Martha's Vineyard

After a conference with our host, Eric, of Oak Bluffs Inn, we were off on a circuit of the island. The interior of the island was unexpected -- forests. And not a sign of the wealthy enclaves one reads about. Eric had shown us on a map where the Obamas had vacationed last year -- not a sign. In fact, not a sign of a golf course, even though the press had run pictures. At the western coast we saw charming coves and a fishing village;

and a charming lighthouse.


We went on to Edgartown for lunch and a short afternoon tour of the town. Edgartown was established as the port town. In addition to the obligatory lighthouse, it had many houses dating from the 1600s.



Eric had explained to us that the number of windows on the houses indicated the rank of the occupant -- no windows flanking the door meant a lowly seaman, on up to the ship's captain, with two windows on either side of the door. A promotion meant a new house with more windows. Most of the seamen's houses were off the shore front, further back in the village.

So this house would have been someone of middling rank -- two windows on one side of the door;




while this one -- or at least the original -- would have been of lesser rank, with only one.



Some had generous verandas with sun-soaked wicker chairs.





This fellow must have owned the whole fleet.

Then it was back to Oak Bluffs, and a bit of reading and resting before a pre-dinner walk. Again, directed by Eric, we walked across the street to find the Martha's Vineyard Methodist Camp Meeting Association grounds. Methodists had originally come to Martha's Vineyard to camp as they worshiped, but finally tired of the hard ground and wet tents. So they built very tiny cottages on Camp property. Today 30 acres of them are preserved in various degrees of almost hilarious detail, in a profusion of colors. They are "shotgun houses", built one-room wide, with additional rooms added to the back. None of them is very large.




It was, after all, almost Memorial Day.


In the center of the encampment is a tabernacle, a hard-roofed tent. To the question "I wonder if they still use it?" the answer is yes -- we saw posters advertising the forthcoming visit of a Methodist preacher.

The church,

and the tabernacle.







A rare double.

Lighthouses holding up the rail.

The nearby Universal Unitarian Church, of which we saw many throughout Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.





Nearer the beach there is a grand parade of lovely Victorian type houses looking out over a lawn and the sea.




This house on the corner is owned by the founder of Norton. It is decorated with Greek, Latin and English phrases. The one in the front steps is "A Private Home".