Hanging with the Kennedys

While in Provincetown we mused about how cool it would be to check out Martha's Vineyard. We searched online for accommodation and found pretty much everything to be booked out. So we called the only youth hostel on the island to find out they had a few bunks spare but only for one night. So we booked and then figured out how we could get there.

Martha's vineyard is at the bottom of the cape (just cut off the map). You can see two ferry lines extending through the water (just below the big 16), the one to the Vineyard is on the left side.

You have to catch a ferry to get to the Vineyard. You can take your car but only, as we found out, if you book 6 billion months in advance. Summertime is busy. So we parked the car in some far off car park, caught the shuttle to the ferry and 'ships ahoy'.
Arriving in Vineyard Haven, one of the three 'towns' on Martha's Vineyard.
When we arrived in Oaks Bluff (one of the townships on the Vineyard) there were crowds gathering for the annual shark festival. This is where boats head out in search of sharks and money is awarded to the boats that catch the biggest shark. We saw the tail of one. It was kind of grotesque all the crowds gathering to see a dead animal hung up on show. Oaks Bluff was pretty much like a Batemans Bay.
It rained the afternoon we arrived but after that the skies cleared up and we went exploring. A bus route connects most of the island. Our driver was a lovely Brazilian kid, I say kid because he must have been barely 18. Anyway, he was full of chatter and telling us some amazing stories about Brazil and where we should visit if we went there (including the history of the regions - he really loved talking). The only disconcerting part was that he also loved looking at you when he was talking to you. Not really what you want from a bus driver - it was kind of like the movies where the character driving the car/bus, doesn't actually watch the road. Except this was in real life. I keep trying to look straight ahead at the road to give him the hint that - maybe you should do the same?
Out to the headland to see the lighthouse which is called 'Gay Head Lighthouse'.
Then we explored a bit of Edgar Town by night and by morning, and then it was time to jump back on the ferry and head back to the mainland.

Once back at the car we were on the road headed for Newport and the luxurious Gatsby-esque mansions.