Summer's End

The summer cannot be allowed to end without one last trip to Martha's Vineyard. Small craft warnings were predicted, so I suggested to the Ladyfriend a trip aboard the Island Queen, a passenger ferry that makes three round trip runs from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs each day. That sounded good to niece Susan and her new husband Kevin; before long, we had also enlisted niece Paula, her husband Marc, her children Megan and Joseph, and our hosts, my sister Nancy and her husband Paul.
I worked at Pier 37 in Falmouth Harbor when I was a teenager. It was one of the first "valet mooring" services on the East Coast--boats are stacked on racks and placed in the water by a huge forklift. As you exit Falmouth Harbor, you can see the Vineyard about seven miles across the sound.The Island Queen makes the crossing to the Vineyard in about 40 minutes.
The opening to Vineyard Haven, actually more of a bight than a harbor, is marked by the West Chop and East Chop (pictured above) Lighthouses. Vineyard Haven, or Tisbury, is a dry town and the home of the original Black Dog.
Oak Bluffs Harbor is small and very well protected. Attractions include the oldest carousel in the United States, the quaint gingerbread cottages of the Methodist campgrounds, and a family favorite, Nancy's Restaurant. After an hour of shopping with the Ladyfriend, I managed to convince her to duck into the Offshore Brewhaus, where we discovered Paul and Kevin sampling the local brews.
Returning to Falmouth, we passed some sailboats flying spinnakers as they ran westward toward the Elizabeth Islands, toward the setting sun, toward summer's end.