Friday, June 29, 2001-Cape Cod, Massachusetts |
Today Bob got up
about 5:30 and I got up about 6:30. We were ready to leave about
7:15. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. After breakfast,
we drove to the port in Hyannis, parked our car, bought our ticket, and
boarded the ship. We sat on the top deck in the sun. We enjoyed the ride from Hyannis to Martha's Vineyard. It was comfortable at first but became cool, especially when the clouds covered the sun. When we landed at Marha's Vineyard, we started walking but then we saw a tour bus. When we inquired about the tour, we decided to go on the tour. It was ready to go so we boarded. A young boy in his twenty's was the tour guide. He said that he had lived on the island since he was six. As we drove around the island, he named famous people who had homes on the island-Walter Cronkite, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Judy Blume, Norman Bridwell, Marc Brown, Billy Joel, and Mike Wallace. In August, they have a celebrity auction. For example, you can bid to go out with Walter Cronkite on his boat or have Mike Wallace personally give a tour of 60 Minutes. The tour guide showed where Jackie Onassis had a 300 acre home. He also showed us where John Kennedy, Jr. crashed his plane two years ago. One of the outstanding views on the islands were the Cliffs. An old lighthouse stood by the Cliffs. Unfortunately the battery in the camera needed to be replaced so we did not get any pictures taken on the tour. Some of the things that we liked about the island is that the people were concerned about development. They fought against McDonald's. Neon signs are not allowed on the island. The people also try to protect the privacy of the rich and famous. When Princess Dianna stayed on the island, the media offered $300,00 to anyone who would tell where she was staying. No one would. She appreciated it and wrote a letter to the local newspaper thanking everyone. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd lived on the island. John Belushi was buried at the back of a cemetery on the island. The guide talked about several movies that had been filmed on Martha's Vineyard. Two of them are Jaws and the remake of Sabrina. Another one is Inkwell. The houses on the island were quite distinct. They were made of shake siding but the whalers thought that a white painted house was a sign of success so they had their houses painted white if they could. Some would have the front painted white with the shake siding on the sides. Some of the homes would have the date that the house was built above the door. Many were built in the 1800's, One of the churches (Methodist?) had a community built around a campground revival. Each house was similar but painted distinctively with many colors. They looked like gingerbread houses. We ate dinner at The Lookout. We shopped in some of the shops. At 6:55 we rode the ferry boat back to Hyannis and drove back to the B & B. |