PRE-ILLUMINATION NIGHT BOAT TRIP TO OAK BLUFFS ON MARTHAS VINEYARD

Pre-Illumination Night Gingerbread Houses on Marthas Vineyard

                     Last year I got stuck on Martha Vineyard after I missed the last boat out and there were no rooms in the Inn.  The illumination of the lanterns on each  of the 200 houses surrounding the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs didn't happen last year until the last ferry had left the island.  So I missed the boat but saw the lights after the band had played on and on and on.The President was vacationing on the island the next day so all the hotel rooms on the island were full of CIA,FBI,SECRET SERVICE AND THE PRESIDENTS GOLF AND BASKETBALL PARTNERS.  I had to sleep on a bench in the open air Tabernacle.
                    This year I went to the Oak Bluffs Camp Meeting Grounds a day early hoping the Methodists had put up their lanterns a day in advance.  No such luck.  But all the Gingerbread houses were freshly painted with bright colors and the flowers were at their peak.  My favorite house which has pictures from the Wizard of Oz painted on the front had an enormous Morning Glory vine that stretched up a telephone line like Jack In the Beanstalk.  The noon Island Queen ship was full in Falmouth.  So I had to wait until 1:30 for the next boat out of Falmouth Harbor.  I came back on the Steamship Authority ferry to Woods Hole because we were warned the Island Queen might be full for the two trips back after 3:45.  Otherwise I would have only had two hours and 15 minutes on the island.  My return ship was called  The  Marthas  Vineyard. 
                         I always get inspired when I visit the gingerbread houses on Marthas Vineyard.  One year I tried to buy one.   But they are on leased land, have covenants such as that you must participate in the lantern Illumination Night,must occupy your house for two weeks every year and most are not winterized.  So usually I just paint a colorful picture on my shed in the backyard of my Falmouth Cape Cod house.  This year I will paint it yellow to match the 10 foot yellow daisy I  painted on the side last year.  I used my acrylic art paint and it's still there.

Last year's Oak Bluff's Illumination Night in August

                            So as Emily Dickinson said:  We were young,we were merry as we rode back and forth on the ferry.  Getting there is half the fun.  I can see Marthas Vineyard from my beach on Cape Cod.  I vow every year I will get out of my rut and visit the island often.  It takes a special event to make me take the half hour voyage from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs.  Really you could do it daily.  The delicious fish sandwich at Nancy's when you get off the boat is worth it.  Now that's an illuminating thought.