Thoughtful Thursday

This summer my husband and I took our family to Martha's Vineyard. It's an annual tradition that's been going strong since Matthew and I were married. That's right... we had our honeymoon on Martha's Vineyard! As summer winds down, I find myself daydreaming about our few weeks on the vineyard. The sand, surf, biking, hydrangeas, seafood... a lovely daydream.

One of the things I seem to forget when packing, and you'll see the irony instantly, is thank you notes! On several occasions I found the need to write a thank you. For starters, the housekeeping at the resort was amazing. Our room was freshened daily, sometimes twice if we asked for it. (Kids, beach, afternoon snacks = messy vacation stays.) And while I tip the housekeeping staff daily, it would have been nice to finish off the trip with a handwritten note on a lovely piece of stationery.

There are a handful of restaurants we make sure to return to every summer. Often the hostess will recognize us and give us a complementary drink or dessert! (yum) When that happens, it would be so lovely to drop a thank you note in the mail the next day instead of trying to remember to write the note when we get home from our trip. I really hope I can remember to bring along some correspondence notes when we next travel. Even just a handful will be useful. Let me know in the comments if you also find yourself in need of a note or two when you travel.

• Martha's Vineyard inspired Teal Blue Whale correspondence notes from Easton Place
• Chappy Lighthouse, Martha's Vineyard
• Hydrangeas from the garden
• Sea Star (as found by my youngest son) on Martha's Vineyard
• Rock Sculpture (built by my oldest son) on Martha's Vineyard
• A perfect beach-side porch with painted ceiling. source

(all photos by Easton Place except the painted ceiling photo)

2011 Summer Travels (part 2: Martha's Vineyard)

Many of my readers know I have a deep love for Martha's Vineyard. For those of you who are new to this blog or somehow missed this personal fact, you can read about my 2010 Vineyard trip here.

This year we did many of the same things, but added a few new. One of the new events was the "losing of the only set of car keys"! That was a fun day in the end. Needless to say, sometimes you just have to laugh about little mishaps. A recap of that day...

*Family piles into car and heads to "Jaws Bridge" to go jumping.

*Husband is first one to jump!

*Husband forgets to take car key out of swim trunks.

*Key to car is lost at sea.

*I calls best friend (Cathy) to ask for help.

*Best friend calls locksmith to break into house and retrieve extra key then overnights key to the Vineyard

*Husband contacts Oak Bluffs police to break into car so we can collect our phones, i.d. and wallets

*Husband rents Jeep

*Family has an awesome day/night riding around the Vineyard in a Jeep!

(lemons to lemonade moment)

*Key arrives 2 hours before scheduled ferry reservation for car!

"Jaw's Bridge" - Oaks Bluff

Moving on...
One of our favorite places to eat is The Right Fork Diner. If you have the great fortune of visiting Martha's Vineyard, you must at least go there for their French Toast. It's our family's favorite item on their breakfast menu. I prefer to order them with fresh berries, but there are other options as well.

Brioche French Toast with Fresh Berries

While we were at the diner, we arranged for "Thing 2" and my niece, Jordan, to take in a Bi-Plane ride including tricks (loop-to-loops and spirals). I can personally tell you that this is a fabulous way to see the Vineyard. I took advantage of this opportunity in 2010, but this year left it to the kids!

Smiles from Jordan

Assistant helps get them strapped in

Across the field from the diner is the Farm Institute. It's a beautiful farm and educational center. The farm also supplies fresh eggs, poultry, beef and pork to area restaurants. My youngest has on occasion enjoyed stopping there, on the walk back to the resort, to help feed the chickens! If we can remember to think ahead next year, perhaps we'll sign him up for farm camp.

farm institute 

Once again we enjoyed ourselves at The Winnetu. It's completely family friendly with daily activities for all ages including camp, tennis lessons, yoga, firetruck rides and evening movies. If you're looking for a well appointed, yet relaxed environment, the Winnetu Resort will suit you quite well! (This is not a paid endorsement of any kind. I just happen to love giving credit where credit is due.)

pool side at the winnetu

While I'm on the subject of the Winnetu, I can't forget to mention our favorite little spot for a snack or picnic lunch... Katama General store! It has the best scones (cheddar chive is my fav.), cookies, fresh sandwiches and cold drinks! A perfect place to bike ride before or after a day on South Beach!

katama general store

the surf on south beach in katama

The last stop I want to share with you is the lighthouse at Aquinnah. The beach is amazing and the views from up top are breathtaking!

Along the way I took several photos of flowers. If you'd like to have a look, you can do so by visiting my flickr account! Here's my favorite...

queen anne's lace
(a weed technically, but still my favorite)

Personally, one of my favorite days was the day I got to meet India Rose of Martha's Vineyard Wedding Studio! It's not often that a graphic designer gets to meet a client who lives so far away, but I was lucky enough to have that opportunity. Though we'd not met or spoken before, it was as if we were instant friends. I came away from the meeting with a MVWS bottle of water and her amazing letterpress business cards each branded with the logo I designed for India. Have a look... the double thick letterpress cards are gorgeous!!! Her wedding studio is warm, inviting, well designed and perfect for planning that special event. I'm sure India's studio will be a huge success!

martha's vineyard wedding studio bottled water and letterpress business cards

I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my 2011 Summer Travels! And if you get a chance to visit Martha's Vineyard, tell her I'll see her next year! I'd love to hear about your summer travels. Feel free to share in the comments below. And if you've blogged about it or have a tumblr or flickr recap of your trip, let me know!

Happy Summer!

Summer's Last Hurrah: Martha's Vineyard Edition!

Many of you reading this may already know I've been on holiday on Martha's Vineyard.  I've tweeted daily about the lovely adventures my family and I have been having.  I thought I'd do a recap of the trip and show you some of the photos from around the island.  But first a little background on my love affair with the Vineyard...

I first visited and fell in love with Martha's Vineyard while visiting with a college friend the summer after I graduated from Purdue.  I say "fell in love" and that's exactly what I mean!  I absolutely loved the vineyard then and the feeling has only gotten stronger since.  You know the age old question, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"  Well I do!  I believed from the first visit to the vineyard this was going to be a life long love affair and so far that holds true.

My husband and I had a last minute change to honeymoon on the vineyard after a hurricane sadly blew away the tropical island we were scheduled to visit only two weeks before.  I've sometimes wondered if Martha maybe orchestrated the whole thing so that I wouldn't be tempted by another island... hmmm?

Since marrying and having children we've vacationed on the vineyard nearly every year.  Last year my husband was recovering from a torn ACL and the trip wasn't to be.  This year we've resumed our scheduled visit and made up for loss time!  We've biked, played tennis, visited beaches, swam, seen the lighthouses, eaten like a kings, seen the island from the sky in a biplane, visited the local farm and jumped off the famous "Jaws Bridge"!  Every year our visits get better and better, and this year is certainly no exception to that idea.  I hope that each and every one of my readers has an opportunity to experience the beauty, fun and simple pleasures of Martha's Vineyard!

Let me know, in the comments below, your favorite place to visit!  Or perhaps you have your own Martha's Vineyard "love story" to share.

To read about some of our favorite restaurants on the vineyard, please read my post on The Whimsical Fig!

Links:
Katama Airfield, Atria Restaurant, Winnetu Resort, Mad Max