Our traditional family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard is in effect!

One of my aunts has lived on the Vineyard in Vineyard Haven since the 1970s. Another aunt has a second home, her beach home, in Oak Bluffs. Ever since I was born my parents have brought me and my siblings to the Vineyard.  I have very fond childhood memories of our travels to and from MV as well as all of our island adventures.

If you know me, you know that I have adopted most of the family traditions my parents gave to me and have introduced them to K2.  So far they haven’t complained…

When my brother and I were younger my parents took us to the Family Campground in Vineyard Haven.  Thankfully I couldn’t scrounge up any old photos of us from so many years ago but I do remember having a great time!  And then too many rainstorms came and soaked us all so my parents started renting houses instead.

One right of passage everyone in my family (and now most tourists too) participate in is jumping off the JAWS bridge.  The bridge has been redone since I was a kid and now has a small bike path and several benches for those too afraid to jump.  The bridge is about 12-15 feet above the ocean and is the dividing line between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs.  Once you jump in the ocean you swim over to the jetty (rocks) and climb out to start all over again.

This year I challenged K2.  I told them they could earn $1 for every jump and $2 for every cannonball.  Kane took me to town after he jumped off 10 times!  In one day he doubled his whole bridge jumping career!  Kailee on the other hand jumped off 6 times.  She too doubled her bridge jumping career.  I am so proud of my bridge jumpers.  They made me promise we would go there at least one more time before we went home.  I know Kane is only doing it to get more money out of me!

Another one of my favorite, adventurous locations here on the Vineyard is the Gay Head  Lighthouse and cliffs.  The beautiful scenery gets me everytime.  Located in the town of Aquinnah, the Gay Head lighthouse is the second oldest lighthouse in the US and the first lighthouse in Martha’s Vineyard (MV).  In May/June 2015 the lighthouse was moved from its original location due to beach and cliff erosion.  The move is 129-foot from its original location.  I loved being able to see the old structure from the lighthouse’s original location.

We also visited the Alpaca Farm today.  Once I saw there was an alpaca farm on the island I knew we had to visit.  K2 begged me to buy them an alpaca, more specifically the 6 day old one.  They just couldn’t understand, Kailee especially, why it couldn’t come home with us and sleep in their rooms?!  They even offered to turn over their bank accounts to buy one.

So far we are having a great time visiting with family and making some great memories!

Stay tuned for more of our adventures…