I live in a neighborhood of people who have serious problems with alcohol.
That wouldn’t be so bad if it were the Noel Coward variety, but my neighbors are neither witty nor urbane nor even kind when they drink. At this hour – 10:37 on a Sunday night – they are still making enough noise to raise the dead.
So, when I found out that there were going to be not one, but two parties this weekend, I decided to get the hell out of Dodge.
I picked Martha’s Vineyard as a destination – it’s reasonably close, getting there requires only a short drive, and once you’re there, you don’t need a car because in the summer, the Island has phenomenal bus service.
Through sheer dumb luck, I got a room at the last minute in Edgartown. Of the six towns on the island, this was the best spot for someone on their own, especially without private transportation. You can walk through beautiful neighborhoods of well-landscaped, gracious old homes, visit numerous shops and restaurants, and even take a ferry to the handsome beaches at Chappaquidick Island.
So, on Saturday, after running Peter to Logan for an early flight, I parked my truck at a lot about 15 minutes from the house, and took the shuttle bus to the boat at Woods Hole.
Once we arrived in Vineyard Haven, I grabbed a quick, cheap Cumberland Farms lunch and went on a tour of the island, as recommended by a friend, and afterwards hopped on a bus to Edgartown, where I spent the remainder of the first day.
The weather was almost perfect, a little warm, but pleasant enough for walking and a quick trip to Chappaquidick, where I unwittingly crashed a private beach club and enjoyed a cold (soft) drink in a civilized setting with numerous red, white and blue umbrella-d tables.
I’d purchased a day pass for Sunday, and spent almost the whole day exploring or revisiting those parts of the island reachable by public transportation.
By the time I was done, I’d lunched on heavenly seafood in Menemsha, photographed the cliffs at Aquinnah, visited an art gallery in West Tisbury, saw the West Chop light, toured the campgrounds and gingerbread cottages at Oak Bluffs, and finished up at a fine seafood restaurant in Vineyard Haven that had been recommended by one of the bus drivers, an artist and writer who’s trying to get his book about his experiences last summer on the Vineyard published.
All in all, a most pleasant, adult getaway for short money and minimal inconvenience.