martha's vineyard 1

 The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I are just back from a week in Martha's Vineyard with a selection of FreeWheelers and spouses. I'm fairly sure these posts are going to run long, so I'm going to try to post them all at once so they read in the proper order, but I make no guarantees...

We arrived on Saturday June 12, and part of our number took a house on Samoset.

Pat VH hung the quilt on the porch; it was most helpful in finding the house for the first few days before I got my bearings!

This house was down the street. I remembered it from a previous trip, nine years ago. There's a Latin and a Greek motto on the house, but the owner apparently has a sense of humor: the Latin says, "Fancy Latin Saying". My Greek is pretty doggy, but I think the Greek motto is, "If you learn Greek, you learn this". (He's also got enough money to keep the house in excellent shape.)

Oak Bluffs was celebrating Gay Pride Month.

Those people were having FAR too much fun.

We all went out to dinner at a local place that night.

The next day, Sunday, rained early...

... and later, I led a ride to Menemsha, a less-resorty town.

Monday, Ira got bagels. Note: bagels in Martha's Vineyard are bagels for Protestants. It's not that they're bad... it's just that they're a different experience from bagels in the NY Metro area. 

Uhhh... there are a lot left over.

I've been trying to persuade TEW that bikes in the living room will make us feel like we're always on vacation. So far, she's not convinced, but I'll keep trying.

We took a ride to Edgartown, parts of which are far more upscale than our digs in Oak Bluffs*. Jaclyn P had heard that we were in town, and rode out to join us. Later, she and her husband joined us for dinner.

*Oak Bluffs had an inn where African-Americans could come and be safe and relaxed, starting at the end of the 19th Century. The beach around Oak Bluffs was derisively known as "Inkwell Beach", and many white visitors avoided it, preferring the southern and western areas of the island. There are still many African-American visitors at Oak Bluffs, and "Inkwell Beach" towels, sweatshirts, and the like are now sold and worn. I love it that the locals have taken this term of derision and made it their pride.

See the "earlier posts" below for the next post about the trip.

martha's vineyard 2

 Tuesday, June 14, we took a ride up to East Chop and West Chop to see lighthouses. The road was closed to traffic in the direction we were going, but the police and construction crews let us through on the bikes. 

An engaging passer-by took the one above. Some of the locals were exceptionally friendly. (Some, less so.)

Another lighthouse:

(I got a terrible picture of Lynne, above, and promised I'd post this one, instead.)

Other FreeWheelers were staying at a house on Inca Road, and we had dinner there that night.

(They were keeping bikes in the living room, too, and on the porch.)

I didn't do a ride on the next day, and didn't get pictures. TEW and I were doing dinner that night, and the pressure was on! Couples had agreed to be responsible for the dinners, and, while nobody was judgy, there was a certain amount of imagination, and we felt pressed to measure up. So the trip continues for me on Thursday, June 16.

See the "earlier posts" below for the next post about the trip.

martha's vineyard 3

 June 16: I wanted to take a ride across the island to Gay Head (now called by its Wampanoag name, Aquinnah, but it's still Gay Head to me because Melville called it that). The ride was gonna be 40+ miles, and hilly for a ride on Martha's Vineyard, so many of our number decided they would ride along for a bit, and turn back when they thought they'd had enough.

While riding through the forest, we came on this memorial to the now-extinct Heath Hen.

Just five of us made it all the way to Gay Head, including Judy F (who wasn't at all sure...)

On the way back, we stopped at the Orange Peel Bakery, with an outdoor oven, nifty baked stuff, and a proprietor who's part of the experience. When we called to see if she was open, she put on a pot of coffee for us. When she's not there, payment is on the honor system, and it works well enough that she's been open for years. 

TEW didn't come on the ride to Gay Head, so the next day she and I drove out. It was a misty day.

The misty day made the red clay, for which Gay Head was named, much more visible in this photo than the one I took the previous day.

After hearing me wax rhapsodic about the Orange Peel, TEW wanted to go... so we did.

It really was that good. And we lived talking to the baker about her experiences. She had a spiritual experience among the Maori in New Zealand, and spoke rivetingly about it.

In the afternoon...

we did ice cream at Ben & Bill's, on a gift that Mindi had left when she had to leave early.

Later, we went to what may be the last carousel operating on the East Coast:

And the next day we came home. 

It was a great trip, to which I had been looking forward immensely, and I was not disappointed. We had great weather and great company. The one thing I might change is that we had dinner planned, with the group, for every night; I might suggest fewer planned nights and more flexibility. I loved the location of the house we were in, and my thanks go to Pat VH and the planners for including us.