A Grocers Get-Away to Martha's Vineyard

On Sunday, Oct 7, 2012, my mother, Barbara and I, joined by our manager Dale & his wife Connie Dothage, departed for a Grocers-Get-Away to Boston and Martha's Vineyard.  It's my first time to visit this area and I am SO excited.  This first blog, I want to share with you some of Martha's Vineyard. 

Connie Dothage & Dale Dothage

Michele Kauffman & Barbara Bettlach

We were joined by about 30 other retailers from around the midwest.  All are members of Associated Wholesale Grocers.  Several we have traveled with before.



We take a 45 minute Ferry from the mainland to the Island of Martha's Vineyard.  We docked at Vineyard Haven which also has the town name of Tisbury.

We are staying at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown.  This hotel was established in 1891. 

Harbor View Hotel

 

 

 

View Directly across from our hotel

The Harbor View Hotel is described as being built on a generous scale with stunning panoramic views of Edgartown Harbor, Edgartown Lighthouse, and Chappaquiddick Island.  The front of the hotel has a 300 foot veranda.   

Edgartown is a charming 19th Century Whaling Captain's Town.

We have arrived one day ahead of the rest of our group, so we decide first that we will take a walking tour around Edgartown.  Our tour guide is Mike and we start on Water Street.

The Mayhews and their associates were the first authorized English settlers and they took over the island from the estimated 3,000 indians.  In 1671, the town was incorporated. The name Edgar Towne was chosen to honor the only son of the Duke of York.   The Mayhews, hoping to gain favor, chose the name Edgartown, not knowing that Edgar had died a month earlier.  It is said that this is the only "Edgartown" in the world.

This is a picture that was hanging inside of our hotel.

The Mayhews owned the entire waterfront area in Edgartown.  There are still Mayhews living on the island today.

In 1865 the need for Whaling Oil came to an end and Edgartown became a ghost town.

Do you remember the movie JAWS?
It was filmed on Martha's Vineyard.  I remember thinking how I loved the town in this movie.  
Tourism was waining at the time and city managers thought that the shark scare movie might be detrimental to the island, but instead it began a new and revived era for tourism.

  

Many people living on the island were used as extras in the movie.  The man standing in the doorway of the Gazette is also the movie's screen writer.

The Vineyard Gazette  is the oldest paper on the island and is still active today. 

1969 - 1974 Martha's Vineyard was known for Chappaquiddick.

The Gay Head Lighthouse was built in 1788.  In 1844 it had to be moved back 75 ft because of the constant eroding of the cliffs. 
At the Gay Head Beach, debris from John Kennedy Jr.'s plane washed ashore.

Many famous people have lived here.  Off the top of his head, Mike named, Jimmy Cagney, Walter Cronkite, Bill Gates, Meg Ryan, Larry David, James Taylor & Carly Simon, Tony Shalhaub, Ted Danson, Billy Joel when he was married to Christy Brinkly, Diana Ross, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John & Jim Belushi.  John Belushi is buried on the island.  Jim Belushi now owns John's house overlooking the island's only nude beach.

After our walking tour of Edgarville, we took the bus to Oak Bluffs. We wanted to explore the gingerbread cottages of Oak Bluff. 

In 1835 this area was host to a two or three day Methodist religious revival meeting during the summer.  The revival became an annual event. At first there were nine tents for the attendees, twenty-three years later almost 12,000 people attended and families began bringing their own tents and building rough wooden platforms for them, and finally simple houses were built on these platforms.  These houses were built very simple, the inside walls were also the outside walls, no heat and tiny rooms, but they were built with elaborate gothic flair.  These cottages are about 1,100 SF and today will sell for 300,000 to 500,000 and the owner still will not own the land only the building. 

 We walked a LOT today, resting a little along the way.  Of course Connie & I are shopping.

 The area is known for the black and green shutters with 3 foot tall white picket fences.

There are 6 golf courses on the island.

There are 5 lighthouses on the island.

 

These are pictures that were displayed on the walls of the Harbor View Hotel.

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts known for being an affluent summer colony.

The island has a land area of 100 square miles.

Its year-round population has grown considerably since the 1960s. A study by the Martha's Vineyard Commission found that the cost of living on the island is 60 percent higher than the national average and housing prices are 96 percent higher.
 

The estimated year-round population is 15,000 residents; however, the summer population can swell to over 100,000 people. 

About 56% of the Vineyard’s 14,621 homes are seasonally occupied.





 
^{I would love to hear of your Martha's Vineyard stories.
Visit me at Harter House
1500 E. Republic Road, Springfield MO
email me at shelly@harterhouse.com}