The Island of Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, the largest island in New England, lies seven miles off the coast of Cape Cod. The island is nine miles wide and 23 miles long and has 124.6 miles of tidal shoreline. There are three up-island towns, Gay Head (Aquinnah), Chilmark and West Tisbury and three down-island towns, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown.
Edgartown: The streets of Edgartown, the Island's first colonial settlement, are lined with upscale shops, art galleries, fine restaurants, and historic churches. The stately houses, many of them carefully restored sea captains' homes, are surrounded by well-manicured lawns and blossoming gardens. Some have lovely views of the Edgartown harbor. Built in 1843 at the height of the whaling industry, the famous Old Whaling Church with its six majestic columns commands Main Street and now serves primarily as a performing arts center. Directly south of Edgartown is an area known as Katama, featuring contemporary vacation homes and a three-mile public barrier beach called South Beach, with surf on one side and protected salt pond on the other. The downtown district has a modern movie theatre and a fine assortment of shops dealing in everything from gourmet foods to designer clothes and jewelry. Along the Edgartown harbor is the yacht club, with a parade of impressive sailing craft that lasts all summer. And beside the town’s Memorial Wharf, which has a spacious public viewing platform on its roof, the Chappaquiddick ferry service takes cars and passengers back and forth all day to the island-within-an-island whose highlights include the remarkable Japanese garden, Mytoi, and the large coastal nature preserves cared for by The Trustees of Reservations.
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Chilmark: One of three towns located in the area known as "Up Island", the town of Chilmark offers some of the most breathtaking views of unspoiled land, rolling meadows, and brilliant sea. The town center is marked by a lovely church, as well as a general store featuring a spacious down-home porch where visitors and natives alike gather throughout the day to feast, chat and share the latest local tidbits.The visual trademark of Chilmark, just west of West Tisbury, might well be the stone walls that wind their way through rolling fields and forests, recalling the day when vast expanses of the island landscape were open land, devoted to sheep farming. You’ll still see a working sheep farm if you look south from the South Road across the fields of Allen Farm to sweeping vistas of the Atlantic. Just a ways to the north is Menemsha, a picturesque fishing village which, remarkably, has kept much of its old New England character. The beach at Menemsha draws people all summer long, and is especially popular as the best place on the island from which to watch a colorful sunset.
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West Tisbury: The region of West Tisbury is rural and unspoiled, with stonewalls, farms, and vineyards. It hosts the popular Farmers' Market twice a week from mid-June to mid-October, as well as the increasingly popular Agricultural Fair every August. West Tisbury also boasts some of the Island's more unique and lovely beaches.Driving from Edgartown, the road to West Tisbury takes you past the 5,100 acres of the Manuel S. Correllus State Forest, a nature preserve originally created in 1908 in an attempt to save a dying species of bird called the heath hen. (The bird went extinct, but by happy accident the state forest turned out to be a critical bit of environmental protection: It was placed perfectly above the aquifer, the lens of groundwater that provides the island’s primary fresh water supply.) You’ll also pass a lovely pond with a former woolen mill, now headquarters for the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club. Driving from Vineyard Haven, the road to West Tisbury takes you past farms and fields that speak to the island’s agricultural heritage. In the downtown village center, you’ll find a white-steepled church, a quaint town hall that was once an academy for aspiring young mariners, and the famous Alley’s General Store, whose motto, “Dealers in Almost Everything,” pretty much sums up its mission as the last all-purpose retail outpost on the western end of the island. After your stop at Alley’s for a morning paper, a monkey wrench or a boogie board, be sure to wander across the street. There you’ll find the Field Gallery, its lawns dotted with whimsical dancing sculptures created by a beloved island.
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