continued on to the southwest corner of the island where the red cliffs and Gay Head Lighthouse reside. We were planning to stay a while but the strong wind convinced us to carry on. |
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| Killing time in Tisbury as we waited for the ferry |
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| There were two special travelers on board. The first was Norman, the Himalayan cat-in-a-bag. Apparently it is "easy" to train cats to travel in canvas bags. Norman didn't mind passers by, including our second special traveler... |
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| ...Maizy, the black lab at our feet. He was also so cute! He made for good company as we ended our weekend island adventure! |
