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IT’S UP TO YOU TO GET AWAY!
Martha's Vineyard, MA
Hey! How about a little romance in your life?! Could anything possibly be more romantic than a weekend spent flying your beautiful/handsome spouse or significant other, across the Atlantic waves to a gorgeous, fun-filled island? If you have the availability of an airplane, and the interest in spending time in that romantic setting (particularly if you live on the east coast of the U. S.), Martha’s Vineyard is calling you!
From Upstate New York, the drive to the coast (Woods Hole or Hyannis, MA) takes about 8 traffic-filled hours. That is, if traffic isn’t bad and you take care not to hit the travel routes on a weekend, or during rush hour! Then, from the coast of Massachusetts, its about a 45 minute ferry ride, with your car, to the island. If you take the ferry, make certain you have an advance reservation, unless you decide to only take your bike, or the “shoe leather” express. Also, be prepared to pay a pretty stiff fee if you decide to take your car on the ferry.
Compare that to flying
your magic carpet to the Vineyard. Without a headwind, it takes us
about an hour and 50 minutes, of normally relaxing flying. That
brings us to the Vineyard Airport, which is just about in the center
of the island. In our many times there, we’ve found the people at
I would note at this point though, we have found the summer crowds to be a bit overwhelming on the Vineyard…as in wall-to-wall people! Our very favorite times are late spring and the fall. The weather usually is good, the hoards of summer people are gone, and the stores are still open. As a matter of fact, end of season sales at many of the local shops, are almost worth the trip!
Let’s take a look at the logistics of flying to the islands…Martha’s Vineyard is about 7 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the Atlantic Ocean. Because of its location, the area is subject to coastal fog typical along northeast Atlantic, or northern Pacific, states, where cold water meets the warmer air. Check ahead and make certain of conditions at the airport before venturing offshore. Usually, the local fog dissipates well before noon, but we’ve seen it hang on for a couple of days as well, although that’s unusual.
The fog may also show up during evenings as well. One night, we had flown over to Hyannis, Cape Cod, for dinner. We were enjoying conversation with our friends, and about 10 p.m. I glanced out the window, to see streetlights appearing and disappearing intermittently. When I went to the window, heavy fog was drifting all around, making the streets appear like a surreal, spooky movie. Our friends’ drove us back out to the airport, where we now had to file IFR to travel the short 10 miles to the Vineyard. Fog hadn’t quite enveloped the Vineyard airport when we spoke with flight service…but fog isn’t static. It can move and change rapidly, so we took off as quickly as we could.
Shortly after take-off, we spotted the runway at Martha’s Vineyard quite easily. We clicked the intercom for lights (the tower closes in the evenings), as several clicks on the CTAF will turn on the lights, or adjust the intensity. Just as we were on final approach, the runway lights suddenly disappeared! Of course, we thought the lights had just timed out and turned off, so we clicked the intercom again.
No lights. Clicked several times again. No lights! By then, we had probably clicked the intercom 20 times with nothing happening…until, suddenly, there was the runway, right where it should be, as we popped out of a fog bank we didn’t even know we were in! By now, however, we had clicked the intercom so many times; the lights had turned up to their brightest intensity, which must have been magnified by the damp air. It was like looking into a mile long bank of spotlights! Sure made the runway easy to find at that point! The rest of the landing was easy, but I could have used my sunglasses on that approach, after flying out of a fog bank so thick it blanked out the bright lights of the runway. A fog bank the four of us were unable to see that dark night, though it completely enveloped us. It’s a solid reason to be certain you are flying in an absolutely clear environment after dark, or are watching your instruments, and have an instrument rating. You have to treat fog seriously, as it can be VERY thick and dense in any of the coastal regions. In the dark of night, you may not even be aware of it when you’re at altitude.
There are a couple of airports on Martha’s Vineyard. We happen to fly into the main airport (MVY) because it has a precision approach in the event of worsening weather. However, nearby Katama Airport (1B2) is a great grass strip, if your plane can handle a few occasional clumps of heavier grass. With a 3,700 foot sod runway, it’s plenty long enough for almost any aircraft (just note, though, that large planes are not allowed except with prior permission.) This unique airport is supported by the Katama Airfield Trust, and it’s just like landing at a typical airport in the 1950’s. It’s a neat little field, with a restaurant, as well as a deck for airplane watching and dining. The greatest thing about Katama is that you may taxi to the far end of the runway, park your plane, and walk across the street to the ocean beach for the day!
When you finally leave the beach, there are showers to rinse off the salt water and a place to change from your bathing suit. However, any number of times our aircraft seats remained wet from wearing bathing suits home or just taxiing over to the F.B.O. end of the runway, to leave our plane for a day or two.
There are basically three major villages on the 87 sq. mile island (It’s the 58th largest island in the U. S): Vineyard Haven (which is the primary destination of most of the ferry boats), Oak Bluffs (which also has a ferry terminal, that operates in the summer months only), as well as Edgartown. Here’s what we’ve found…Vineyard Haven is a real tourist town, probably because most of the ferry boat day-trippers land in Vineyard Haven, and stay in Vineyard Haven, except for the tour bus and taxi tours that circle the island. The available tours point out the many homes of famous people, so you can sit back in your bus or taxi seat, and feel like a legal “peeping Tom”. They also travel to many of the natural landscapes, such as Aquinna (formerly the cliffs of Gay Head), as well as several beaches where the movie thriller “Jaws” was filmed.
