No matter how much we love the Vineyard, there are times when it becomes so hectic that we need a break from the break we took here. Crowds, heat, and noise conspire to drive us into sensory overload thus unraveling our reasons for coming here in the first place. Edgartown, as much as I love it, is as prone to this phenomenon as any town on the Island. (Though Five Corners at unloading time still sets the standard for MV insanity.)
While genuine isolation can be found up-island, on Chappy, and a few other places even during high season, there are times when I don’t want to travel that far to escape the hustle, bustle and tussle. Fortunately, I know of the perfect outdoor oasis. I share it here at the risk of exposing my secret. (Let’s keep it to ourselves, shall we?)
Sequestered nicely between North Water Street, Summer Street, Winter Street and MainStreet, there is a block of quiet, calm and cool to be found right in the center of otherwise frantic Edgartown. Behind the shops on those streets, a grassy respite awaits the overheated, overindulged tourist.
It’s just a small park with the usual accoutrements: grass, trees, benches and brick walkways. Somehow, though, even on the steamiest of days, the shading oak trees keep this park cool and the surrounding buildings filter out the tumult of the streets.
This space has everything you’d need for a picnic… including ants. (Nothing is perfect.) My tastes, however, lean toward the decidedly more quiescent. An ice cream cone or bag of “penny” candy is the perfect repast for me while I lounge in the shade.
Birds sing in the trees, oblivious to the craziness just a few flaps of the wing away. A passing squirrel may shyly scamper by seeking his own shelter. There are no bikes to dodge or mopeds to lag behind. Just an occasional pedestrian passing through. There are no souvenirs, no food for sale – nothing to spend money on at all. In other words, it has everything I need for a fleeting vacation from my vacation.
I never linger too long in this park. Somehow, that would spoil the effect for me. I simply sit or lie on the lawn, cool down, recharge, then head out to do battle once more with the madding throng.
I require an extra long break if I’m coming from Five Corners, though.
One of the things I love about Martha’s Vineyard is the lack of chain stores and especially the dreaded “big box” shops. Even better, the island is populated with little box stores. My favorites as a class are the general stores. They are definitely throwbacks to a bygone era. Most Americans know them only from period TV shows and movies. People on the Vineyard are blessed to know them first hand. Here are my three favorites:
This post is the fourth and last in a series of posts that highlight some of the less expensive options for eating out on Martha’s Vineyard. We (meaning the Vineyard) have gotten a lot of national and even world wide press lately, thanks to the First Family’s visit last week. A lot of the press wrongly implies that this is a very “high end”, expensive place to vacation. I have to agree that it CAN be, but you can vacation here at any price point. If you missed the posts on eating out on a budget in 
Among the many attractions of Martha’s Vineyard are the bike paths that wind all over the eastern half of the island. I love the narrow meandering routes they take, whether through woods or along the seashore. Roads are OK for biking for some, but I admit to being a little wary ever since I got clipped by a Hoosier minivan many years ago. I was riding on the West Tisbury Road before the bike path was extended into Edgartown. It was especially unnerving because I had my daughter perched in a child seat on the back of my bike. Maybe you can understand my preference for the bike paths.
