Martha's Vineyard Recap

My first trip to Martha’s Vineyard this last week could not have been more fun! My Aunt spontaneously texted me just a week and a half ago on the Friday afternoon I was driving up to Door County and invited me to the vineyard this past Wednesday through Friday. Living in Boston, she goes to the vineyard quite frequently and had to make a short trip out for work, so she suggested I hang out with my cousin for a few days on the island. OMG, am I glad I could go! I had to nanny on Monday and Tuesday, so the timing couldn’t have been more ideal. I flew out Tuesday afternoon right after I was done! My cousin, Aunt, and I had so much fun, and I’m so lucky I had them to show me around. My aunt has been visiting the vineyard at least once a year since she first went with my uncle and my parents 25 years ago, so she definitely knew where I had to stop to make the most of my 48 hours on the island for the first time.

Like I mentioned, I flew out after nannying on Tuesday afternoon. I landed in Boston pretty late and we spent the night at my aunt’s house. Wednesday morning we slept in, packed up, drove out to the Cape and got on the 2:30 ferry! Immediately upon arrival I was greeted by quintessential New England style homes, white sand beaches, a million Jeep Wranglers, and a sea ;) full of people donning Black Dog caps and Jack Rogers. If you haven’t already been to Martha’s Vineyard or painted up a pretty picture in your mind of what it might look like based off of that description, it’s pretty safe to say when you think of preppy New England heaven, you’re thinking of MV.

Wednesday

Our first stop on the island was the Atlantic in Edgartown. We were staying up Main Street in Edgartown at a little inn, so we just made the quick drive from the ferry that dropped us off in Oak Bluffs straight over to the Atlantic for a snack. Okay, if you’ve never had crab guac and you’re a fan of seafood like I am, you need to experience it. We ordered the king crab guacamole (I might just be the biggest guac fan out there, have you seen my recipe? Or this avocado toast recipe I posted the other day?) and it was incredible. My cousin also ordered the tomato bisque with came with a savory fontina grilled cheese on the side that was delectable with every bite!

We explored downtown Edgartown following our stop at the Atlantic where my aunt and cousin pointed out some of the cutest shops and spots on and around Main Street. We eventually headed back to our hotel before venturing to Oak Bluffs, seeing that area, and then having a late dinner at The Sweet Life Cafe. 

The ambience at the Sweet Life was simply charming. We’re talking an ivy-covered exterior of a petite, old victorian home and a back patio sparkling with strung lights. The three of us shared the beet and burrata salad to start. I love beets and really any kind of cheese, and so does my aunt. We both agreed that this dish was outstanding. I had the scallops for dinner, and we tried the blueberry pie and black forest cake for dessert…. My scallops might have been the best scallops I’ve tried (and I love ordering scallops), and because I have a huge sweet tooth, I enjoyed the desserts as well! I do have to admit, however, that the desserts weren’t that outstanding, and I probably could’ve (and should’ve…) skipped them because I was pretty satisfied after my scallops (which were huge! the entree came with four big divers!).

Thursday

Thursday morning my cousin and I woke up feeling a little sluggish from our huge dinner and wanted a healthy breakfast. I was so happy we’d brought our bikes over to the island because that made for incredibly convenient and easy transportation around the Vineyard. We biked down main street to Rosewater Market and Take Away, which I have concluded to be my favorite place. We both had the chia pudding with house-made granola and it was outstanding. I talked a little about this in my Top 10 on Friday, but it was simply incomparable with any other chia puddings I’ve tried/made, and the granola was equally incredible. Rosewater, besides offering healthy foods in a take-away type manner, has a cute little shop and the prettiest sit-down area, both inside and out.

We shopped in Edgartown for a couple of hours after where I honestly wanted to buy, like, everything, in every store. We wanted through a neighborhood down a side street and also fell in love with the houses, landscaping, and flowers…. what a surprise! 