Oak Bluffs is definitely the honky-tonk noisy stepchild of the mostly “staid” Martha’s Vineyard Villages. Its harbor is often the destination of cruisers and smaller yachtsmen boating to the island for a good time. The boats are moored stern-to, Bermuda style, along the quay, and late afternoons, and evening times, seem to be continuous happy hour on boat decks along the walkway! Other than watching the boaters, entertainment in town runs the gamut from the picturesque harbor to the old operating carousel (complete with brass rings and prizes!), as well as an old run-down theatre featuring some of the newer movies (when you find them open). Oak Bluffs is also a great place to walk, with small narrow streets through downtown, then meandering through a residential area called the “Methodist Campground”.
The “campground” is really a large open air tabernacle, and a church, surrounded by cute, tiny, and well maintained turn of the century gingerbread houses. Virtually all the homes include front porches complete with rockers…and friendly people rocking their evenings away. From here, it’s a short walk to restaurants, the harbor, or the downtown area. This is the town to buy tee-shirts for the kids or grandkids! You can look for the best price among the side-by-side tee shirt and tourist “junk” shops that line the main street.
From either town, it’s a short bus or car ride to Edgartown. Edgartown is considered the more upscale residential village on the island. It includes a beautiful, historic harbor (with a covered dock and rooftop viewing area), as well as a main street shopping area that includes unique, and upscale, shops and restaurants. Edgartown harbor was home port for much of the country’s whaling fleet during the 1800’s. It was here that many of the ship captains built beautiful colonial homes along Edgartown’s Main Street. Homes that still stand, and are beautifully maintained…and lived in. I don’t want to begin writing commercials for the best restaurants or shops in this column, but I’d be happy to respond to any questions or recommendations e-mailed to me, or you may review the island’s web site at: www.mvy.com. There’s so much to see, do and eat, that this small column couldn’t do the island justice!
There’s much more to see and do on the beautiful and historic island of Martha’s Vineyard. One of the small harbors is called Menemsha. It’s the harbor made famous by the movie “Jaws”, but it’s really a working commercial lobster harbor. Here you can stop at one of the little shacks along the wharf and buy a reasonable lobster lunch or dinner. Lobster’s are caught, and brought in by the many boats tied to the wharf behind the buildings. They are then sold out the front of the buildings, stopping only to be steamed and surrounded by butter! There are no tables to speak of, so don’t be a fuss budget! You may end up eating while sitting on a wire lobster trap or against the rail of a lobster boat! It really doesn’t get much better than that!
If you plan to remain on the island for awhile, most places require a two night minimum during season, though you might negotiate if calling at the last minute and there is availability. There are several smaller hotels in Edgartown as well as in Oak Bluffs, and a few in Vineyard Haven. Personally, we have found some of the many bed and breakfasts are well located, nicely furnished, and include a great breakfast, as well as the chance to mingle with others visiting the island. The Jonathan Munroe House (www.jonathanmunroe.com) happens to be our favorite, especially for getting a more up-close, personal feeling for the island from inn keepers that really seem to care.
It doesn’t matter what you are looking for…if you’re a romantic, you’ll find it on Martha’s Vineyard. From long, sandy (free!) beaches, to shopping, dining, sightseeing or just relaxing, you only have to know which direction to travel on the island. It’s there! The best part…flying is a way of life and transportation for the islanders. It’s the way many of the summer residents reach the island, and it’s the way year-rounder’s make it to the mainland in the off-season. Best of all is the ease, and time saving, hassle free way you have, as a pilot, of reaching this beautiful romantic place just minutes off the coast of Massachusetts.
John Bouck lives in upstate Auburn, N. Y. He is a commercial and industrial real estate broker, licensed in New York and Florida. John flies a Cessna 210, as well as a Cessna 180 on amphibious floats. With over 2,000 hours of flight time, he holds a commercial license, with instrument rating, as well as seaplane rating, and is a CFI. He can be reached at: jcbouck@verizon.net |
the
F.B.O. to be friendly and helpful. You’ll just be told to tie down
in the “blue ropes” area, named after, of course, the color of the
ropes used for transients. If you then want to rent a car (more
about that later), it’s a short couple of hundred feet to the main
terminal and the rental cars. Then, you’re off for a weekend of
enjoyment! 
Martha’s
Vineyard has a bus service that is just terrific! Their little
buses are constantly traveling around the island, and make stops at
virtually every town and airport. It’s a great way to get around,
reasonably. I would suggest purchasing a day or weekend pass if you
plan to travel around the island, if you don’t have a car. They
operate on a schedule that allows you to get almost anyplace on the
island…when you want to be there!
Vineyard
Haven has an attractive little downtown, and is home to several well
known businesses, including the Black Dog Tavern (Great lunches and
clam chowder!), as well as the Menemsha Blues clothing store. The
village harbor is right at the ferry landing, and is a postcard
perfect New England Harbor, with yachts and smaller sailboats gently
drifting in the water with the breezes. Restaurants are somewhat
more limited in Vineyard Haven as it’s also a dry, tee-totaling
town, with no alcohol sold in restaurants or package stores.
Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends on your own philosophy,
and need for alcohol, but it does seem a little archaic in today’s
more commercial, cosmopolitan, world.
If
you have a vehicle, and are up for a short trip, it’s a short ferry
ride across Edgartown harbor to the Island of Chappaquiddick. It’s
a scenic crossing, then a drive toward the beaches of
Chappaquiddick. There are really no towns, restaurants or shopping
areas here though…just seasonal homes scattered among the woods, and
along dunes by the ocean.