MARTHA'S VINEYARD

Our last day on Cape Cod was spent on Martha's Vineyard. The Vineyard is located south of Cape Cod and is only accessible by water or air.  We ferried over and decided to spend the day. Mr. W and I had visited the Vineyard twice before.  Our friends wanted to do a van tour, so Mr. W booked the tour.  It was suppose to be in a high top 15 person van.  He verified it with the lady who owned the company.  However, when we arrived, the tour guide told us that their van was broken and we were squeezed into a 10 person van with 12 people. Not good.

The Vineyard is mainly a summer colony for the rich and famous. The cost of living is about 60% higher than the rest of the country and the people make about 30% less. Needless to say, more and more of the "working" people on the island are moving off the island. Our tour guide said that one of the celebrities who owns a home there had gone to order some groceries and when the grocer found out the address of where to deliver, told her that she had misquoted the price.  The grocer raised the price 50% higher. There were a lot of name dropping and a big run down of who's who on Martha's Vineyard which really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Martha's Vineyard was known as one of the earliest deaf colonies in the US.  It had its own sign language, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, and remained as a deaf colony for almost 200 years. Actually, most of the deaf on the Vineyard were deaf by hereditary.  As tourism increased and more people moved to the island, deafness started diminishing with the intermarrying. The last deaf person, who was deaf by hereditary, died in 1952.

The island received international notoriety after the "Chappaquiddick incident" of July 18, 1969, in which Mary Jo Kopechne was killed in a car driven off the Dike Bridge by U.S. Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy. The bridge crossed Poucha Pond on Chappaquiddick Island (a smaller island formerly connected to the Vineyard and part of Edgartown). As a foot bridge, it was intended for people on foot and bicycles, as well as the occasional emergency vehicle when conditions warranted. Currently, 4×4 vehicles with passes are allowed to cross the reconstructed bridge.

John Belushi is buried there. In 1999, a small private airplane crashed right off the coast of Martha's Vineyard killing John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and her sister. Barak Obama just bought a home there. Ted Danson lives there and drives an old jeep around the island. David Letterman, Meg Ryan, Mike Wallace, and Diane Sawyer are just a few celebrities that own summer homes on the Vineyard.

After we returned to our pick up point, we talked with the tour company owner and she agreed to refund some of our money.  She did the right thing. 

We had lunch at a great restaurant and did some shopping.  Some of us wanted ice cream after lunch and then it was time to take the ferry back.  Not sure if I will ever go back to Martha's Vineyard.  It was a great day with great weather.

While in Cape Cod, we stayed at Scusset Beach State Reservation, which is like a state park in Texas. It was beautiful. It has all asphalted sites and beautiful trees.  It was not on the beach but just a short walk to the beach.  It was on the bay and many people would take their chairs down to the bay and sit and watch the boats coming and going. It has 50 amp electricity and water, no sewer. The people that work there are really nice. I would definitely stay there again.