Travel Tales

Our own island in the sun

  Mexico and Anguilla lie six miles off our shore

The Wesley House is a Victorian gem with the best "porch view" in New England, see aerial as bottom.

  An historic, Victorian Hotel, Caribbean Grilled Snapper and Viva Zapotec

By Walter & Pat Brooks

A '59 Morris  looked right at home in front of the Wesley House during last weekend's Boston Roadsters rally.

You'll be amazed at the quality, quantity and low prices at Zapotec opposite the Flying Horses on Kennebec Ave.

A bar is a bar is a bar, but the Zapotec's is a charmer.

The best mussels from Maine to Mazatlan.

You may not be able to finish the huge fish tacos, green rice and beans.

You won't recognize the former Pomodoro, now Deon's, Restaurant at the end of Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs.

Chef Deon Thomas has turned it into a crisp, cutting edge eatery with Caribbean tastes muted for Yankees.

This may best the best fish dish in the Bay State.

And all thie art isn't on Deon's walls - here's how his Key Lime Pie is presented.

Price meets pleasure this season in Oak Bluffs.

While nabobs and literati from around the world consider Martha's Vineyard nonpareil, many Cape Codders never venture the six miles across Nantucket Sound to visit this priceless gem of an island.

Martha's Vineyard is the 57th largest island in the United States and third largest on the eastern seaboard.

The rich and famous visit during its summer months including the likes of Bill and Hilary Clinton, and many refer to the island as "Hollywood East."

Cuttyhunk in the nearby Elizabeth Islands originally got named Martha's Vineyard by the discoverer of Cape Cod, Bartholomew Gosnold, who sailed to that island in 1602, but the name was soon transferred to the larger island across Vineyard Sound, and it is the eighth oldest surviving English place-name in the U.S.

A frugal Vineyard visit

A study by the Martha's Vineyard Commission found that the cost of living on the island is 60 percent higher than the national average and housing prices are 96 percent higher, yet staying there and dining well does not have to be a costly experience if you follow our suggestions.

Wesley House, 70 Lake Avenue, Oak Bluffs

If we had a billion to blow, we would still always stay at the Wesley House. It is quite simply The Vineyard personified, and the rooms go for as low as $140 in Spring and Fall rising to $230 in "the season" which is June 19-September 12.

And this is for a hotel which looms over Oak Bluffs' fascinating and busy harbor with Cape Cod across Nantucket Sound beyond. The Brooks' Rule of Travel # 8 is "all hotel rooms look the same when the lights are out", so we prefer saving a hundred or more each night and spending it on a good dinner or entertainment.

The only drawback is my reluctance to leave the Wesley's spacious porch with it's rocking chairs and free coffee 24/7. See the aerial photo below.

The incredible Vineyard Transportation Authority buses stop for you in front of the hotel, and the bike path to Edgartown starts behind the hotel and the old Methodist Campground.

The island is served by four boat lines; the Steamship Authority, the Island Queen and Patriots Boats from Famouth, and the HyLine Boats from Hyannis as well as Cape Air from Barnstable Airport and Boston.

Zapotec, an authentic bargain

I love spicy food, but almost always find myself disappointed after eating Mexican. That was not the case at the Zapotec last weekend.

The new owner, Cybele Sprague, has bounced around Hispanic kitchens in L.A. and Mexico long enough to figure out the right way to please palates without sacrificing authentic Mexican tastes.

My wife, for instance, dotes on mussels, and she's savored them across the globe from Haiti to Hanoi, and she insists the Cybelle's Zapotec Mussels steamed in garlic, cilantro and sweet chioptle cream served with big hunks of crusty French bread, were the best ever.

At $11.99 you may not have room for more food.

If you do, try the Fish Tacos served with green rice and beans for $13.99 or the Poblano Chili Rellenos stuffed with her signature corn and cheese filling served on a bed of roasted, red pepper sauce, $11.99.

This cafe serves lunch and dinner in a casual atmosphere. It has typical southwestern decor including walls colored in shades of orange, purple and red. Cactus plants, strings of chili peppers and pieces by southwestern artisans complete the room which seats 40. It's at 14 Kennebec Avenue, Oak Bluffs, (508) 693-6800.

Deon's, Caribbean elegance

It took a fire at his restaurant in West Tisbury combined with the worst pizzas this side of Galway to get Chef Deon Thomas his new restaurant at the upper end of Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs.

After nine years up island and many more in his restaurant in Anguilla, Deon has turned the former Pomodoro Pizzeria (where I had the worse pizza in my life last September) into an elegant bistro with his unique treatment of Caribbean dishes rearranged for New England tastes.

We're talking a whole Garlic Crusted Red Snapper, $28, and Goat Shoulder Curry, $25, plus Jerk Pork, $14, Conch Fritters, $14, and Conch Chowder, $10.

Deon's has only been open since Memorial Weekend, but not only is everything prepared superbly,  the wait staff is attentive and helpful as if they had been there a decade.

Deon's Restaurant is at 53 Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluffs, (508) 696-0001.

As Jacqueline Sexton reported in her Chilmark column in the Vineyard Times, "Islanders frequently vacation on other islands, and Anguilla, a British colony in the Caribbean, is the latest popular destination, according to Bill and Betty Haynes, who recently visited there. Deon Thomas, chef at The Cornerway in West Tisbury who has a restaurant, The Overlook, there, keeping in touch with his Caribbean cuisine. Menemsha summer visitor Jimmy Buffet was there last month giving a concert "for 1,000 people in enough space for about 100." A number of other families from around the Island were also spotted. If you're seeking the unspoiled quality of the Island, hurry to get there soon before the condos and other ephemera of resort life eclipse all vestiges of the simple life."

Deon was also extolled in One Paper  thus, "Perched on a cliff high above the bustling harbor of Sandy Ground, Chef Deon Thomas' popular and friendly eatery showcases flavorful dishes that combine local and continental cuisine with a sure hand and a distinct flair. This cheerful, casual joint, painted in orange and blue, is decorated in island art. Soups stand out: try the carrot and apple or pumpkin to start, or perhaps a refreshingly brash gazpacho topped with a basil-worcestershire granit.

"At dinner, main courses like roasted grouper curry with coconut-mango chutney or braised goat with fragrant rice and peas reflect local flavors, while international touches yield such dishes as oven-crisp duck with chambord sauce or roasted rack of lamb with rosemary and eggplant tomato ragout. Closed in summer, when Thomas cooks for lucky fans on Martha's Vineyard."

Final food note

The only other food suggestion we have is the Brazilian restaurant Tropical in Vineyard Haven where we had an egg and cheese sandwich on toasted French bread including coffee for $2.99.

That's frugal.