Martha's Vineyard

Today we took the ferry from Woods Hole to Martha's Vineyard. The ferry is large and the ride smooth. If you go to Martha's Vineyard expecting to go on a wine tasting tour, you will need to bring your wine with you or buy some wine at a liquor store because there are no wineries on Martha's Vineyard. The island got its name from an early English settler whose daughter Martha died in infancy in England. The story goes that when he arrived in America and made his way to the island, he found it full of wild grapes, and so he named the island Martha's Vineyard in honour of his daughter. Most of Martha's Vineyard is rustic and is covered with trees with the exception of Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and Vineyard Haven. There are a number of farms on the island and permanent residents number about 16,000. There is an active lobster industry at Menemsha. Every summer President Obama and his family vacation on Martha's Vineyard. The architecture is very New England. In Oaks Bluff there is an entire colony of small gingerbread houses in Methodist Camp. Martha's Vineyard attracts thousands of tourists every summer who either own and/or rent houses. Rents start around $1,000 a week for small cottages to around $5-$10k per week the larger you go and the closer to the water you get. For those of you who want to buy, $450k will get you a small fixer upper while several million dollars will get you a large home with great water views. We took the advice of our desk clerk here at The Woods Hole Inn and hired a private tour driver. Jack our driver was very knowledgeable because grew up on Martha's Vineyard in the summers when he was a kid and has been doing tours for years. He lived year round for five years, but since winters here are brutal, he now goes to Florida each winter where he tends bar at a country club and gets to golf for free. His aunt and cousin still live here and run a b and b that has been in the family for years.
We are really enjoying the relaxed pace of life here in Woods Hole. Woods Hole is located in the southwest portion of the Cape. If you picture an arm flexing its muscles, Woods Hole is the triceps. Our drive here yesterday was very pleasant and we saw so much greenery, something we Californians are not used to seeing at this time of the year. We have Never Lost GPS  with our Hertz car as well as Siri navigation on my phone and have not missed a turn yet, although the two female voices sometimes tell us different turns, but get us to the right destination. I just hope they do not start fighting with each other as we make our way from here to Greenwich, CT two days hence or I may have to shut one of them up. Tonight we are supporting local community theatre. As we were strolling through town on our way to the Woods Hole Aquarium, we passed the Community Center just a block from our hotel and noticed that Godspell opens tonight, so we got tickets. Tomorrow we may go to the museum where there is a Titanic exhibit including, I believe, the submersible that first explored the wreck. We are trying to maintain a schedule of having no schedule so we can just enjoy our surroundings and being with each other which is the best part about this trip.