Memorial Day Weekend

A long weekend on the Vineyard, sounds lovely and relaxing....or maybe not.  A challenging commute through heavy traffic, taking different boats, and a dead car battery all in the rain, started our weekend off on an ugly note.  But it didn't dampen our resolve to have a wonderful time.

Barry serves as a Director on the Campground Board.  There are 21 Directors that meet 4 times a year and this Saturday, May 27th, was one of those meetings.  They are full-day affairs from 9:00-4:00.  While he was in his meeting, Wendy went to work.

After a trip to the grocery and the local gardening center, she spent most of her day working on the front of the house.  She mowed and raked the grass; weeded, planted some annuals and mulched the flower beds; and finally planted her containers.  A final sweeping of the porch and walkway could not impact the pollen film, so a hosing down was due.  Let's put up the flag and bunting and we are properly presentable for this special weekend!

Each Director on the Board must serve on committees and sometimes chair a committee.  Barry serves on 5 (Personnel, Historical Preservation, Nominating, Finance, and Architectural Review).  He is the chairman of Architectural Review Committee (ARC) whose responsibility is to review any renovations or changes to all campground buildings.  Because the MVCMA is on the National Register of Historic Places and also have National Landmark status, we agree to comply with specific historical guidelines.  When a campgrounder is considering any changes to the outside of their cottage, we complete an application for ARC.  ARC then reviews the application, decides to approve, disapprove or send it back for more information.  As you can imagine, this committee is NOT revered in the Campground.

Fortunately, we have eight volunteers who serve on ARC.  Five are Board members with 3 community members.  They hail from Ohio, California, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Massachusetts. They meet year-round, every other Sunday evening using Google Hangout.  They also use SLACK as their tool to share, comment and vote on applications.  It is a dedicated group that tries to consider all aspects of a request:  livability for the leaseholder but more importantly, the historical integrity of the cottage!

On Sunday, all eight members of ARC met face-to-face for the first time at our cottage!  After meeting online all winter, it was like a reunion to be together.  When their meeting was done, their spouses were invited to join us for an "after party".  Wendy made sangria and way too much food!  Everyone had a nice time socializing and enjoying what seemed to be a kick-off for the new season!

Memorial Day was a washout!  Despite our plans to paint aspects of the porch, we were forced to work indoors.  Wendy did computer work (like writing this blog) while Barry worked on scraping and painting the flaking spots of the ceiling in the dining room and kitchen.  It may not have been the most relaxing weekend but it is always a joy to spend time in our little gingerbread.

Weekend Washout

It has become an annual tradition to participate in a charity bikeride, MS Ride the Vineyard, on the first weekend in May.  Our daughter, Melissa, and Charlie and Jack Furtado braved driving in drenching rains to get to the Vineyard this year.  The rains did not let up and we decided to not peddle in the rain, no matter how important the charity.

Dinner at the Lookout

Friday night dinner at the Lookout did not provide the usual spectacular views of the harbor but the food and company were enjoyable.  Because Saturday was a washout for the bike ride, we spent the day indoors.  After one of Barry's yummy breakfast sandwiches, we spent some time working.  Jack has a big video project that he is editing.

We needed to get out of the house so another indoor activity was in order. After a 2 hour wait, we enjoyed bowling 2 strings at the Bowl and Bistro.  Back home, we watched the Rangers playoff game and got ready for our big night out; dinner at State Road Restaurant.  It is a special establishment in West Tisbury, intimate and quaint.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal that included items that were foraged on the Vineyard.

Dinner at State Road

Bowling

After Melissa, Charlie and Jack caught the ferry to leave the Vineyard, our middle daughter, Liz, and our granddaughter, Grace, got off the ferry for Grace to play a lacrosse game at MVHS.  We went to watch her play on both the Dartmouth U15 and U13 teams.  Grace scored 4 goals today!  True to form for this weekend, it was cold and sprinkling while we watched the game.  We took our "two girls" to dinner after the game before putting them back on a ferry.

The only good thing to all this rain...Wendy finally raked and threw down grass seed in the front yard.

Painting Reboot

Owning an historic gingerbread cottage in the Martha's Vineyard Campground means becoming a painter.  When we purchased our cottage eight years ago, we started by painting the front of the cottage.  This year, we must paint the porches again.

While waiting for our ferry, we met this cute little lady who is always looking for a handout.  Wendy shared her graham crackers (and alittle skin) with her.  After demanding more by pecking Wendy's sneakers, she moved on to her next new friend.

Before we could start our work on the front porch, we had several loads of laundry to do.  Our cottage has a washing machine but no dryer.  We use a clothes line behind the cottage.  Air drying clothes and sheets are nice but not towels.  We joke about exfoliating with stiff towels after showering!

We spent the whole day scraping, sanding and priming the front porch of the cottage.  We focused on the porch rails, inside and out.  Our goal is to prepare it for painting at a later date.  Working as a team, Barry scraping and Wendy sanding, we were able to get the first floor porch done.  We still need to do the upstairs porch.  Barry took inventory of the color paints that we have for the porch, we need 4 colors with 3 different sheens.  Typical, we are missing a couple of colors which we will need to purchase.

A New Season Begins...

2017 Opening of the Cottage

Ferry Ride

It has become a family tradition to open the cottage during April school vacation week.  Our three grandchildren (Ryan, Gabby and Grace) join us for the week as we open the cottage and enjoy the quiet campground before the hectic summer season.  This year was no different.

We journeyed over on the ferry on Monday, April 17.  As soon as we pulled up in front of our cottage, unpacking our full car began.  We carried over food, drink, linens, suitcases and more.  Gabby and Grace went to work putting the bedrooms together.  Wendy cleaned the kitchen and fridge and unpacked the food.  Barry and Ryan did the heavy lifting, unpacking the car, moving the rockers onto the porch and shifting items into our storage unit.  In no time, the cottage was up and running for business.

Hike

Our week was spent splitting days between work around the cottage and fun.  We cleaned the yard, washed the bathrooms, and vacuumed the house and car.  On the one nice day, we went for a walk in the woods.  We had hoped to hike a specific trail that had an Indian burial ground but never found that trail.  So we hiked a trail that was poorly marked causing us to get "lost".  The trail in West Tisbury had beautiful stone walls running through it, a pond and stream.

Elizabeth joined us on her birthday, April 19 and we went to dinner at the Ale House to celebrate.  Because the weather was cold and rainy, our fun activities turned inside.  The kids enjoyed playing board games, working on a jigsaw puzzle, rides on the carousel, games at Ryan Family Amusement and eating ice cream from Ben and Bill's.  Despite not being very good bowlers, we especially enjoyed bowling at the new bowling alley.

The family tradition is alive and well and lifelong memories created.

A Visit to Gay Head Light

During the first weekend in August, our friends Bryan and Cheryl Dempsey came to Seas the Day for a
visit.  On a beautiful Sunday morning we went on a Vineyard version of a road trip.  We went to breakfast at the Right Fork in Katama, a ride to Gay Head Light in Aquinnah and a stop at the Artisan's Fair in Tisbury on the ride home.

The highlight of our Vineyard road trip was the stop at Gay Head Light.  It was a crystal clear day and to quote the song, "we could see for miles and miles".  We looked out over Vineyard Sound, Noman's island, and the Elizabeth Islands.  We could look beyond the islands and see the southcoast coastline.  The landmarks most visible were the Fairhaven windmills and New Bedford waterfront area.  Fortunately, we were there when the docents opened the Lighthouse for visitors.  As MV Museum members, climbing up the lighthouse stairs was free and we took advantage.  The views were breathtaking!  We could have stayed up there all day but finally made our way down to continue with our road trip.

Yes, it was Sunday morning and we were not in church.  However, climbing that lighthouse and enjoying God's handiwork was just as much a religious experience as if we had been in church pews.

A Daly Visit

The weekend of July 20th, our friends Rob and Jane Daly came to visit our little gingerbread.  Despite living in New Bedford for years, this was Jane's first visit and Rob's first since a school visit!  So much to show them in just two days!  Impossible!

We did the usual walk around Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, dinner on the porch, time on the beach and Back Door donuts.  We attempted to go to the Portuguese Feast by walking the 1.5 miles to the Portuguese American Club in the blazing heat to have a cacoila sandwich for lunch only to learn it didn't open for another 3 hours!  Ouch!  Lunch from Tony's helped ease the blow.

The highlight of their visit was breakfast at the Black Dog Tavern in Vineyard Haven.  As we sat  sipping coffee and eating our yummy breakfast, Spike Lee walked into the restaurant!  Celebrity sighting!  What fun.

We had a wonderful time sharing our little piece of paradise with Rob and Jane.  I think our love of this special island rubbed off on them.

Independence Day

With July 4th falling on Thursday this year, an extra long weekend was in order.  The Arruda's joined us for the holiday weekend.  The weather was hot and humid but we managed to have a wonderful time.  Enough fun to motivate Ryan, our grandson to stay 3 days longer.

In true Americana style, the Campground held a Children's Independence Day Parade.  For the second year in a row, Ryan and Gabby participated.  This year, we were able to get into the spirit more and decorate our scooters.

We spent time at the beach, hanging on the porch, going to the MV Historical Museum, having dinner at the Ale House, visiting the harbor, going to Ryan Amusements, eating ice cream and more.  Of course, we were able to find time to paint and work on the new bathroom!

This year we had a new member of the Arruda family join us, Rocco.  He is a 5 year old dachshund that was adopted this spring.  Rocco adjusted well and seemed to enjoy hanging on the porch watching the visitors go by.  His picture was taken repeatedly...a star is born!  It was interesting that Rocco was not interested in the skunks, rabbits or squirrels!

Gabby and Rocco