Escape to Oak Bluffs

Martha's Vineyard is as different from Cape Cod as the 21st century differs from the 19th. Above is an artist and a fisherman in quaint Menemsha bracket by a biker in front of the Victorian cottages facing Oak Bluffs Harbor next to the Wesley Hotel.

Visit another century six miles south of Cape CodBy Walter and Patricia Brooks

Vineyard - even the name congers up an image far removed from our beloved Cape Cod, and what is more "Vineyard" than The Wesley Hotel in Oak Buffs on Martha's Vineyard?

You can sit in a rocker on the Wesley's front deck and shoot great photos forever. Click on the boats
to see this photo full size. The schooner is the Alabama and the small, black ferry is a Patriot boat from Falmouth which runs year round.  

This is the scene from the Wesley's deck. For more photos like this, click here, or click the photo to see Patricia biking past a gingerbread cottage.

The Victorian splendor of this classic 19th century New England hotel looms protectively over the harbor where one can sit all day watching the passing parade in this wonderful, funky town.

We grabbed the first Hy-Line ferry from Hyannis for the almost two hour sea voyage. The Island Queen leaves from Falmouth Harbor for travelers coming from the west.

Arriving at the Oak Bluffs docks we lashed our rolling suitcases to our bikes and pedaled the 150 yards to the hotel. After registering we biked along Nantucket Sound to Edgartown's swank shops 9 miles away.

After lunch at The Wharf, I threw my bike on the front of the superb Vineyard Transportation Authority bus for a $2. trip back to the Wesley Hotel while Pat continued shopping.

That night we had the best Puttanesca we've had in ages at Jimmy Seas in Oak Bluffs. Jimmy uses the island's quota for garlic in each king-sized entrée which is served in a skillet.

The next night we couldn't get in Zapotec where we've had excellent meals in the past, but found another Mexican restaurant in the middle of Circuit Avenue with no wait and very good food and drink, but the name escapes me.

Be sure to bring your bikes when you visit The Vineyard. Failing that rent one immediately and pedal the great bike paths all over the island. Ride your bike through the delightful Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association directly behind the hotel past all the quaint gingerbread cottages from another era. Click the photo of the Wesley deck on right to see the cottages.

MVTA: teaching the world how to move vacationers around

On our last day we decided to really test the island's new bus system, the Martha's Vineyard Transit Authority by seeing if I could cover the entire island for $6 ($3 for seniors) in the four hours we had to wait for our ferry back to the cape.

We did it easily, and I wrote a full report on it here.

We visit here at least once each year, preferably after September 15 when the crowds are gone, but the restaurants are still open.

For more information check of island's Best Read Guide, or read the island's two excellent weekly newspapers, The Vineyard Gazette and the Martha's Vineyard Times.