Trip to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard

     John had a scientific meeting in Cape Cod, Massachusetts this week and Johnny and his girlfriend were willing to house/pet sit, so I boarded the plane along with John and headed out east for Boston. We landed in a thunder storm and picked up our rental car to get in line for rush hour traffic out of Bean Town. 

     

It felt a little odd to see a big green sign for I-90 westbound. Boston is where I-90 begins. It ends 3,020 miles later in Seattle, Washington. We also drove through the Central Artery tunnel, also known as The Big Dig, the most expensive highway project in the United States, which ended up costing 14.6 billion dollars.

     It was a long drive out to Cape Cod, two and a half hours, so we were relieved when we pulled into our motor inn, The Sands of Time. The building out front looks retro, like it was built in the 1960s?—two stories with little balconies or patios for each unit and a flat roof.

     Our room with a four-poster bed and a view of the water is in the historic house in the back. It was built in 1879 in the classic Cape Cod style with shingled sides and it looms over the front building.

    John left for his meeting at 7:30 in the morning. Since I had no dogs or pets to wake up and feed, I slept in until an astounding 10:30 (which is really 7:30 in Washington)! I knew that I wanted to catch the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, but had no idea how to go about that. Would I take the car? What was there to do over there?

     I stopped at the front desk for advice. I’m glad I did! The two ladies manning the desk were happy to answer all my questions. First of all, don’t take the car. I’d spend all my time looking for parking. Instead, walk on to the ferry for $17 round trip. They sold me tickets right there! They cautioned me to make sure that I came back on the ferry that left from Oak Bluffs not Vineyard Haven because that ferry  didn’t return to Woods Hole.  

     One of the women gave me the ferry schedule and took the time to fold it to the exact part of the chart I would need. 

     Then she showed me a map of Martha’s Vineyard and pointed out areas of interest.

     I asked if there were places where I could rent a bike. There definitely were. She showed me a scenic bike trail that went along the beach. That's when she made another great suggestion. I could take a Martha's Vineyard transit bus that went all over the island. For $2.50 I could go to two towns. That way I could decide which areas I’d like to explore on foot (or bike).

     She pointed out that the next ferry left at noon. It was 11:15.  I asked her if there was anyplace nearby where I could quickly pick up a sandwich to take with me for lunch. She steered me away from the restaurant that I probably would’ve chosen because they are always busy and take a little longer to prepare an order.

   She suggested Woods Hole Market. It has a deli that will custom make sandwiches to-go. It was a five-minute walk into town, then cross the little drawbridge and it would be about four doors down on the right.

     Everything she told me was accurate. I carried my Bourne Farm sandwich (premium Black Forest Ham, Vermont Cheddar, Sliced Apple, and honey mustard on a ciabatta roll), a bag of Cape Cod potato chips and a bottle of water on board the ferry and enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the half hour ride across the Nantucket Sound.

   When we landed at Oak Bluffs, I looked for the bus to Edgartown. Two other ladies asked me if I knew where to catch the bus and when I answered that I’d never been there before, one of them shouted across three lanes of traffic to a bus driver who pointed and yelled back at us to go to the flag pole.  It was nearby. (I loved hearing that famous Boston accent!)

    The bus hugged the coastline and I got to see where the bike trail was along the beach. We crossed the famous bridge where kids jumped off into the water in the movie “Jaws.” They are still jumping off now.

   It was a beautiful day, but it was also 85 degrees with 88% humidity, so I decided to skip the bike ride. Instead, I walked all over Edgartown’s cobblestoned sidewalks and took in the sights while popping into shops to look at t-shirts and souvenirs, and also to get out of the heat.

     

I had to stop at a jewelry store named Stark. They laughed and said, "No" when I asked if I could get a discount for being named Stark, but the unique charm bracelet I bought there will be a special memento.

   After that I sat under a tree in the quaint historic town and cooled off with a scoop of peppermint ice cream from Mad Martha’s ice cream parlor. 

    There were a lot of tourists sharing the sidewalks with me, but it was relaxed and everyone was enjoying themselves. 

    I wanted to catch the 5:20 ferry back to Woods Hole, and didn’t want to push it timewise. So I took the bus back to Oak Bluffs early enough that I’d have an hour and a half to explore that town. 

     Right near the ferry, I spotted a building with a historic marker saying it houses the oldest carousel in America. Curious, I went inside to check it out. I’ve seen more elaborate carousels, but this one had something I’ve only heard about.

   A very long time ago, I had a boyfriend who repeatedly complained that I “always had to grab for the brass ring.” At the time, I had no idea what that meant. He explained that it meant I was always trying to strive for the highest prize or live life to the fullest.  Then he got exasperated and mad at me for questioning why that was a bad thing.

     Here I was, decades later, watching the Flying Horses carousel spin. Not only was it historic, it had brass rings that riders could try to grab as they rode the horses around! If you got one, you could ride again for free.

   And that is why, even though I qualify for a senior discount in a lot of places, and even though I am broader in the saddle these days, I hoisted myself up onto one of those wooden horses and heck yeah, grabbed a lot of brass rings! It was great! I had as much fun as the kids did, and although I wasn’t quite as vocal about it, I was grinning the whole time.

     

I was still glowing from hooking those brass rings on the ferry ride back “home” to Woods Hole. 

     

John’s meeting also included a dinner for his group, so I started walking to Woods Hole Market for my dinner. When I got to the little drawbridge, the gates were down and the bridge was going up.

I watched and listened to the man in charge chase some tourists off the bridge, chew out a teenager for trying to open the gate early, and tell a driver who had crossed the stop line that he’d be sending him a ticket in the mail. He was irritated! I couldn’t blame him. What's with people? I made double sure that I obeyed the rules.

   When I had picked up my lunch for the ferry at Woods Hole Market earlier, I spotted Lobster Rolls on their menu. That’s what I had in mind for my dinner. I filled out the order form for the Lobster Roll and put it face down in the basket on the deli counter.

   When the cook called my name, I took my sandwich out back to a deck built over the water. Tied up boats and ducks bobbed in the marina while I savored that "wicked good lobsta roll" and the day that I’d spent on Martha’s Vineyard.

Laura Keolanui Stark will always be trying to grab the brass ring. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.