Thursday, October 12

Martha's Vineyard, Day 2 - Saturday, October 7

Good evening, my friends. Another treat today; I have a TON of pictures to share from Saturday's trip! A lighthouse was involved (did the happy dance!) :). A very long post - well, it was a full day :)

Saturday dawned bright, clear and warm! Yay! We headed out early-ish toward the day's destination: Aquinnah. Early-ish on the Island is around 9:30; for some reason time moves slower there. People do not get up quite as early, and places do not open as early as they do on the Mainland. Because of the slow speed limits on the Island, it was about a half-hour drive to Aquinnah, which is on the western coast.

We took our time on the drive and did some sightseeing; it is so beautiful there. In all the years I have been going to the Vineyard, I have only been to Aquinnah twice. First time was rather rushed, and the second time my friend Jana and I spent some time. Back at that time one was able to walk out farther on the cliffs than is allowed today.

Lots of walking Saturday! Up a small bluff - there were the clay cliffs! Absolutely gorgeous. Here are a few pix. I took so many pix that day! I will put a few here, and a few more at the end of the post.

Aquinnah cliffs

Aquinnah cliffs

Aquinnah cliffs

Barriers (and signs) prevent people from being able to walk out onto the cliffs now. They are well protected, with stern signs & some hefty fines for even removing a bit of clay. They are a designated National Historic Landmark.

From the website:  THE AQUINNAH CLIFFS are composed of one hundred and fifty feet of sediment from six glaciers - including red and white clays, green sands, white quartz, black organic soil, and lignite. They tell the story of the past hundred million years one colorful layer at a time. The streaks of red in the Cliff are from the blood of whales that Moshup would drag onto the Cliffs to cook. The discarded remains from his table are now fossilized deep in the clay. To the Wampanoag, the Aquinnah Cliffs are a sacred spot for the very reason that Moshup chose this special place as his home - they are a watchful place of great bounties.

The legend of Moshup is quite something; if interested Google it or I can provide you with the website.

Aquinnah is a Native American center of the Wampanoag culture steeped in the traditions of the Wampanoag Tribe (part of the Algonquin Tribe). They are one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag in Massachusetts. It is also one of the earliest sites of whaling in America.

The Wampanoag hunted whales from small boats, using harpoons, long before the 19th-century industry of whaling became the major maritime industry of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and New Bedford. Since 1987 the Wampanoags control the sovereign Tribal lands within the town of Aquinnah's boundaries.

Your history and science lessons for the day!

Here are some pix of the ocean - it was such a gorgeous day! As you can see :)

Aquinnah ocean cliffs

Aquinnah ocean cliffs

Aquinnah ocean cliffs

There is a small marketplace of shops in a semi-circle on the side of the cliffs. They are all Native American owned and operated. Did a bit of shopping and browsing, of course! Brother and I were both a bit hungry, so we got hot dogs and cold ice tea and ate outside at a picnic table. It was just an ordinary hot dog, but for some reason it tasted really good that afternoon!

Headed down the road a bit to see - of course! - the Aquinnah lighthouse. It was a bit of a hike up a steep-ish hill to the lighthouse. So well worth it however!


From 1956 to 1985, the light was sparingly maintained by the United States Coast Guard due to funding cuts. It is the oldest lighthouse on the Vineyard. Its first-order Fresnel lens was replaced by a high-intensity electric beacon in 1956. In 2015 it was moved 135 feet back from the ever-ravaging Atlantic Ocean. The Aquinnah lighthouse remains fully operational to this day.

Another mini-history lesson! I could go on & on, but information is available online, and I realize not everyone is as fascinated with lighthouses as I :)

Here are some pix of the lighthouse. Of course I went overboard with the pix and will post a few more at the bottom.

Aquinnah lighthouse

Aquinnah lighthouse

Aquinnah lighthouse

There was also a plaque at the top of the hill near the lighthouse commemorating it as a National Landmark, of which I got a pretty good picture.

Plaque

Aquinnah was originally called Gay Head until 1997. It was named after the colors on the cliffs. The Wampanoags voted to change the town's name back officially in 1997; Aquinnah means "land under the hill".

Thoroughly satisfied with the day, we headed back to Oak Bluffs. On the drive back, there was a cemetary. On the drive out we passed it, & my Brother said it came up on a website as a "Must See". I would have been leery, but saw a tour bus pulling out of said cemetary. So we decided to check it out.

I cannot remember what the name of it was, but here are a few pix.

Cemetary

Cemetary

Neither of us could figure out what made it a "Must See", but it was pretty and well kept.

Brother had made dinner reservations at Martha's Vineyard Chowder Co. and arranged for a taxi that evening. Back at the hotel I had a nice long hot shower. We had cocktails on the back porch before heading out. The meal is a story in itself, so I will put that in another blog.

It was such an awesome day!! Weather could not have been better had one been able to order it :) I leave you with some more of the ocean and lighthouse pix I took that day. Stay tuned for Sunday's adventure!

By the way - just so you know - yes, I do have a digital camera. No, I do not mess with the colors or run them through a "fixer". Crop, yeah. But the pix you see in my blog are how it really was that day. I could, I suppose (make the colors different), but I do not believe in that. My artist's soul will not allow it :)

Ocean at Aquinnah

Ocean at Aquinnah

Ocean at Aquinnah

Aquinnah cliffs

Aquinnah cliffs

Lighthouse

Aquinnah, random

And what a beautiful day it was!!!