When I was in Ireland, I met multiple people in their 50s and 60s who not only had never left the island, but had never even visited the most popular tourist attractions like Giant’s Causeway or the Cliffs of Moher, which are places that typically draw people to Ireland in the first place!  The reality of this was extremely appalling to me at first, especially when you consider that Ireland is a relatively small chunk of land (to give you some perspective, it’s similar to the size of Indiana in the US) and that driving almost anywhere you’d want to go would probably only take you a mere few hours, give or take.

Granted, Ireland is a beautiful country, so you definitely don’t have to travel far to gaze in awe at rolling green hills dotted with sheep, or to experience some other form of paradise.  But to not visit at least one of the main attractions that would probably take you less than four hours to drive to… Blows my mind!  Hell, even I drove about 4 hours to Vermont for a day hike and then had to drive 4 more hours back after I was done!

… But I guess not everyone is down for something like that?

While the concept stunned me at first, I got to thinking, and realized that the vast majority of us probably do the same.exact.thing here in the US.  We just don’t often think about it because our country is so much larger, but when most of us get an opportunity to break away from the every day grind, we tend to seek farther away places, like the Caribbean, or Florida/California for those of us here in New England.  Some of us may even just exclusively visit foreign countries!  Now, obviously these aren’t the only vacation destinations that are sought by folks here in the US, but my point is, that a good portion of us probably haven’t even thought about exploring our own backyards, so to speak, never mind having actually explored them… The hidden gems that are within only a mere few hours from us.

 

Martha’s Vineyard (MV) is one of those hidden gems.  Yes, it is an island, but it is technically a part of Massachusetts, and it’s not even that hard to get to!  Yet, I can pretty much guarantee that most people who live in Massachusetts haven’t been there, considering most folks I’ve spoken to, who live right on the east coast in Massachusetts, have never stepped foot on the floating hunk a’ land.

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On Labor Day weekend of this year, my family (minus my sister) got in the car and hopped on a ferry (with our car) to MV for the first time in apparently nine years.  We took the ferry that departs from Woods Hole, MA since the tickets are much cheaper and it’s the only one that allows you bring your car with you.  With that being said, there are several other ferries across multiple states, including New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey that can take you to MV if you don’t care to bring your car.  To see the full list of “Vineyard Ferries”, click this link: https://www.vineyardferries.com/.  **Do take note, that ferry season for almost all locations is already over, with most of them ending in early October.  However, the Woods Hole, MA, Steamship Authority Ferry operates year round (view the year-round schedule here: https://www.vineyardferries.com/2018-steamship-authority-schedule ), and you can bring your car with you up until October 31^st!… So just make sure that your car doesn’t get stuck there! 😛

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On the days leading up to our departure, it looked like the weather was going to be pretty lousy for us, but we ended up lucking out!  It was cloudy at times, but still warm, so I actually enjoyed myself more probably, because of that.  Beaming sunlight is not always my friend, especially when I’m spending the majority of my time outside.

While our entire stay in MV was, in general, “nice”, my parents and I agreed that our last full day/night spent there was the best.  And it really was a wonderful day in the life!

We began that morning indulging in a delicious breakfast of omelets, fresh fruit, hash browns and toast, served to us at the Edgartown Diner in Edgartown.  We had discovered this charming nook restaurant with a retro-style motif a couple days earlier and loved it!  The classic diner feel, combined with darling service and gratifying meals quickly made it a favorable breakfasting/lunching spot on the island (we actually ordered a take-out lunch from there the next day so that we would have something to eat on the ferry ride home).

 

After breakfast, we parted ways for a bit, my mom exploring some antique shops we had driven by in the days prior, and my father (Papa) and I taking a stroll with books in our hands to Dock street in Edgartown, where there is an elevated outdoor seating area located right above the Chappy Ferry dock on the ocean.  I’ll admit, I only read a couple pages or so because there was just so much going on in the ocean below us!  Between the sailboat with an American flag for a sail, the motorboats, the guy with a pup sticking out of his backpack, and the Chappy Ferry carting people and various vehicles to and from the smaller island of Chappaquiddick every couple minutes, there was plenty going on right in front of us, so I just couldn’t help but constantly look up from the pages of my book.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day!  The skies were blue and the sun was shining.  It wasn’t too hot or too cold.  It was just so nice to be somewhere different and outside, especially near the ocean and not anywhere near work.

 

The video below is the 360-degree view that we had from that elevated seating area located above the Chappy Ferry dock.  If you’re using a laptop or something other than a phone, feel free to click the “full-screen” setting on the bottom right of the video so that you can see the entire video on your screen instead of it being so zoomed in.

 

Mom joined us maybe about an hour later, and that’s when we decided that we would head back to our room at Edgartown Commons, grab our bikes, helmets, and anything else we may need and take the Chappy Ferry to the little island of Chappaquiddick.  While there, we would ride around and explore.

