Over the years, I've visited Martha's Vineyard often and each time I discover something new. My most recent trip was to meet Chris Kennedy and Sarah Trudel of the Trustees of Reservations for a tour of just a small portion of the 3,000 acres of conservation land they help administer, all of which, according to TTR's mission statement, must remain open to the public. From Edgartown, we took the pint-sized ferry over to Chappaquiddick--a crossing that takes from one to three minutes, depending on wind and currents--and stopped to stroll around Mytoi, a Japanese-style garden with easy-to-walk trails, interesting plantings, and a pond that is ceremoniously stocked with goldfish each year. The next few hours were spent driving over sand through the Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, stopping to climb to the top of the 115-year-old Cape Poge Lighthouse, and then on to the 200-acre Wasque Reservation, a paradise for birdwatchers, where we ate sandwiches and admired the view.
My day with Chris and Sarah may very possibly be the first time I've gone to the Vineyard and not done any shopping or eaten in a restaurant. What's so nice about this island is that beyond the fun-to-poke-around-in downtowns there is this whole other, natural world to explore. And that's what made me urge the couple from Great Britain to come back. Until they've stood at the top of the Gay Head Cliffs, taken a long walk along South Beach, stopped to let the wild turkeys cross the road in Chilmark, and watched the sunset in Menemsha, they simply won't be able to tell the folks back home that they've seen Martha's Vineyard.