Martha’s Vineyard (Toddler edition)
Hi there! It’s been a while since I’ve stopped in and that’s because we have been bussssyy! Summer is my absolute most favorite time of year, the beach, the festivals, the cookouts, friends, family, it’s all so much fun! Especially after last year some of our family is actually meeting our baby girl for the first time ever! But, that leaves me little time to actually sit down and do pretty much anything, sometimes as the end of the night I relax for 30 minutes and usually end up watching Schitts Creek for the millionth time because it’s just so friggin funny (literally though, we’ve watched the series 4 times).
Okay okay, back to the point of this blog! We’ve been going on a bunch of day trips this year and Thursday we booked a ticket for the ferry and jetted over to Martha’s Vineyard for the day! It was a world-wind but it was great! I asked people for their advice on ideas of things to see on the island with two toddlers before we headed out and I wanted to share some of our favorites!
First off, we decided to take our car over with us and if you plan on only being there for the day I would definitely recommend doing it! Plus, driving a car onto a big giant boat is something our kids were talking about literally the entire ride down to Falmouth. We went to MV for a few days after our wedding and ended up renting an awesome Wrangler but the thought of doing that with two kids (in two car seats) was way too much effort. Since we had our car we had no restrictions on where to go (or what to pack in a little backpack). I had the kids bathing suits, towels, stroller, lunches all where I needed them to be, plus having our own vehicle gave our littlest a place for a quick cat nap or two between stops. Sure, the island offers bikes, shuttles and rentals, but planning that much into our trip would have made it seem more like a chore to me than a care free day!
If you’re unfamiliar with MV, or the trip from Woodshole it’s a pretty quick ferry ride into Oaks Bluff! Once you land there are plenty of shops to meander around in with the kids, we stopped in at the Black Dog and grabbed some coffees and juices and then headed on our way!
One of my most recommended places to visit was the Island Alpaca Farm! It was really cute and if you follow along on my Instagram @HumarockMom you know my kids love visiting farms! The best thing about the farm was the adorable little baby Alpaca, we couldn’t get enough of it! There’s also a cute gift shop we scooted through that has some amazing clothes made by the Alpaca fibers. Advice, when you’re telling your kids the winter gloves they’re holding are made by Alpaca, you may just want to specify you mean the FUR 🙂
Once we left the Alpaca Farm we made a stop at The Grey’s Barn and Farm in Chilmark. It was a beautiful location with more animals to see, although, some of them are off limits to guests unless you have a farm tour scheduled, so definitely check their website before heading there! They have an incredible farm stand as well and make their own raw milk with the cows you can spot in the distance! There’s also chickens, a beautiful array of flowers and an adorable little bunny Scooby that the kids also loved. We spent about 30 minutes at each farm, Grey’s and the Alpaca Farm, which seemed to be the perfect amount of times for the non-stop 1 1/2 & 3 year old mind! After the farm we drove by the Field Gallery & Sculpture Garden in West Tisbury, which was filled with giant sculptures. If you have some time to spare I would stop off for a quick walk around the area.
After leaving, we headed to the very tip of the Island and the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah. We weren’t originally planning on stopping at the beach here, my plan was for us just to check out the lighthouse and the shops. I was thinking we’d save the beach for our trek back towards Oaks Bluff but we ended up parking and heading down here instead. If you plan on stopping in Aquinnah for the Cliffs the beach is a bit pricey, $30 a day, so you may want to get there a little earlier than we did to enjoy more time, or utilize their drop off area which we did when we were done and it saved us some time (the walk to and from the parking lot is a bit far and currently the sides are lined with poison ivy). Once at the beach though the Cliffs here are pretty incredible, and the water is really warm! We played for about an hour and then spotted an amazing restaurant overlooking the beach. We didn’t end up eating there since I had packed us some lunch, but I would totally check it out, the view looked absolutely breathtaking! You’ll find it at the top of the hill when you go to the look out to see the Lighthouse. Fun fact, did you know the Vineyard has 5 different lighthouses? You can actually go on a lighthouse tour around the Island to see them all!
Once we packed up form the beach we realized it was time for Mommy and Daddy to get a grown up drink so we went half way back across the island to Bad Martha’s Brewery. I’ve visited here before and we enjoyed some yummy apps and a few flights before some Live music started. Since we were close to downtown Edgartown we did a quick drive through because we were planning on stopping to see the little Chappaquiddick ferry but Edgartown was so so busy that we just kept on driving through to our next destination.
Nomans! If you remember nothing else from this post remember this part, Nomans because it was the best place we stopped at all day! The atmosphere is incredible, a big giant lawn with tons of games, super kid friendly, dog friendly (there’s even a doggy entrance) and delicious food, insert the perfect Tuna Poke bowl that I was supposed to share but didn’t. There are giant blocks, oversized connect four games and a whole bunch of corn hole sets. The set up is actually quite genius, you order your food inside at the window, order a drink from the bar, pick up the food and go sit at whatever picnic table is open. We 100% recommend Noman’s to anyone and everyone visiting the island, families, singles, and newlyweds, it was awesome!
After leaving Nomans we realized we were nearing the end of our day so we hopped back in the car and cruised down by the beach and over the Jaws bridge, if you’ve never been here before you should totally stop! There’s parking all along the street and beautiful sandy beaches! We had about 40 minutes to spare back in Oaks Bluff before we needed to line up for the ferry (incase you didn’t know you’re “supposed” to line up your car 30 minutes ahead of your departure time, although we may have cut it a bit close). In OB you’ll find the Flying Horses Carousel, the oldest in the US, built in 1876! We enjoyed a ride, and then a bonus free one since my husband grabbed the golden ring from his spot near my sons horse.
Is a trip to the Cape or the Islands complete without ice cream? My kids will answer that for you, no, no it is not. So, we grabbed an ice cream and made our way back to the ferry!! The kids first time on the Island was a huge success! From the donuts we had on the ferry ride to cruising around the island and everything in between it was so much fun! I hope some of these ideas help you and your families planning a visit!