Now this was my type of activity!!

 

I love biking, especially for exploring purposes, and especially for places I have never been.  The rushing of a warm breeze against your face while flying down a hill and admiring previously unseen landscapes and vegetation arrangements… It’s very liberating!  Biking gives you the flexibility to explore nooks and crannies of a place without the burden of dealing with the placement of a larger vehicle, but it’s also a brisker method to reach your destination as opposed to walking and is a bit safer (in my opinion) than cruising around on a moped or motorcycle.  With the increased amounts of sand in the streets of Chappaquiddick, I’m definitely glad that we saved our moped(ing) experience for Martha’s Vineyard only.

We rode for about an hour or so until we reached the Wasque (“way-squee”) reservation, or some may know it as the Wasque beach.  It’s a 200-acre nature preserve that was established as a reservation for the public in 1967.  There’s a dirt road leading up to it, so at some point, you will be riding or driving on sand for a bit.  When you reach the parking area, you will find a somewhat outdated map of Chappy enclosed in a large protective casing, as well as one of the cleanest porta potties you will ever use in your life!… Stocked with plenty of toilet paper might I add!  (It’s the little things 😛 ).  There is also a bike rack and a couple picnic tables available for people who choose to carry their lunches with them.  (I would recommend bringing a lunch with you if you think you might get hungry, because there is only one tiny convenience store on the island, literally called “The Only Store on Chappy”, so you don’t necessarily want to rely on their inventory when you feel like you could eat the whole world).

 

The short video below is of the view from the sand cliffs at Wasque Reservation.  Click the full-screen setting at the bottom right of the video to view it better!

 

As I mentioned before, the map you will find at the parking area is somewhat outdated due to intense storms and fluctuating sea levels, causative of an ever-changing coastline; so I suggest using the map as a guide and not as a sure-fire way of making your way around the island.  Chappaquiddick actually used to be connected to Martha’s Vineyard via Norton Point Beach (which is what is shown on the map), however, that is no longer the case due to the reasons stated above.  The owners and caretakers of this portion of the island, “Trustees of Reservations”, want folks to be cautious when swimming, as the strong currents and shifting sandbars can be dangerous to those looking to cool down in the oceans surrounding Wasque beach, as well as the rest of Chappy.  And while we’re on the topic of safety, The Trustees also recommended not standing right on the edge of the sand cliffs, as some of them may be undercut, and therefore, not as supportive of your weight as you may think.

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We chilled for perhaps about an hour or so on the beach; mom had brought a quilt with her in her bike basket so we had somewhere to sit when we weren’t standing ankle deep in the ocean.  It was peaceful and relatively quiet despite a few families practically camping out with their trucks and playing beach games like volleyball.

 

On our way back to Martha’s Vineyard, we stopped at “The Only Store on Chappy” for some orange juice before heading over to the Chappy Ferry.  We were all a little hungry, but not hungry enough to eat a full meal and ruin our appetite for dinner, so we decided to stop at this juice bar called “Smooth Moves” on Winter Street in Edgartown, where we all got fruity smoothies.  Yum 😛

After showering off the sweat from the day, we got dressed up a little fancier than usual and sauntered on over to a restaurant we had been eyeing for the past couple days called “Chesca’s” on North Water Street in Edgartown.

We first came across Chesca’s restaurant while there was live music being played out on the courtyard in front.  The place was definitely hoppin’, with crowds of folks of all ages listening in the street, as well as the porch area that encompasses the entrances to Chesca’s and the gallery right next door.

On that night we first discovered Chesca’s, we had gone to the Atlantic Fish & Chop House for dinner, located on Main Street in Edgartown, which if you’re wondering, had just “okay” (expensive) food, but a beautiful view of the sun setting over the harbor from where we were sitting.  We didn’t get dessert there though because, for some reason, I was really in the mood for key lime pie and they just didn’t have that on the menu.  So when my Papa went up the porch stairs leading to the entrance of Chesca’s to check out the menu, he came back delighted to tell us that they had key lime pie as a dessert option, and said that the rest of the entrée dishes looked promising as well.  So it was decided that we would have to try this place out before leaving the island.

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So there we were, finally at Chesca’s on a Saturday night, and the place was packed!  So packed that after about an hour or so of waiting, we saw people getting apologetically turned away… Good thing we showed up when we did!!  You can’t really make reservations to eat at this place unless you’re a party of six or more, so if you’re visiting in the summertime, definitely keep that in mind if you plan on eating here!  If your party does qualify for a reservation, just make sure all of you are there within 15 minutes of the reservation time, otherwise your table may be given up.

