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Harbor
Ocean Park
Circuit Avenue
Flying Horses (oldest carousel in the US)
I love all of Martha’s Vineyard but I find that most of my favorite places and favorite things to do are in Oak Bluffs. Maybe it’s my growing up there as a summer kid. Maybe it’s because it’s the most eclectic of the six towns on MV. Maybe it’s all of the above and more.
An editorial a year or so in the Vineyard Gazette asked “which town is the wealthiest on the Island?” It goes on to say that ” there are two varieties of affluence — the wealth that is concentrated in private coffers, and the wealth that enriches the public arena.” “The leaders of Oak Bluffs often complain that their town lacks such high-tax properties as the waterfront hotels of Edgartown and the vast estates of Chilmark, but instead is home to many of the Island’s public, nonprofit facilities — the regional high school, ice arena and hospital. To this list, we would add a public park system which is arguably the jewel of Oak Bluffs, unparalleled anywhere else on the Island, and also the national treasure of the Camp Ground. None of these things are great generators of tax revenues — but think how improverished the Island would be without any of them.”
Oak Bluffs hosts two of the summers biggest events… Illumination Night in the Camp Ground on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 and the Fireworks at Ocean Park held on Friday night, August 16, 2013.
You can take a flight of fancy on the Flying Horses the oldest platform carousel in the United States… shop along eclectic Circuit Ave… or eat in many of Oak Bluffs restaurants and cafes.
Oak Bluffs is a party town and yet a family town… it’s hectic and lively and yet quiet and serene. You certainly won’t find a more interesting town on Martha’s Vineyard then Oak Bluffs.
LINKS:
(Oak Bluffs Calendar of Events)
- by Joan -
Trivia answers…
#1 – which is further north… West Chop or East Chop — West Chop
#2 – name 4 presidents who have spent a night or more on the Vineyard — Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Clinton, Obama
#3 – what does the name ‘beetlebung’ mean — the wood was used for making mallets (beetles) which were used to bang on the bungs (plugs) on casks
#4 – why did Alexander Graham Bell visit MV in 1895 — Bell visited MV in 1895 to study the deaf community in Chilmark
#5 – what town is the only town in the world with its name — Edgartown
Snippets answers…
#1 – 
Bank of Martha’s Vineyard
#2 – 
Gingerbread houses in the Campground
#3 -
Flying Horses
#4 - 
plaque on The Edgartown Inn
#5 - 
Edgartown lighthouse
Hope you enjoyed MV tri-ets.
- Joan -
The two pictures for February are of the Flying Horses.
The picture below was taken in October 2012.
This one was taken several years ago, I took a picture of it with my digital camera and then played with it in photo shop. I like the way it kinds of looks like a painting…it’s one of my favorites of one of my favorite places.
Below are my favorite posts from each month.
Click on posts to read them.
January - Mom’s and Mine
February - Forks and Friendship
March - Top of New Jersey
April - Vineyard Fences and Walls
May - The House
June - Horses Through The Window
July - It’s Chappy
August - Flying Horses
September - Martha’s Vineyard Map
October - Vineyard, Oct 2012
November - Giving Thanks
December - My Girls and My Grands
Full size snippet pictures ~ part 8.
1 – Field Gallery
2 – W Tisbury Town Hall
3 – Dr Daniel Fisher house
4 – Morning Glory Farm
5 – Flying Horse eye
6 – Bunch of Grapes bookstore
7 – sculpture at Vineyard Sq Hotel & Suites
Lucky, lucky me, two trips to MV this year, May and October, both beautiful months to be on the Vineyard. Come along and join me, my daughter Deb, her dog Chappy and my granddaughter Tiffany on our adventure.
Welcome to Cape Cod… getting closer to Woods Hole and the ferry by the minute.
Arrived late afternoon on Saturday and mostly walked, browsed, stretched our legs and paws, enjoyed a good meal and then settled in for the night.
Sunday morning was stunning. After breakfast in the garden at Espresso Love we drove out to W Tisbury to the Artisan Fair at the Grange Hall.
We browsed, bought a few trinkets and then headed down the road to the whimsical and delightful Field Gallery. You can’t visit here and not smile.
A moment of relaxation and contemplation before moving on.
The afternoon culminated with a ride on the Flying Horses. You can never be too young or too old to not enjoy a spin and a chance to catch the brass ring.
After breakfast Monday morning at the Black Dog Cafe…
…we headed to pumpkin heaven at Morning Glory Farm.
Part of the afternoon was spent walking through the Campground.
This is the first cottage in the Campground…1864.
Tuesday’s breakfast was at Among The Flowers in Edgartown.
Then a drive Up-Island to the Beetlebung Cafe and to spend the day with a good friend.
The nexy day our time on the Vineyard came too quickly to an end.
Here comes the Martha’s Vineyard to take us back to America.
One final picture.
PS… Chappy waiting patiently as always.
The Flying Horses, the oldest carousel in the United States, are housed in this building at the intersection of Circuit and Lake Aves in Oak Bluffs. They came to the Island in 1884 from Coney Island.
The Flying Horses are not a carousel, or a merry-go-round, they don’t go up and down just round and round. They are flying horses, like Pegasus, and fly to wherever you can imagine . They don’t actually have wings, but as you make the first circuit you feel like you’re about to fly out the open windows.
Look closely at the horse’s eyes, inside each one is a tiny hand carved animal.
(My picture didn’t capture the animal in the eye so I cheated just a little)
I flew on these beautiful horses every day when I was a little girl. The ticket taker was a young man who would never take my tickets ! We tried everything to get him to take them… we brought him candy and cookies and tried slipping the tickets in with them… nothing work. At the end of the summer I said I wanted to buy him a gift, so off my mom and I went to purchase what I thought was a novel idea .. a tie. I was 5 years old, what did I know about buying gifts for men… he, by the way was about 13 but in my eyes he was a grown up. We put the tie in the box with all of summer’s uncollected tickets. As he came around to NOT collect my ticket I handed him the box. He smiled. Ah ha, success… or so I thought. As we were leaving the Flying Horses he came over and thanked us for the tie and as we turned to leave he handed us the tickets. I won’t say who he is, just that he turned out to be an official in Oak Bluffs in later years… and someone I’ve never forgotten.
Full size snippet pictures
Part 1 -
Steamship Authority – Vineyard Haven
Island Theatre – Oak Bluffs
Sweetheart house – Campground
Edgartown Inn
Bandstand – Ocean Park
Whale’s tail – Edgartown harbor
Newes From America Pub – Edgartown
Part 2:
Oak Bluffs beach
Field Gallery – W Tisbury
Old Whaling Church – Edgartown
Gay Head cliffs – Aquinnah
Flying Horses – Oak Bluffs
Katama General Store – Edgartown
Tabernacle – Campground
(Click on pictures to enlarge)
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
How many places can you name? For those who don’t know the Vineyard that well, tell me what picture you like the best. Leave your answers in ‘comments’… thank you
