Happy Birthday Beth! Back home.

Well first things first. Happy Birthday to my friend Beth! I hope you have a wonderful day! I hope all your days are wonderful but this one especially!

OK. As you can assume by me actually writing this that my traveling companion Arlene and I got home safe and sound driving up from Cape Cod at the right time to avoid the nonesense that is traveling across Boston at rush hour. Big Dig or no Big Dig it's still one congested mess. Yes we have a nice new tunnel under the city which replaced the old and ugly elevated roadway above the city. A road way which cut a majority of the city off from the seashore. And I do admit to liking the new bridge. It does give the city a nicer skyline especially at night when it is bathed in a blue light.

Let me just say I had a wonderful relaxing time on Martha's Vineyard. I am so grateful for having such a charming getaway about 100 miles from my door. For the most part the weather cooperated. Any real rain happened at night. The first and third days were sunny and beautiful. The other days were overcast at times with a couple of brief rain showers. We stayed at the same hotel but had our room upgraded when we arrived there. And guess what? The lady at the desk, Dierdre is from the very town I live in. Not only that, her sister was visiting so we had some conversation about the old hometown. And it is old. Founded in 1630. Anyway, apart from waundering around Oak Bluffs, which by the way is where much of Jaws was filmed, We wanted to explore some different places as well as re-visit Aquinnah and the clay cliffs on the other side of the island. The last time it was shrouded in fog and you really couldn't appreciate the beauty of the place. This time it was picture perfect. We also visited Edgartown, some of Jaws was filmed there as well. We were going to go to Chappaquiddick Island, which is a two minute ferry ride, but there's not a whole lot going on there though there are a few things to see. There is only one paved road on the island and a couple of destinations but that's it. Maybe next time though it's $12 to get there. It's cheaper to go from the mainland to the Vineyard. We checked out Edgartown which is also quite charming. The old whaling sea captains homes and historic places. It's a beautifully maintained city and I sure it would take mega bucks to live there. Of course it's quite touristy as is the whole Island. That's the only source of income. The entire economy is based on tourism. At one time it may have been the whaling capital of America but that was a long time ago. I give two thumbs up to the bus system on the island. You can buy a three day pass for $15 and go anywhere. So much cheaper than a cab though they are reasonable as well, at least in the off season. I've been there in May and I've been there in September and September is definitely the best time. I have about 300 photos of which about 100 are usable. I decided to make photo album videos instead of posting the pictures though they will appear someplace eventually. The first one below is just Oak Bluffs of which I already have plenty of pictures of but if you have a camera around your neck you just can't resist

The next two are of Edgartown taken on two separate days. It was overcast on both days with a shower on day one though the sun did eventually come out.

And finally we come to the Clay Cliffs in Aquinnah, formally known as Gay Head. Who knows where that name came from? Aquinnah is the original name given to the place by the native Wompanog people. A much better name as far as I'm concerned. It was a gorgeous day and I finally got a chance to take some clear shots of this magical place.

So I must leave now. The football game is about to start. I will be back after the game to catch up with what's going on out there in Blogger land.

Go Pats! I'm outta here.