Martha's Vineyard, MA. July 30th - Aug 1st.

Martha's Vineyard was frickin' awesome!! It's BEAUTIFUL and we had a wonderful visit. Check out my introductory video in the "pictures" section to set the tone. Gotta embrace my goofy side. 😁

The Vineyard, as the locals call it, is an island about 33 miles off the eastern coast of Massachusetts. It's named after the daughter of a European explorer who came to the island in 1602. Today it's populated with wealthy families who have summer homes that have been in the family for decades or centuries. There are three main villages on the island: Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven, and Edgartown. The streets of all of them are lined with shops, restaurants, eateries, pubs, ice cream parlors, etc. and plenty of benches to relax your feet and enjoy the lively people watching.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were dogless for a couple of days so we loved just sharing time together. We started with bloody marys on the ferry heading over just to get things started. We checked into The Mansion House Hotel in Vineyard Haven where we had a top floor, corner room with a small (but nice) balcony. Loved the hotel! Melissa particular loved the bathtub since we don't have one of those in the RV. 😁😎

On arrival day, we explored Vineyard Haven and enjoyed an afternoon nap. Yes! Then we hopped on the island bus (which is efficient and free during the summer) for the fifteen minute ride to Edgartown. So charming. We did a little shopping as we walked through the village and along the waterfront. We also managed to find several restaurants/bars for drinks and appetizers before dinner.

Pictures don't do justice to to the village, and the walk to dinner took us past some absolutely exquisite homes. Dinner at Bettini was delicious so I highly recommend it. Made some new friends (Nicole, Alyssa, and Caroline) at the bar before dinner.

At one point it dawned on me that we started the day with bloody marys, then switched to tequila and mezcal in the afternoon, then martinis before walking to dinner, and back to mezcal at dinner. 😮👌 The island bus runs until after midnight (we weren't out that late) but it was a nice walk after dinner to catch the bus home without worrying about timing.

The following day we slept in. Damn straight! Then it was bike riding for the day. Exercise was not our goal so e-bikes it was. Beautiful ride along the water past the lighthouse to Oak Bluffs. The "gingerbread" houses in Oak Bluffs are so cool. There's a Jamaica influence on the island that we loved. Rode back to Edgartown and enjoyed lunch before swinging back through Oak Bluffs on our way home. That's when we discovered the bars on the waterfront! Think Zac Brown and Jimmy Buffett. Yeehaa! We contemplated making it a late night but we had to have the bikes back by 6:00pm so we just had a few before riding back. Got cleaned up and finished our day with dinner in Vineyard Haven. Great day!

So...in case you can't tell, we loved Martha's Vineyard.

Took advantage of all the extra room in the bed with no dogs and then we were up and out in the morning. Caught the ferry back, picked up the girls, and then back to get Betty out of the dust at Sweetwater Forest.

Side note: We felt like proud parents when we picked up the dogs and the girl said they are amazing dogs and welcome back any time. 😛😎

We had a short drive (2 hours) to Newport, RI and checked into Newport RV Park. I love it! No dirt roads. Full hook ups (I forgot to mention that our last two campgrounds only had electric and water). Plenty of grass and trees. Level site. Great weather. Betty and Lou are all cleaned up and the dogs got baths. Let's go!

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend! Until next time...