Island Classic: The Tote Bag
What trip to the beach is complete without an attendant carload of gear? Towels, beach chairs, lotions, and snacks; beach reads and water toys; spare flip-flops, sand-encrusted sunglasses, and cloudy-day cover-ups. When it’s too much for two arms to carry, try a canvas tote. More than just a beach bag, the classic canvas tote is…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Events and Entertainment
Best Charity Event: Taste of the Vineyard, Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust Dr. Daniel Fisher House lawn, Main Street, Edgartown, 508-627-4440 Runner-up: Possible Dreams Auction, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Winnetu Oceanside Resort, 31 Dunes Road, Edgartown, 508-693-7900 Grab your complimentary wine glasses, balance those plates (and heels), and sample the best food the Vineyard has to…
30 Years From the MVM Vault: And That’s the Way it Was
“But then yesterday was a perfect Vineyard day, too…”
Talking Flight
David McCullough discusses his new book with Matthew Stackpole.
DAW: A Toast to Tanning
Sunlight flies through outer space,Unstopped except when forced to faceThe Coppertone with which we’ve spreadOurselves like so much buttered bread.
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Shopping
Best Bookstore: Bunch of Grapes Bookstore 35 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, 508-693-2291, bunchofgrapes.com Runner-up: Edgartown Books 44 Main Street, Edgartown, 508-627-8463, edgartownbooks.com Don’t miss a chance to peruse the rows at the Bunch of Grapes, where you’re sure to find a variety of classics by Island authors as well as popular best sellers. (Plus, you…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Food and Drink
Best Bar/Pub: Offshore Ale Company 30 Kennebec Avenue, Oak Bluffs, 508-693-2626, offshoreale.com Runner-up: Lookout Tavern 8 Seaview Avenue, Oak Bluffs, 508-696-9844, lookoutmv.com Solo at the bar or with a large group of friends, you’re always at home at Offshore Ale. The changing variety of brews and extensive list of excellent pub food make this gathering…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Health and Beauty
Best Dentist: Hélène Schaeffer of Island Dentistry 823 Airport Road, Edgartown, 508-696-8426 Runner-up: Richard McNulty of Amity Dental Studio 65 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, 508-687-9752, amitydentalstudio.com What’s the secret to Dr. Schaeffer’s success? Word of mouth, obviously. She’s been crowned Best of the Vineyard yet again – but that doesn’t surprise us one bit. Another…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Lodging and Services
Lodging Best Hotel, General Excellence: Harbor View Hotel 131 North Water Street, Edgartown, 508-627-7000, harbor-view.com Runner-up: Dockside Inn 9 Circuit Avenue Extension, Oak Bluffs, 508-693-2966, vineyardinns.com The Harbor View is a Vineyard classic, but that doesn’t mean stodgy – it just means it’s got a winning formula. Each room has its own distinct charm (Private…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Great Outdoors
Best Fishing Charter: Skipper/Vineyard Sound Charters Inc. Berth 74 near the Island Queen, Oak Bluffs, 508-693-1238, mvskipper.com Runner-up: Coop’s Bait & Tackle Charters 147 Edgartown–West Tisbury Road, Edgartown, 508-627-3909, coopsbaitandtackle.com What do you get when you sign up for an outing with Vineyard Sound Charters? Well, you get a rod and a reel, and you…
Best of the Vineyard 2015 Food and Drink
Best Bar/Pub: Offshore Ale Company 30 Kennebec Avenue, Oak Bluffs, 508-693-2626, offshoreale.com Runner-up: Lookout Tavern 8 Seaview Avenue, Oak Bluffs, 508-696-9844, lookoutmv.com Solo at the bar or with a large group of friends, you’re always at home at Offshore Ale. The changing variety of brews and extensive list of excellent pub food make this gathering…
From the Editor
The best thing about July, it sometimes seems to me, is that it is not yet August and all of those weeks of summer are stretched out ahead like a lazy line of turtles on a log. Usually, a negative compliment like “not yet August” would be some kind of slight, either to July or…
The Nadler Effect: The Rest of the Best
Forget old Best of the Vineyard standbys. It’s time to crown some new winners.
Taking a Plunge for Progress
One thing is clear when you meet 42-year-old Dean Bragonier at State Beach beside Big Bridge: he’s up for a challenge.
Well Hello, Dalí
I walked into the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on a mild Monday evening with my mom in tow and was greeted by a blast of music and a mix of excited twenty-somethings. We were all there for one reason, and one reason only – to learn how to paint. Well, maybe two reasons: we…
Notes from the Tackle Room: Convench
I have an educated thumb. Do you? You have one, too? Then there’s a pair of us – don’t tell! They’d think we were obsolete – you know! With all due apologies to Emily Dickinson, there are fewer and fewer of us with the ability to cast a revolving spool reel using one’s thumb to…
Wes Craven’s The Birds: Part 8
Last fall a Vineyard owl who’d taken me under his wing suggested I join the migration just underway. “Learn what birds are up against these days. Might be an eye-opener.” “Could be a hoot,” I agreed. So I bought a used ultralight and took off with four volunteer guides provided by the owl. At first…
Is it Too Late for the Lagoon?
An ecological crisis may not be what comes to mind when driving along Beach Road from Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs, with the harbor on your left and Lagoon Pond on your right and the seagulls wheeling overhead. In the summer, the Lagoon is a place of kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddleboards, and sailing lessons. In…
For the Love of Barns
Wendy Weldon has been an artist for more than forty years, but she carries herself as though she’s finally arrived in a place of strength and stability with her work. “It feels different, better, strong,” she said not long ago on a visit to her Chilmark studio overlooking Squibnocket Pond. Smudges of paint covered her…
A Poet for the Ages
A new book celebrates the life and work of Island writer Peggy Freydberg, who died this spring at the age of one hundred and seven.
What Goes Around Comes Around
Before you say the new tourist trollies on the streets are “un-Vineyard,” you might want to take a ride on the Oak Bluffs Street Railway.
Karasik Cartoon
Encyclopedia Vineyardia
Encyclopedia Vineyardia: M
Moon-cusser, Moon-Cusser Coffee House, and Money Hill.
Oceanography
Oceanography: Where Have All the Grasses Gone?
It’s not uncommon these days to hear of rare or threatened plants on the Vineyard – think of the broad tinker’s weed (aka wild coffee) that recently worried the Gay Head Light movers, or the orchids that occasionally halt would-be homebuilders. But one of the most important and endangered local plants grows not so much…
The Look
The Look, 1975
It was a time when tube socks were pulled up to the knees, when everyone wore the same sneakers, and there were only one or two wooden racket brands to choose from.
