They also had a memorial for the Korean war veterans from Cape Cod.
From there we drove to the Ferry station in Falmouth to board
and travel to Martha's Vineyard for the day.
The trip took about 45 minutes. As we approached the island we saw large homes on the shore.
We saw a lighthouse.
The view as we approached the port.
Our first stop was a very interesting place that we'd certainly never heard of.
In 1835, a group of people began to have a Camp Meeting at this location on Martha's Vineyard. They met in a large tent in the center of a green area and people camped in the area surrounding the tent. The Camp Meeting continued as well as hymn sings on a regular basis. It was so popular that they found people were returning year after year to attend. The area around the Camp Meeting tent was divided into plots, about 12 X 20 feet and people could lease these plots for their camp. They soon tired of camping in a tent on the ground, so they started building platforms to camp on. Then they started to build walls around their camp platform. Then they built a second floor, then a roof, etc. Then they started to decorate their cottage until the neighborhood looked like this:
The cottages are far more colorful than these photos show.
They are very small, very close together and very cute.
We have seen "gingerbread" type trim on houses many times before but on this particular cottage the name "gingerbread" trim made sense to me. If you look VERY closely at the trim on the roof line of this cottage, they are little gingerbread men holding hands which makes a heart shape between each man. So cute!
They also have an "Illumination Night" each year in August where they light MANY lanterns like the ones in the gift shop all over the neighborhood. They told us it is an amazing sight!
The cottages surround the Camp Meeting area, where services are still held along with weekly hymn sings. They no longer meet in a tent but a large permanent pavilion.
It's amazing to think this whole area has prioritized praising and worshiping God since 1835!
The Camp Meeting has Methodist roots so there is also a Methodist Church right beside the pavilion that is still an active church today.
It was a very pretty church.
From there we drove on to Edgartown area of Martha's Vineyard where we were free to wander the area. There were many shops, art galleries and restaurants along the water to visit. We ate lunch at the Seafood Shanty overlooking the harbor. We had another delicious bowl of clam chowder, Russ had fish tacos and I had a lobster cake sandwich. We are really enjoying the seafood!
After lunch we wandered through the narrow streets,
visited some art galleries with some unique works of art,
and walked down to see the lighthouse.
We sat on a bench and looked over the bay for awhile and enjoyed the beautiful day.
Some houses are sided on all sides with shingles that turn gray after they weather. Our tour guide explained that some people decided that their houses didn't look very nice with the shingles on the sides so decided to put siding on them. Being the thrifty people that they were, they only sided the front to save money therefore "putting on a good front".
He told us that's where the phrase "putting on a good front" came from.
We walked through the neighborhood along the bay where the ship captains houses had been built.
There are so many pretty hydrangeas everywhere, I finally stopped to take a picture of them.
Of course, we made a stop at "Mad Martha's" where I enjoyed some really good ice cream.
Our bus was parked on Church Street next to the Methodist Church.
After a full day we boarded the ferry and headed back to Cape Cod for a second night at the Cape Codder. The sky was becoming overcast and it was very windy on the ferry but the sun streaming through the clouds on the horizon made a beautiful sight at the end of a fun day.
After returning to the hotel we ate supper and are ready to rest for tomorrow.
We feel thankful and blessed with a beautiful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment