Wednesday, July 3, 1996Kevin's friend owns a house on Martha's Vineyard. Craig, Tom, Kevin, Steve H., and I decided to rent the house for the 4th of July weekend. Craig took the day off, and I had to work at the day care center until 3. He was waiting at my house when I got home. We left my house at around 3:20, and arrived in Peabody at around 4:30. There we picked up Tom and Steve H. We went to to pick up Kevin, and then headed off to Woods Hole. We stopped along the way for dinner at a little sub shop.We arrived at Woods Hole at around 8:00. We parked the truck and got on a shuttle bus. We made it to the steamship authority just in time to hop onto the 8:45 ferry to Vineyard Haven. The ferry ride was quite pleasant, but it was over before we knew it. We caught a cab in Vineyard Haven, and went straight to the house. The house was gorgeous, three bedrooms, one and a half baths ... on Winnemack St in Oak Bluffs (or "OB", if you're hip). Craig and I bunked in the downstairs bedroom, while the rest of the guys were upstairs. We dropped off our stuff and decided to walk into town. We went to a bar called the Ritz. They had drinks and I had a soda. Then Kevin and Tom suggested a trip to Edgartown. We split up into two groups (Kevin & Tom, and Craig, Steve, and I), so that we had a better chance of thumbing rides. After walking for quite a while, Kevin and Tom got picked up. Their car sped by, and we wondered how we would get to Edgartown. Then their car pulled over. We ran to it. A nice couple was driving, and they said that we were welcome to pile in, if we could fit. The woman said I could even sit on her lap up front. I felt too guilty to do that, so the guys piled into the back of the sedan, and I laid across their laps. Craig wondered how he ended up holding my feet. After what seemed like a long ride (it was so hot and close in the car), the couple dropped us in Edgartown. We tried to get into a bar called the Wharf, but it was packed. So we went across the street to the Navigator. We all got drinks. I had a mudslide. When the Navigator closed, Steve, Craig, and I took a cab home. Tom was on the phone, and Kevin waited for him. They thumbed home. They showed up a while later with Laurie and Kate, who visited for a while. They left at around 2:30, and then we went to bed. Thursday, July 4, 1996As there was no breakfast food in the house, we decided to eat breakfast in Oak Bluffs. We ate at Dee's. It was a great little place. Craig had an omelette and I had scrambled eggs. Tom and Kevin went for a bike ride after breakfast. Craig, Steve, and I went for a walk around Oak Bluffs. We went to some of the little shops (Craig bought a map of the island to frame, and a roadmap, and some postcards. I bought postcards and a nesting doll). We walked through the Methodist camp meeting ground. Then we walked up to the beach and sat for a while on the rocks watching the boats. We walked back to the house.Kevin and Tom made dinner for us (teriyaki steak tips, corn on the cob). After that, we started to walk into town. Craig and I were actually picked up hitch-hiking! A guy picked us up. He said he couldn't pick up the others because his wife would kill him (he wasn’t supposed to have her vehicle to begin with). We went to the Atlantic Connection to see Entrain. We waited in line for the doors to open. As we were waiting, Megan from my high school and her boyfriend walked by. Kevin, Tom, and Steve showed up a few minutes later. We went across the street to get homemade ice cream. We went into the club (the bouncer wished me a belated happy birthday upon seeing my ID, and told me to behave). We got tables and sat down. Brian Alex (aka Mouse) who went to high school with Craig is the guitarist for Entrain. He came over and talked to us for a while. The show was great. We danced for a while. After the show we walked home. Friday, July 5, 1996We ate breakfast at the house ... bagels and omelettes. Kevin, Tom, and Steve decided to go to South Beach. They were supposed to meet their friends Chris and Sherry in Oak Bluffs. Craig and I decided to rent a moped. We walked into town. We saw Chris and Sherry in front of the movie theater. We realized it must have been them so we introduced ourselves and chatted for a while. We rented a moped for $65, even though Tom had priced them at $45. The guy that worked there insisted that it wasn't true. Craig took a spin around the block on the moped, and then came back for me. We went to Edgartown, and then to Gay Head, Vineyard Haven, and back to Oak Bluffs. There were a few scary moments (such as when a bus got way too close when there was a guardrail on our right and when a car got too close). Plus, we didn't have a rear view mirror. I kept turning around to see what was behind us.Gay Head was beautiful! We ate burgers and fries and browsed in some of the shops. We used the bathrooms for 50 cents. And the bathroom attendant didn't even see Craig put his money in. We got back on the moped and headed home. On our way through Vineyard Haven, I noticed a small record and CD shop. We stopped in, and we found Rick Wakeman's Country Airs for Craig. He was psyched! We wandered around the center of town, and happened to notice the Black Dog (we hadn't known where it was before this). I wanted to go into the store, but there was a HUGE line outside, so we decided to forget it. We went into a bargain T-shirt store and went to the grocery store to pick up iced tea. We then mopeded back to Oak Bluffs. We returned the moped and thumbed home. We were actually picked up again! A little old man who lives