I write this from the kitchen of our favorite place on earth. Its the 13th year in a row we’ve come to this same spot. Our move to South Carolina has made what was a 4 hour car ride to Mystic, CT, Friday night partying with friends and a Saturday 90 minute cruise to Woods Hole and a ferry ride undoable (due to distance).
So later this year we look for waterfront spots North and South of Charleston. But will miss the Vineyard, and though its changing, there is no spot quite like it.
Here are some of the things I will miss.
Home Away From Home
Having a second home that I know as well as I do my home is great and relieves stress (what vakay is all about). I know where everything is in the house and “on island”.
Photo Opportunities
If its not Cliffs at Aquinnah, the coastline or wildlife, its the gingerbread houses of Oak Bluffs.
No Big Boxes or Otherworldly Things
Not a single traffic light on an island 28 miles long and with July and August populations reaching 150,000. Though a bit of a pain even in June.
There are no fast food places or businesses not based on the island. Its quaint and in-the-face of companies like Starbucks, etc. Again, the traditionalist statutes of MV keep it unique!
BYOBs
As of 2011, there were 9 dry towns in Massachusetts. Half of them were on Martha’s Vineyard. This used to be a plus as it gave it the dry towns (Tisbury, W. Tisbury, Chilmark, Aquinnah) a completely different experience from Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.
There were great restuarants that you could get a great meal for a reasonable price because I would bring wine with me. Its disappearing. Last week, we went to a stalwart dining spot of 20+ years in Tisbury, Le Grenier, where chef owner Jean Dupon had been making great meals for us since the 90s. We had a nice bottle with us that we opened hours earlier and we left after finding that Tisbury had passed an ordinance allowing beer and wine and not only did he have a liquor license but we couldn’t pay a corkage fee!
Later the next week we had reservations at a great new place called the State Road Restaurant (like it despite ot being a favorite of Barack and Michelle). Not to be stymied a second time, we stopped by at 8 am to make sure they didnt have a license even though they were in a different town. They didn’t but the law pad passed and they were a days away from getting a similar license!!
So perhaps these changes are my way of rationalizing my sadness over our final pilgrimage but one can see that the laws of entropy are finally affecting such places forgotten by time as “the Vineyard.”
