This beautiful island is an absolutely gorgeous spot for a vacation or getaway!
Martha's Vineyard has it all! Scenic beaches, Aquinnah Cliffs, sweet gingerbread cottages, and tons of shops await you when you venture to Martha's Vineyard! Not to mention it's surrounded by the dazzling seaside-what more could you wish for?!
Headed to the beach? Get prepped and ready in no time with this colorful packing list! Even kids will have an easy time helping and staying organized with this Beach Day Packing List!
So, if you've been following our blog for a bit, you'll have seen my mom's post about Nantucket and our whirlwind day trip there!
My 'Stay Wavy' keepsake craft box was a project inspired by our trip to those two islands, and I wanted to write a bit about our time on Martha's Vineyard!
Well, we did go to Nantucket for a great day, but let's not forget about Martha's Vineyard! We were lucky and had some fabulous weather and saw a lot!
Note: Since we are all about 'Books and Fun, All in One' on our site, you'll find a few fun book tie-ins here too!
Day One
Our first day began bright and early as we prepared to take off for our destination! We were traveling with a group, and had hired a car service to get us all to Cape Cod.
None of the moms wanted to drive and navigate the traffic so we pooled resources and found a limo service which was very affordable!
We always bring something to read and this fun and quirky book was the perfect choice! Ivy Pocket is a trilogy and we both loved it! Read more about it here!
From Hyannis, Massachusetts we took the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard!
The weather was perfect for sitting above deck as we headed to Martha's Vineyard, and it felt nice to get some sunshine on our faces after being inside for a while! (Don't worry, we were responsible and applied sunblock!)
We arrived on the island, and were able to to walk a few short blocks to our hotel. After rolling those suitcases to our hotel, our group of travelers headed out for a bite to eat!
Nancy's was decided upon for lunch. This restaurant near the harbor was very close to where we were staying, and served a variety of local fare and seafood.
I ordered the shrimp tempura sushi roll, and my mom enjoyed the fish tacos. Both were delicious choices! (My mom was nice enough to offer me some of her tacos, and in return I offered up some of my sushi!)
After our tasty dining out experience, we decided to go for a walk down to Inkwell Beach, and swam, chatted, and relaxed in the sunshine!
There's nothing like a good couple of hours at the beach to feel like summer vacation!
Above: Inkwell Beach was walking distance from our hotel and it was the perfect day to enjoy the sand and the surf!
Of course, post-dip in the ocean, some shopping was in order, because I wasn't about to go home having not visited Vineyard Vines!
We walked up and down Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluff's shopping district, and returned to our hotel with tired feet and full shopping bags- and rested up for our second day of Martha's Vineyard adventures!
Day Two
Our second day started out with some raindrops, but luckily, we'd booked a bus tour with the rest of our fellow travelers!
We highly recommend a bus tour if you ever visit Martha's Vineyard! Our driver (and guide) was very knowledgeable and made the tour a thoroughly entertaining experience!
It was a wonderful way to see all the sights around the island, and we stayed nice and dry that way too! Below were the points that we stopped at, but there were many more that we drove by and we really learned a lot from the tour!
Our first stop was Jaws Bridge, where we took lots of photos- no sharks, thank goodness!
It had stopped raining when we arrived, but the sky looked very dramatic and movie-worthy and it was so cool to visit where the famous movie scene was filmed!
Above: Chief Brody's house from the movie, Jaws!
Next stop on our tour was Alley's General Store, which is the oldest general store in America and is so much fun to look around in!
If you should happen to venture there, Alley's really does sell everything, including postcards, jigsaw puzzles, fresh fruits and veggies, retro toys and coffee!
The final stop on the tour = Aquinnah Cliffs!
The Aquinnah Cliffs where breathtaking! They were exactly like something you would see in National Geographic or one of those exotic travel magazines!
Truly a must see if you're on Martha's Vineyard...I would happily spend some more time there if we return!
Aquinnah Cliffs-aren't they just gorgeous?!
Our driver/tour guide had fun facts, anecdotes, historical information and more which made the bus tour a great way to find out more about Martha's Vineyard!
After our bus tour concluded, some shopping was in order; We headed out onto Circuit Avenue once more- as you can tell from the pic below we had way too much fun at The Black Dog Store!
Love dog stickers? These are the cutest! Plenty included in this collection for laptops, water bottles and everything in between!
Above: This picture book is the true story of the Black Dog that inspired the store!
We did head back over to Vineyard Vines, and I purchased the most adorable keychain and stickers! Their whale logo is a fun design!
After that, we enjoyed going up and down Circuit Avenue, stopping in the many shops that line the street, and made a lengthier stop at Mad Martha's for some much wished for ice cream! We're really great at this tourist thing!
Cutest signs ever in Mad Martha's! We got the top sign option!
Mad Martha's has a wonderful reputation for the best ice cream on Martha's Vineyard, and has gained our good reviews as well!
I selected the Fluffernutter Ice Cream Combo after much thought, and let's just say the ice cream concoction didn't last long enough for us to get a picture of it!
Peanut butter cup ice cream with P.B. cups and hot fudge sauce= Delicious!
Sampling new ice cream flavors is always a part of our Summer Bucket List!
Here's a great Summer Bucket List printable for you to have fun with this summer! Great for kids and families!!
Well, now that we had properly refueled, it was off to the Gingerbread Cottages next!
These adorable Victorian style cottages had been purchased by their first owners right out of the Sears-Roebuck catalogue!
This is only a small sample of how many cottages there are!
The hotel we stayed at was actually a gingerbread cottage (a larger one). There are over three hundred gingerbread cottages in Oak Bluffs!
The Gingerbread Cottages reminded me of this favorite book, The Little House!
The Little House is a fabulous picture book that won the Caldecott and has spanned many generations!
The Gingerbread Cottages made me think of gingerbread people! We love this book by Jan Brett!
If you were to ask, below is my favorite gingerbread cottage- the candy pink color and oversized hearts made it hands down a fave!
All the cottages made it onto the favorites list though, they're all so adorable and fun!
Day Three
Well, I'll leave you for our third day, since this was the day we ventured over to Nantucket and had a fabulous time! Click here for the post my mom wrote on our day trip there and see everything we did on our whirlwind day trip!.
Waiting for the ferry to take us to Nantucket. The Black Dog Cafe had some great granola bars!
When we returned from Nantucket, we grabbed a smoothie and enjoyed one last walk around Martha's Vineyard before turning in for our final night on the island!
Day Four
We finished our packing and took some final pics before departing on the ferry back to Cape Cod.
It was a wonderful trip and the only thing I wish we'd done differently is to have gotten to see more!
Be sure to
So grateful we got to visit this incredible place- I highly recommend adding Martha's Vineyard to your bucket list, you'll love it there!
-Cenzia