year-round on the Vineyard picked us up. We met the others at the house, and walked to Giordano's in Oak Bluffs for dinner. Craig, Tom, and Kevin all got the special (pasta and seafood), and I got ravioli. It was really good. We caught a cab to the middle of nowhere (Edgartown, near the airport) to the Hot Tin Roof to see Peter Wolf. The Hot Tin Roof was great. There were really neat murals on the walls with real tin adorning them. One of the murals had a glowing red sun. We sat at the bar, and I was introduced to the bay breeze (vodka, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice). Steve took a picture of us with the bartender, Janet. Mouse was there, as was a guy named Steve that went to high school with Craig. Steve bought me another bay breeze. Peter Wolf was great. We were grooving. It was a blast. We caught a cab home, talked for a while, and then went to bed. Saturday, July 6, 1996I awoke with an interesting thought. If Vineyard Haven is a dry town, then does that mean that the trendiest restaurant on the island (the Black Dog) doesn't serve alcohol? Craig thought it was an interesting question, and posed it to the others over our bagel breakfast at the house. The electricity went off in part of the house. Kevin, Tom, and Steve left for a bike ride, and Kevin called Liz and Steve (who own the house) along the way. Craig was concerned about it and when he found out I had used the hairdryer, he realized that there was a problem with the outlet in our bedroom. He opened the box, and then Liz called. She had called her neighbor Dick to come over. He used to work for the electric company. He fixed the loose wiring, and then we left for South Beach.We walked into Oak Bluffs, and bought slices of pizza. We caught the shuttle bus to Edgartown, and then got a "trolley" to South Beach. Craig forgot his bathing suit so he swam in his shorts. The water was pretty warm. I waded in it. It was very windy and warm. It was very comfortable for sunbathing. We laid on the beach for a while, and then caught the "trolley" back to Edgartown. Craig was wet, so he wore my towel around his waist as we walked around Edgartown. We bought fudge, and then caught a bus back to Oak Bluffs. The busdriver siad he liked Craig's skirt, but we laughed because the sign said our busdriver's name was Caroline. It turned out Caroline didn't drive our bus, though. She got on a few minutes later. We walked back to our house. The guys got back a while later, and we ate a late dinner in Oak Bluffs at David's Island House. Dinner was overpriced and not too good, but we got a lot of laughs out of it ... such as when Steve had to rescue Tom's meal when it slid off the waitress's tray. I had a bay breeze. We met Betsy, Tom and Kevin's friend from "last weekend" there.After dinner, we walked to the shuttle bus stop. We were going to Edgartown. Tom, Kevin, and Steve decided they'd rather thumb. When we got there, they were already at the Wharf. It was packed. I ordered a bay breeze, but got a sea breeze by mistake (yuck-grapefruit!). Kevin took care of it for me and got my bay breeze. After one drink, it was time for Craig and I to go if we wanted to catch the shuttle. We bought a ticket to Vineyard Haven, and the driver dropped us right at the end of our street. The guys showed up a while later with Danielle, who had given them a ride home. She stayed for a beer and then left for an after hours party. The guys started a game of 45's, and then Betsy and her friend came over at 2:00. They taught Kevin, Tom, and Steve how to play Kings. Craig and I went to bed at around quarter of 3. Sunday, July 7, 1996We got up and started to pack for the return trip. (Kevin needed to be at work by 5.) Craig cooked scrambled eggs. We ate and prepared the house. The ferry left at noon from VH. We called a cab at around 11. When it came, we all met it outside, except for Kevin, who was still checking the house. Three guys already in the cab were getting antsy. We left the house at around 11:30. The traffic on the island was horrendous. The cabdriver took a shortcut down some little dirt road and we bounced around quite a bit. After nearly hitting another car and a few bicyclists, we made it to the steamship authority, at exactly 12:00. Our ferry was still there, but the ramps were up. The next ferry left at 1:30, out of Oak Bluffs. We saw another small ferry that was still boarding. We presented our tickets and boarded. Craig asked if they were going to Woods Hole, just to make sure. We didn't want to end up in Nantucket. We were so relieved! The ferry left momentarily. It was a nice, small ferry. The weather was beautiful. And the signs weren't kidding, the horn was LOUD.After disembarking, Craig and I took the bus to the Sun Lot. The other guys stayed behind. They had Tom and Kevin's bikes, and the bike bus didn't go to our parking lot (they had taken the bikes "last weekend'). We drove back to the steamship authority once we got the truck, and we picked them up. They loaded the bikes into the back of the track, and we were off. There was no real traffic, even at the Boume Bridge. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch on 495. We dropped the guys off at Kevin's work at 4:30. Then we came back to my folks' house. We stopped at the video store and rented Blame It on Rio, which had been a topic of conversation during the course of the weekend. |
 Rental cottage, Oak Bluffs  Craig and Steph, Oak Bluffs  Moped ride  Gay Head Light  Gay Head cliffs  Steph at South Beach  Ferry: Steve, Kevin, Craig, Tom 
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