We stopped at that point for ice cream at Scoop Shack once we made our way back to the main cluster of shops. Something about ice cream in New England is seriously crazy good. I don’t know what it is, but I’m always eating ice cream when I’m in Boston and Rhode Island and I have noticed it’s just so much better. I opted for my typical order: black raspberry chocolate chip in a sugar cone, but Scoop Shack had some really fun and delicious looking flavors. Unfortunately I think more of my cone ended up dripping onto the dock than made it into my mouth, but it’s whatever. It happens I guess, lol.

Once we finished our cones, my cousin and I got on the, literally, two minute ferry over to “Chappy”, or Chappaquidick Island. We left our bikes in Edgartown, which was not smart, because we quickly discovered that unless you’re beachin’ it or driving/biking to the end of Chappy for the lighthouse, there’s nothing there. We wandered around some trails and actually attempted hitchhiking for about an hour before giving up, and heading make to Edgartown, blisters in tow, for lunch at Among the Flowers.

Among the Flowers is such a cute, healthy sit-down spot right in the main cluster of downtown Edgartown. We each ordered a salad, and my watermelon and tomato salad was so refreshing and delicious, like summer in a bowl! The salads were huge so we each took about half of them back to the hotel with us and finished them after our…. 20. Mile. Bikeride. Yeah, let me tell you about that.

After lunch my cousin and I went back to the hotel and changed into our suits and more casual clothes. We biked, albeit got lost for like two miles and had to detour back, to Jaw’s Bridge where we planned to jump off, but when we got there it was rainy and crowded, so we skipped the whole swimming/beach thing, and continued to Oak Bluffs to find the East Chop lighthouse. Did I mention that’s an 8 mile ride? Oh, and it was pouring rain the whole time?

We got to East Chop light and discovered it to be tiny. It was honestly pretty funny… the whole thing. Like, we biked 10 miles in the pouring rain, which was fun just considering we were in the Vineyard and TBH everything there is fun, and then once we got to the lighthouse it was just like, what? This is it? We biked back to our hotels and cleaned up for dinner. We wanted to watch the sunset in Menemsha and have a picnic with lobsters from Larsen’s Market, which I have heard is one of the most beautiful spots to watch a sunset, not only in MV, but on the East Coast in general, but since the weather wasn’t really cooperating, my aunt and cousin still showed me Larsen’s and then we had dinner at Homeport. The food was delicious, of course. I really think anything you order there would taste incredible… there were two older couples right next to us enjoying lobsters all around, and the restaurant is BYOB so it was a fun ambience, too!

Friday

On Friday my aunt didn’t have to work, so she woke up early to take some cool boot camp workout class in a barn with her friend (#goals)! My cousin and I biked out to Katama, or South Beach, to meet her afterwards for breakfast at Right Fork diner, which sits right at the Air Field so you can watch the biplanes take off and land while you enjoy breakfast. I ordered the greek yogurt and granola, which was fabulous and topped with colossal assortment of fresh berries. My cousin ordered their famous pancakes, and those might’ve been the fluffiest pancakes I have ever seen! So yummy- you all know brunch is my fave meal of the day!

We went back into Edgartown to shop a little more, because really, you never can shop enough there! We stopped in C.B. Stark, one of the cutest jewelry stores I think I’ve been in, seriously, where my aunt got me a gorgeous silver charm of the island to add to my charm bracelet I received from my grandparents for graduation. The charm is such a beautiful memento of this fun trip and my first time to the vineyard, and I absolutely love it.

We also went to Island Alpaca on Friday afternoon, which I found hilarious. There were 50 alpaca (alpacas? is it plural? I don’t even know) at this alpaca farm I guess you could call it, and it was honestly just so funny. They all have afros! I kind of felt bad for them, their fur is so thick and I was almost 90 degrees!

We finally ventured out to Vineyard Haven to see the town and stopped for a quick bite. We popped in more shops before getting on the 5 PM ferry and then driving back to Boston. Overall, it was a fast and full three days, but incredibly fun and awesome to spend time with my aunt and my cousin in my new favorite place!!! I spend so much time in New England so I always forget there are new places to go, too. I need to stop thinking I’m a local… I’m not quite on that level yet!

Have you ever visited Martha's Vineyard?
xoxo