Everything We Dreamed Of? Not so much...
Saturday I headed to Martha's Vineyard with my friend Jenn to walk around and do some sightseeing. I grew up in Massachusetts and Martha's Vineyard is about 3 hours away by car and ferry, but growing up we always vacationed in Cape Cod and never made the trip over to the Vineyard. In June, I was there for the first time photographing Genevieve's wedding, but the cab ride to and from the resort was the extent of my sightseeing. There just wasn't time to explore the island, and I was really sad to get back on the ferry to go home. So I asked Jenn if she wanted to go day-trippin over to MV, and she was all for it because she had never been either. We had been planning yesterday for about 2 months, and by planning I mean we had a destination. We wanted to go over and take the day as it came, make no plans, see what we could see, drink what we could drink, and take it easy for a few hours...
Oh, Martha's Vineyard, why do you do me like you do? Lately, I have tried to find the silver lining in everything that goes wrong, and so I'll say that the silver lining of Saturday's trip is that it was a gorgeous day, I was with one of my closest friends, and we spent the entire day in hysterics at our misfortunes. Our misfortunes (that made up the dark, ominous, black cloud in between that silver lining) mainly consisted of the facts that:
a. we missed two ferries b. we spent 90% of the day on the VTA bus c. we spent half of our paychecks on chowder that tasted like Farina and lobster that tasted like sand
Okay, so it wasn't that bad. So what if we drove all the way down to Woods Hole, only to be sent back to park at the Bourne Bridge? So what if we got lost and the only people we could flag down for directions were a blind woman and a woman who spoke 5 words of English? We still made it and had a blast... if only we hadn't met that woman at the Black Dog who insisted on certain things we had to see, then didn't warn us that taking a bus there would take up half our day. Or that guy who was hitting on women on the bus, basically implying that he was the next Tony Hawk. Or the couple who started making out so heavily that Jenn remarked "If kissing could get you pregnant, she would be having twins." I mean, there were literally so many awkward situations we stumbled upon that I kept putting on my sunglasses, like in Big Daddy. I was really hoping and praying that once they were on nobody could see me and how mortified I was.
Anyway, here are a couple shots I took on the ferry...
We walked around Oak Bluffs for a little while and stumbled on some amazing gingerbread houses...
Next stop... clam chowder. Okay, so maybe we weren't the smartest chicks to stop for clam chowder at an Italian place, but seriously.... it was like eating cream of wheat. But it was really pretty to photograph!
Walking around Oak Bluffs...
After we made the bad decision to walk away from a bar overlooking the harbor in Oak Bluffs, we got on our first bus ride of the day and headed to the Aquinnah cliffs. We were told they were a must see and worth the trip across the island, especially if I wanted somewhere pretty to photograph, so we climbed on the VTA and headed over. What we failed to recognize was that the trip would take an hour with all the stops and transfers, and that buses only go there every hour. So when we got to Aquinnah, we stepped out, saw the cliffs, remarked about their beauty, and then had 56 minutes to kill until we could leave on the next bus. At this point we realized there is something to be said for planning, especially when the bar there was closed and there was not a Corona in sight. We also realized that men are idiots (as if this was news) as we watched two different groups of them trying to feed a skunk that was waddling around. I, on the other hand, left a bruise on Jenn's arm trying to get away from it, and kept turning around to make sure it wasn't following us. I was positive this skunk had it in for me. I guess you could say I am NOT into wildlife photography.
When we got on the bus to leave Aquinnah, we sat across from an older couple who knew the island pretty well. They started directing us on what we should do with the few hours we had left. I told them that we were going to head to the Black Dog, because if I didn't have a beer there I was going to be upset. This is when we were informed that the Black Dog doesn't even serve alcohol. WHAT?!?! Whhhhhhhhhhy is it called a tavern then? And why is it such a big deal to people? I mean, the way people rave about it, I figured it was a brewery of some kind that made the most fabulous, magical beer ever. I pictured the fizzy lifting drinks from Willy Wonka. Why else would people drop $75 on a Black Dog hoodie? The couple told us we could bring our own liquor in from the package store, but they do not serve it. This immediately put a kink in our plans, and we started laughing about how ridiculous the day was turning out. That's when they chimed in with "Well at least you got to see the nude beach!" Um hi. I saw no naked people. They told us that was the attraction of the Aquinnah area- the nude beach at Gay Head. Now I have no idea if they were kidding or not, but I can tell you what was running through my head: FML, FML, FML :)
When we got to Edgartown, we walked around for a few minutes and settled on the Seafood Shanty for dinner. We wanted to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, and we wanted to stuff our faces with lobster. That was until we walked in and saw the market price. We ended up downgrading a little, which I am eternally grateful for, because my lobster roll was nothing to write home about. But the beer was good and the view was incredible, so there will be no complaining about the fact that I think my lobster had survived an oil spill only to end up on my plate.
These are taken around Edgartown. We didn't make it to the Black Dog to eat but we did make it to one of their many gift shops, where Jenn showed excellent restraint and purchased a shot glass instead of the sweatshirt she wanted. Dave should be so proud!
I told Jenn my favorite thing about being on the water is all the "tall pole thingies" that come off of boats. I literally love looking at the sky and seeing all of them dotting the horizon. She looked at me like I had ten heads. "You mean the masts?" Okay, whatever, so I didn't know what they were called. I still thoroughly enjoy them, and I think I am going to keep calling them "tall pole thingies" because it just sounds so much cooler.
And this is what made it all worthwhile friends... a cold beer overlooking the water with one of my closest friends. Totally worth the ferry ride over!
