We made it to Martha's Vineyard today!
A short, late morning bike ride to the steamship authority brought us
from our campsite in Falmouth to the ferry awaiting departure. Arriving a few
minutes early, we stopped for ice cream, and we mixed and matched flavors to our
personal preferences.
We loaded our bikes into the lower cargo area of the massive ferry,
and headed to the upper decks, as we started across the Vineyard Sound.
Arriving in Martha's Vineyard, the port was packed with people, and
fleets of anchored sailboats welcomed our arrival. We stopped at a grocery store
around the corner to purchase our food for the next day. We had to resupply
nearly all of our rations, so our bikes were filled as we rode another short
distance into camp, at the Martha's Vineyard Family Campground.
When we reached the grounds, we came upon a beautiful sight - our
cabin for the next few nights! ...a nice break from setting up our tents. A few
of us wandered the grounds and then we unpacked our gear. In our cabin, we even
have a mini fridge and a grill, so we stored our perishables, and decided to
treat ourselves in true Vineyard style - by exploring Vineyard Haven and having
a nice dinner out at the Blue Canoe Waterfront Grill. We had cheeseburgers,
salmon and clam chowder above a small harbor, and we watched the famous Black
Dog Cafe sailboat hoist its sails and head out to sea.
After a rather ritzy dinner, we explored some of the town and checked
out some small gift and boutique shops.
We wandered the main street until about 8:00 p.m., when we were to
meet up for a ghost walk around town. Our guide, affiliated with the town's
newspaper, carried a lantern and led us around former ship Captains' homes, and
down to the water, and up to an old graveyard. We learned some local history,
while hearing some scary stories, and some of us even caught energy orbs in
photos we took of the graveyard. Though some of us are believers, and others
skeptics, the tour was a spooky way to get a taste of the area's rich seafaring
history.
-- Trip leaders Annise and Cory
July 28- We started our day by sleeping in juuust a bit longer than usual to avoid the torrential downpour that graced our campsite this morning. Once it stopped, we crawled out of our tents and made the best breakfast of the trip- bacon and eggs on English muffins. We set out shortly after, armed with cold water bottles that had been gifted to us by an old PE teacher, to crush some miles before lunch at a bike shop in Mankato. Branton led the way and we arrived in great time. Lydia headed toward the bike shop, where she was greeted with a caramel roll and free bike maintenance, while the crew grabbed lunch makings. We lounged at the bike shop for lunch; Katie took home some goofy socks and Branton revamped his tire, and both proclaimed it the best bike shop we had visited thus far. The head mechanic gave us a great bike map that we used to get out of town, so we set out biking along nice country roads. As the golden light of the day began to appear, we stopped in at a tiny gas station just about 10 miles out of camp to grab water. We met an awesome older gentleman who tipped us off onto the newly paved, not yet vehicle accessible, old highway that would take us into town. He also suggested we check out the town's fairgrounds for a great camp spot (with warm showers!) We headed off into the sunset and spent the last few miles of our day riding blissfully alone along the aforementioned highway, listening to John's music and watching the sky churn through hundreds of shades of purple. We headed straight to the grocery store to grab dinner and treated ourselves to birthday cake ice cream and fudge sauce. The fairgrounds were amazing, as promised, and we went to bed squeaky clean.
