Martha's Vineyard Tips

The Wampanoag people have lived for at least 600 years on the Island of Martha's Vineyard. Today, many of the year-round residents of Aquinnah are direct descendants of the Wampanoag Indians. Besides showing the Colonial settlers how to plant corn and kill whale, the Aquinnah Indians were judged to be the most skillful and courageous boatsteerers of that era and were in great demand. It was the boatsteerer who cast the iron harpoon into the whale.

The cliffs of Gay Head are one of the Island's best birding spots. During the fall migration thousands of songbirds pursued by scores of hawks work their way west along the Gay Head Peninsula. The cliffs are also Wampanoag Tribal lands, and Aqunniah Rangers are on hand to answer your questions. They are also there to ensure that no one removes clay or climbs on the cliffs.

Exploring Cape Poge Bay at the eastern end of the island by canoe or kayak can be a great adventure for active children and adults who are comfortable around the water. It's a pristine environment with clear water and it's not impacted by human intervention. Martha's Vineyard Kayak Company, (508) 693-0895, will deliver solo or tandem kayaks to Cape Poge Bay, so that you can have a delightful day on the water.

Heading "up-island" means traveling in a southwesterly direction towards Aquinnah. "Down-island" refers to the easterly towns of Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown. These terms are nautical in origin: Sailing west means crossing increasingly higher degrees of longitude, hence going "up," while sailing east means going "down" in longitude.

Martha's Vineyard architecture is both beautiful and varied. On the island you can see Colonial saltboxes dating from the early 18th century; Federal-style sea captain's houses complete with widow's walks; Greek revival-style buildings dating from 1820 to 1850; and grand shingled-style summer cottages with wide curved porches, steeply pitched roofs, and turrets dating from 1880 to 1910. Of course, you can also see late 19th-century Queen Anne-style cottages with towers, turrets, and even fish-scale shingles. These grew from the Camp Ground Gothic Revivals of 1830 to 1870 and were based on 11th- to 14th-century European medieval architecture.

Mopeds are a very convenient mode of transportation while on the island. If you opt to travel by moped, please note that mopeds are motorized and that you must obey all laws that autos obey! Ride on the right with the flow of traffic, do not ride on sidewalks or on bike paths, and stop at all stop signs. Even the main roads are narrow, so please exercise caution and remember that you must wear protective headgear and footwear at all times while on a moped.

If you follow the path around Cedar Tree Neck Pond, you might discover sassafras. The roots of the sassafras trees--sometimes called mitten trees because one of their variously shaped leaves is mittenlike--were treasured by the Europeans for tea and their supposed medicinal benefits. The trunks of the larger trees were also used by the early settlers to make dugout canoes. If you continue farther out on the neck, you will notice the sassafras trees are smaller. This is because they have been stunted by powerful winter winds.

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