Cruisin' to the Vineyard

One of the things that I love about where I work is that that the company has held three different retreats since I have started working there in June. I have hit 2 different places from the 1000 places book on these retreats.

On the day that I was headed out to San Diego in the evening our department had a small retreat to the island of Martha's Vineyard. Talk about quite a travel day, Boston to Falmouth, Falmouth to Martha's Vineyard, Martha's Vineyard to Falmouth, Falmouth to Boston, Boston to Phoenix, Phoenix to San Diego (It was 3AM EST when I got to San Diego)

Got up early in the morning to drive all the way to Falmouth, MA near Woods Hole (Famous for it's oceanographic institute) to hop on a boat that would take my co-workers and myself to Martha's Vineyard.

The boat that took us to Martha's Vineyard

The boat was great, the back had a seating area and tables set up with a light breakfast of pastries and fruit. It was a smooth ride to the island and I was surprised that we were in Vineyard Haven within 20 minutes. There is not much to see in Vineyard Haven, however there are sometimes huge yachts there. We happen to come across one yacht "The VanGo."

The VanGo, Is there a helicopter with a sweater on there?

All of us on our tiny boat were googling on our phones to figure out who the owner is. Although we could not come up with a definitive answer it is a strong possibility that the owner is Ms. OWN herself Oprah Winfrey.

After a tour of Vineyard Haven we strolled right into Oak Bluffs Harbor and moored the boat to a buoy. Time to take a tour of Oak Bluffs, so um... how do I get there? We were sitting in the middle of the harbor, not being a boater, I was not sure how to do this, perhaps we swim to the docks? LOL  The owners of the boat call the launch service over the radio to have a boat pick us up and drop us off at the dock. So that's how that works!!!

Oak Bluffs Harbor

On the island there is the typical souvenir shops that sell t-shirts and hats, candy shops, but there also happens to one of the countries oldest carousels too, you one of those that you have to reach for the brass ring. Martha's Vineyard is also the home of the famous Black Dog Tavern, they are more famous for their t-shirts now-a-days. There was only really one thing that I wanted on Martha's Vineyard and only because my co-worker made it sound sooooo good, was to have a dirty banana at Nancy's. Located right at the harbor, Nancy's serves the typical clam chowdah and fried seafood at the snack bar and fresh seafood upstairs in the dining room. The clam chowdah is great but the dirty banana is soooo good, just take a banana and blend it in with a mudslide, what a perfect way to spend a Thursday afternoon (was it afternoon yet, it might have been 11:30am.)

There was not much time to spend on the island, so two dirty bananas later it was time for lunch on the boat. I could not think of a better way to eat lunch then to sit right on the bow of the ship and soak in some rays.

Co-worker and I lounging on the job.

After lunch and some time to relax in the harbor it was time to head back to the mainland. The seas were a bit rougher on the way back and that made for quite a ride back. A few times I swear the boat was off of the water, the boat was getting some air time. The spray from the ocean was getting us quite wet too, but that really did feel refreshing for the ride.

A short ride to the island but also a short time to spend there too. I will have to come back to Martha's Vineyard to enjoy a little more time for some r&r at another time. 998 places to go...