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Archives for April 2013

We love spring on the Vineyard. Every day boasts a restaurant or attraction re-opening for the season.  Unusual and “this time of year” only events, like Woodcocks and Whippoorwills: A Guided Birding Tour (April 25) and the Annual Alpaca Shearing (April 27) take place. Each day, more and more flowers bloom and more folks are out and about strolling the streets and shops.

Martha's Vineyard hotel outdoor deck
Balmy spring weather makes our Edgartown hotel’s outdoor decks more popular day by day.

It truly is the ideal weather for many outdoor activities including bicycling, nature hikes, kayaking, fishing and bird watching. In addition, it’s the perfect seasons to experience the Vineyard’s historical attractions, events, art galleries, shops and boutiques.

Here are some spring events happening over the next few weeks:

April 27: The MV Museum invites you to a special program with beer historian and master brewer of Colonial and Victorian-era beers, Christopher Bowen. Learn about the brewing process and adaptations to changing tastes. Sample of classic beer recipes explore what styles of beer may have been popular on the Island in earlier times. 3:00 pm.

May 4: 2103 Ride the Vineyard to benefit the MS Society. Choose from 15-, 30-, and 60-mile routes and enjoy the flavor of the island. All bicycle routes begin and end at Martha’s Vineyard High School. After the ride, riders are welcomed back with a cookout.

May 9-12: Martha’s Vineyard Wine Festival debuts. The 4-day event celebrates wine and food in homes and businesses throughout the Island.  Wine tastings, restaurant events and The Local Wild Food Challenge are just a few of the anticipated happenings. Proceeds to benefit Island charities.

 

Where to Get the Best Pizza on Martha’s Vineyard Near Edgartown
Explore Memorable Things to Do & See in West Tisbury
Spend a Day at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest
See the Next Big Thing at a Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival
A Guide on How to Get to Martha’s Vineyard
A Look at the History of Our Edgartown Hotel
Celebrate the Season | A Guide to Christmas in Edgartown
Where to Get the Best Lunch in Edgartown

By Rick Conti

Back in the day, before everyone in the country had their own gas-guzzling vehicle, transportation was a community affair. Buses and trains provided much of our transport service. When we travel as individuals, we miss out on connecting with others and seeing our world. Plus, we waste a lot of fuel. Mind you, I’m not suggesting we deep six all our private vehicles. This is America, after all. I am suggesting, however, that we occasionally consider alternatives.

 

Train to Boston
Taking a train to Boston is one leg of a “mass transit” journey to Martha’s Vineyard.

Here’s my personal experience doing so. My last trip to the island was mostly car-free. As a result, my travel was mostly care-free. It was also fun and productive. It started with a short drive – a couple of miles – to be dropped off at the nearest train station: commuter rail to North Station in Boston. Relaxing. Nota bene: This is not a trip to be taken without reading material. Fortunately, a book has been sitting in my to-be-read pile for a couple of months. It provided all the entertainment I needed for all my travels as well as my stay on the island. In the first three pages, my eyes welled up once and I laughed out loud once.

 

When I drive, I usually just scream in anguish or terror. This mode of travel also provides optimal people-watching opportunities. As a writer, nothing feeds my imagination more than observing people and settings, inside and outside the train. Several thoughts were jotted into my writer’s notebook during this leg of my journey.

 

The connection from North Station to South Station has its challenges but also its opportunities. Out of necessity, I hopped on the Green Line then transferred to the Red Line. On a better day weather-wise, the walk from one station to the other is a mere one and a quarter miles along the new Rose Kennedy Greenway – public art, fountains, park benches, trees, even food vans on the right days. (You paid for the Big Dig; you might as well enjoy it.) I’m still waiting for that long-discussed connection between the two stations. It’s not likely to happen in my lifetime, but I can dream.

 

South Station is a fascinating place. You can go pretty much anywhere from there and you can meet pretty much any kind of person. Most important for my purposes, it’s where the Peter Pan bus departs, bound for Woods Hole. Look: You either like bus travel or you hate it. There must be some latent royalty in me, because I like being driven around. On this day, the weather was horrendous, so I let the driver worry about it while I continued with my book. The seats were plush enough that I drifted off once or twice. (Not recommended if you are the driver.) The best thing about the bus is that it drops me off steps from the ferry terminal.

 

I love the ferry. (You can read my previous Ode to the Ferry here.) It, along with the other boat services, is the knothole through which all MV visitors must squeeze through. No bridge. No tunnel. No causeway. We all ride over on the boat. It’s the great leveler. May it live forever. The final piece of the travel puzzle is either a taxi or the terrific MV Transit system to your final destination. If you’re fortunate enough to own a unit at the Edgartown Residence Club, kind sponsors of this blog, you get picked up by a smiling member of their wonderful staff. Now, that’s the way to start a vacation!

 

Next stop, home away from home. Bottom line: My experiment was a pleasant success and I will do it again whenever I have the chance. Was it the easiest way to travel? Not necessarily, but since when is easiest best? Besides, any route that takes me to the Vineyard is a good one.

 

Your mileage may vary.

Where to Get the Best Pizza on Martha’s Vineyard Near Edgartown
Explore Memorable Things to Do & See in West Tisbury
Spend a Day at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest
See the Next Big Thing at a Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival
A Guide on How to Get to Martha’s Vineyard
A Look at the History of Our Edgartown Hotel
Celebrate the Season | A Guide to Christmas in Edgartown
Where to Get the Best Lunch in Edgartown

THE BOSTON HERALD

April 4, 2013

 

With February school vacation barely in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to start looking toward entertaining kids during April vacation, which is a little more than a week away.

 

The solution is a road trip: Head for the Cape and Islands. Sure, the busy season is still months away, but now’s the time to take advantage of lighter crowds (read: fewer Yankee fans) and April vacation specials.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

Where to Get the Best Pizza on Martha’s Vineyard Near Edgartown
Explore Memorable Things to Do & See in West Tisbury
Spend a Day at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest
See the Next Big Thing at a Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival
A Guide on How to Get to Martha’s Vineyard
A Look at the History of Our Edgartown Hotel
Celebrate the Season | A Guide to Christmas in Edgartown
Where to Get the Best Lunch in Edgartown

Spring is finally in the air here on Martha’s Vineyard. The Flying Horses Carousel has re-opened (yay!), robins have returned and seemingly the Lion of March is gone and the Lamb has arrived!

 

Edgartown hotel new mattresses
Our Edgartown hotel has all new mattresses for our 2013 spring re-opening!

And, speaking of arrival, we look forward to yours as we re-open the full hotel in just little over a week on April 12, 2013. Bring your hiking shoes and watch the island’s spring gardens take shape. We are eager to welcome you back for the official season with brand new mattresses!

 

Restful nights at Vineyard Square just got more restful. We have ALL NEW beds for 2013. Five of us test-drove (test-napped?) a bunch of brands and settled on the heavenly Serta Presidential Pillow Tops.

 

Engineered with input from the National Sleep Foundation, we found these mattresses to be universally appealing to our backs (ranging in age from 22 to 65). Come enjoy a lovely night’s sleep on the loveliest of islands!

 

Explore our rooms & suites to find the perfect place to rest your head!

Where to Get the Best Pizza on Martha’s Vineyard Near Edgartown
Explore Memorable Things to Do & See in West Tisbury
Spend a Day at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest
See the Next Big Thing at a Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival
A Guide on How to Get to Martha’s Vineyard
A Look at the History of Our Edgartown Hotel
Celebrate the Season | A Guide to Christmas in Edgartown
Where to Get the Best Lunch in Edgartown