The three of us waited for, I believe, about two hours before we were seated… Yes, we wanted it that badly! Haha. 😛  My parents had been sipping wine while we were waiting, and so of course, when the manager told us our table was ready, they both (at the same time) rushed to grab one of the wine glasses that had been resting on a flat surface, which resulted in spillage and half of Papa’s beige shirt getting completely stained.  Needless to say, it didn’t start things off in the best way, however, with a few people’s help, it didn’t take long before we were all laughing about it.  The manager of the restaurant poured Papa another full $15 glass of wine on the house (even though his other glass that spilled still had a good amount left in it), and as it turned out, another woman sitting at the table behind us had also spilled wine all over her white outfit, so then she came over to my Papa and they hugged and took pictures and people all around in the restaurant were laughing and cheering for them.

Lawlz 😛

The night didn’t peak there though.  Our waitress was darling.  She was from England and quite possibly one of the best waitresses I have ever had.  She was very personable and told us all about the best and post popular dishes, and though she was busy, she was very on top of things and still made time to talk to us when mom inquired about her life and where she was from.

There must have been a mistake that happened in the kitchen or something, because our waitress eventually came out with two more $15 glasses of wine and apologized that we were waiting for what must have been longer than usual for our food.  If you’re keeping track, that’s a total of $45 that this restaurant willingly gave away, people!  I mean, we didn’t even mind that our food was taking a while because we were having a ball, but Chesca’s restaurant did what they could do to make sure our experience was a positive one before we even got to taste the food, and I must admit that they succeeded!

 

Now about the FOOOOOD!!  (I apologize in advance, because I did not take pictures 🙁 )

Honestly, everything was absolutely delicious and well worth the wait.

We started off with the steamed mussels appetizer, which my mom and I both agreed that the SAUCE was dip-all-your-bread-in-it-and-lick-the-bowl-clean good.  Our waitress actually brought more bread to us for this very purpose!  Very yummy.  The sauce wasn’t thick, so it got absorbed in the bread very well.

For my entrée, I got the grilled Faroe Island salmon, which was one of the four most popular meals.  It had a Thai chili glaze, with mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables on the side.

O.M.G. – SO GOOD!

Definitely way more tasty than the salmon I had at the Atlantic a couple nights before, and the mashed potatoes and vegetables… Mmm mmm, good!  I basically devoured it and licked the plate clean.

My mom got the lobster ravioli and seared sea scallops, which came with a light sherry cream, toasted hazelnuts, pancetta, and an heirloom tomato salad.  I distinctively remember, because my mom thinks lobster is overrated, so she pretty much never eats it, but our waitress insisted that it would be worthy of her taste buds… And it sure was!  She loved it!

Papa got the braised beef short ribs, which were stewed in a red onion and bacon confit and included some parmesan polenta and broccolini.  This also hit the spot for my Papa, and I would have to agree, that the ribs were stewed with love.

Next up was dessert, and of course we HAD to get the key lime pie, since seeing that on the menu was what sparked the excitement about this place to begin with!  I thought we were all going to get one, but I guess we never actually told her to bring out three of them, so she only brought out one slice… And I must say, that was probably the only disappointment of the night for me, lol.  All three of us were just looking at that lonely, empty plate once we were finished, wondering why we didn’t get three of them.  We even said to each other that we could totally go for another one, but I think at the same time, we were also thinking that it was probably for the best that we didn’t.

I had gotten a little worried when I saw in the description that the key lime pie included some toasted fresh coconut, because I am not a fan of coconut.  In fact, I am one of those people who will be totally turned off by a cupcake when it has those coconut shavings sprinkled on top of the frosting.  Luckily for me though, the coconut pieces were easily avoidable, and not as generously flaked on as much as I had imagined they would be.  The raspberry sauce and graham cracker crust complimented the key lime filling very well… I really wish I could have had another slice!

But alas, that last bite of pie was basically when the night ended.  After leaving Chesca’s, we just ambled our way back to Edgartown Commons, with our bellies full and satisfied.  And that was where we slept for one final night before hopping on the ferry ride back home the next day.

It may have been short lived, but it really was an excellent day in the life.

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The first thought that I immediately want to share right now, is that I greatly apologize for how long it took to write this post.  I do believe it is my lengthiest post by far; so that, combined with how busy (and yet, unmotivated) I’ve been recently, has contributed to the rather large gap in time since “What Is The Point?”.  I promise, I have been writing.  Weekends, week nights – when I had time.  Much time was devoted to this post to make it both informative, but also a memory worth sharing.  So I thank you for waiting it out and I do hope you got something out of it!

Annnddddddd, oh!  My second thought is, in case you were wondering, that my mom was able to get the wine stain completely out of Papa’s shirt.  It was a combination of keeping it soaked (in dawn) and some baking soda with vinegar… Something like that.  If you’re looking for more details, drop me a comment below and I’ll get my mom to help you out! 😛

As always, thank you for reading, and props to you if you read all the way down to here!

– Brianna-Marie

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