Yesterday, we pulled into Cape Cod (island one), today, we visited both Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (islands two and three). Each island (Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard) has a personality all its own--one, much more commercial and free-wheeling, the other much more conservative and reserved. Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard's inhabitants are rich. Really rich. Absurdly rich. Most of the houses are only lived in during the summer months--summer houses for the rich. Really rich. Absurdly rich. There are also the lucky few who can go to visit for a short while, but even those folks have some money. Then, there are those of us who just go for the day. But oh what a day.
Nantucket is quiet and reserved. Other than a few grandfathered in buildings, the outside must be cedar shingles or clapboard. The shingles are not painted at all; the clapboard can be painted a number of shades of white, Nantucket red or blue, and one other I can't remember. These houses, even the very small ones, cost in the millions. It's main industry, as is Martha's Vineyard, is tourism. Nantucket is famously conservative. In fact, at one of the two private golf clubs, you either have to be a member, or invited by a member to play. The driver of our bus said that Bill Clinton has never been invited to play there...conservative. It was at one time, also the whaling capital of the world--whatever that's worth.
Martha's Vineyard, on the other hand, is probably a little more "user friendly" and loose. There are little gingerbread cottages painted every color you can imagine. Apparently, these houses started as tents for "religious" camp meetings. They're tiny litte houses that are immaculately kept and still lived in.
Also on Martha's Vineyard, there are some cool red clay cliffs on the western tip of the island. Tim and I pulled into a parking spot, (we rented a Jeep and drove around the island--way cool!) and headed to the area from which to view the cliffs. The lighthouse sat off to the right, with the cliffs and the ocean on the left. Tim said, "Hey, look down there on the beach; there's a guy doing tai chi or something." I looked through my camera lens that zooms in pretty close. Just a few yards away, Tim was doing everything he could not to laugh out loud as I took a look.
"Uhh, hey, is he...is he...aww man!"
Tim stiffled a laugh so as not to draw attention to himself.
I looked at Tim and said, "Okay, I could have gone my whole life without seeing that."
The dude was buck naked on the beach, doing tai chi, and while my camera has a great zoom lens, thank goodness it wasn't too good; the only way I could tell he didn't have pants on was from the tan lines. Yeah, that's Tim's sense of humor.
From there, we drove to the other side of the island to see a different lighthouse and more huge houses, inns, hotels, and B&Bs. At 9:20, we took a ferry back to Cape Cod, where tomorrow we'll do a little more driving, then on to the next destination.
Food you ask? Tim and I ordered the lobster roll and a soft-shelled crab sandwich and split them for lunch; we got ice cream at a completely different place for dessert--all quite tasty. For dinner, I had catch of the day--sole, fried, thank you. Tim had a scallop roll.
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