Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod

Franklin and I visited Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard last week to attend his nephew's wedding. We visited Cape Cod the week we met in 1973 and we haven't been back since. 

Our B&B on Martha's Vineyard was charming. It was by the sea, with a wide white porch covered in wicker furniture. There was even a swing. It was like all those Impressionist paintings you see of a porch by the seaside.

We took a walk to the historic district of Oaks Bluff, and saw small gingerbread style Victorian cottages built by vacationing Methodist in the late 1800s. What was particularly interesting about this is that I was raised in a town on the ocean (Merrick, Long Island) with a more or less identical district built by the same group of people. The homes in both towns are built on circular streets, and near the beach. Here are some photos of these homes in Oak Bluffs, on Martha's Vineyard.

Martha's Vineyard is very pretty. Most of the island is surprisingly rural, with farms (Franklin's brother who has a home there has sheep. He may have cows too but I didn't see any. Although I believe I ate one) And the seashore is scenic too.

The wedding was held at Franklin's brother's farm.  Here a wedding guest waving to friends taking photos with the sheep.. 

For my Republican friends. An eighties photo of Franklin's brother's family with his old boss, Ronald Reagan. The groom at this wedding is the baby in this photo. For my Democrat friends- Franklin's brother took us to an Obama fundraiser before I had ever heard of Obama. 

After the wedding we took a ferry back to Cape Cod (about an hour away). Franklin flew to Florida to see his mother while I rented a car and drove around the Cape for a few days. I mostly went to beaches and parks, and drove to Provincetown. I also spend one night in Sandwich, which is where my family vacations when I was very young. 

This B&B in Chatham was built in the late 1600s. This is the sitting room. My bedroom had two fireplaces- one on the bathroom. It also had a wall oven ( a curved hole in the wall) so perhaps that room was originally a kitchen. 

There are several windmills on Cape Cod. It's a windy place so it makes sense

A typical Cape Cod cottage 

One of these cottages may be where my family vacationed when I was about eight. I know I found the right lake but there were only three cottages still standing. 

Every town and village in New England has at least one white church.

 Remember that Pina Colada song from the eighties? Well these are some dunes on the Cape. 

The main shopping street in Provincetown.

It was shark week in Provincetown while I was there. 

Driving through the Badlands of the American West

The drive from Phoenix to Portland along the coast is a visual feast with ocean views, wineries, great places to stay, and delicious food. Driving inland a few hundred miles- not so much. It is mostly badlands- dry terrain, steep slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, minimal vegetation, few towns.  That that's not even counting Death Valley which is probably even more extreme (too hot for us to explore this time of year). These long empty stretches go on for more than a thousand miles. No cars, no services- just you and the sagebrush. The route home zig zags through California and Nevada, crossing the state lines a number of times. If doesn't matter. It is the same sagebrush and mountains.

There are a number of forest fires burning in the west right now so a lot of these photos reflect the smoke in the air. Everything was brown- particular the air.

I lost my camera into a river while kayaking a few weeks ago so these photos are taken on an old iphone. Still I think they came out pretty well- some even have an arty look- like watercolor or Impressionist paintings.  I hope you enjoy this tour through the Badlands and it will save you a drive.

 When I edited the iphone pictures I got some interesting results from these photos.

Like this.

No editing here. This one features brown landscape and brown air courtesy of the California wildfires.

Let's see. We had a Hockney, and a Seurat. This one has a touch of Cezanne-- yes? 

A ghost town in Nevada

And then you reach Las Vegas. It was a very bold idea to think to put a big city in the middle of absolutely nothing. 

The gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas

The lobby of the Palazzo Hotel

St. Marks Square at the Venetian either in early morning or late night. I forget which. What am I saying? This is Vegas and it would have been packed late at night. So it must be early morning. 

Almost home now- we're back in Arizona. That's a sliver of the Colorado River.