Cape Cod Trip - Day Five

I loved the ferry ride!

Martha’s Vineyard Day  -  Janie and I were so excited to go to Martha’s Vineyard.  We rode the bus for an hour and a half to get to the ferry, The Island Queen. Janie happened to be standing right at the entry gate while she waited for me, so we got on first and went to seats on the front row of the deck! We were hot until the ferry began moving, then it was glorious. We eased out into open waters, then glided along.  Blue waters, sailboats. The trip took thirty minutes, but it sure didn’t seem like it. When we arrived at Martha’s Vineyard, we loaded on yet another bus, but this time it was an old school bus with no air conditioning. We were among the last to get on, so I was relieved to find a seat by Father Crique. We saw different styles of Cape Cod houses, saltbox, half Cape, three quarters Cape, and full Cape. Almost all the houses had shake siding made out of cedar, because the paint does not last in the sea air. Our guide, Terrible Tom or Terrific Tom, said paint only lasts about five years.

We ate lunch at the The Fish Shanty . We had fresh fried shrimp outside on the deck by the water. We shopped for a little bit and then had to get back on the bus for more riding! It was better than I thought, though, because we drove by the water and saw some huge fancy houses. One was Spike Lee’s. We saw where Jaws was filmed. Back in the village of Martha’s Vineyard, we took a quick walking tour of the Methodist Camp and all the quaint little cottages that encircled it. The story goes that they used to have church camp meetings, and people would pitch tents in a circle around the open air meeting house. They then built little houses instead. They do not own the land, just the houses.  That was my favorite part of the on-land tour! The tiny dollhouse-looking gingerbread houses were painted bright colors - red, pink, blue, etc.  The temperature was in the 90’s, unheard of for this time of year on the Cape.

We got back on the ferry for the ride back, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.  On the bus ride back Terrible Tom described in gory detail how to crack a lobster. Janie and I began to giggle. He asked us if we were taking happy pills. "No," I replied, “Now I wish I had ordered the Lazy Lobster instead of the whole one!” (another option on the menu).

We returned back to the hotel, showered and dressed for our lobster dinner at The Irish Village. It was such a treat! The staff was actually Irish! They had an adorable accent. One black-haired, handsome young man said, “What can I get for you luve (love)?” Two male singers performed on stage while we ate. They sang Irish songs, as well as songs from the 70’s, so I was grooving with the tunes. They soon brought our bright red boiled whole lobster out, and with a quick twist and pull, the white meat piled out on my plate. We cracked the claws ourselves. I was surprised to find that I liked the sweet meat. I would highly recommend this restaurant for the food and the Irish atmosphere.