By BECCA LOWRY
Who doesn’t love Martha’s Vineyard? It’s beautiful, there’s great food and there’s always something fun to do.
PHOTO BY GENE M. MARCHAND
When I recently spent time on Martha’s Vineyard, I immediately went to one of my favorite locations on the Vineyard—the Island Alpaca Company. I had been to thealpaca farm once before and I absolutely loved it. The alpacas are just adorable, they are very curious and very, very soft.
The Island Alpaca Company began in 2004 and rests on 19 acres of land. Today, the farm has a herd of 80 Huacaya alpacas, one Suri alpaca and one llama.
You also have the option of adopting an alpaca, although it is strongly recommended that you adopt two, as one alpaca alone would get very lonely. If you go to the farm’s website, www.islandalpaca.com, there is an option you can click upon where you can inquire about adopting an alpaca. You can also sponsor an alpaca and you can look into the workshops and events that they have going on, such as island alpaca yoga or signing up to take a walk with one of the alpacas. Additionally, from 10 AM to 4 PM, you can check in on what the alpacas are up to on the live alpaca cam and there is even an option to host a party or have your wedding on their property. Now, who wouldn’t want an adorable alpaca at their wedding? I think that would be a very fun addition to any wedding!
I learned a some very interesting information about alpacas while I was there. Like clockwork, they shave the alpacas every April and they time the pregnancies so that they can expect at least a few babies every July. While there, I was told that they would be expecting three or four babies this July. And before you leave, you absolutely must check out the gift shop. The gift shop contains countless cozy and adorable items, such as teddy bears made out of alpaca fur, socks, sweaters and scarves made out of alpaca fur, jewelry and more. I cannot recommend the Island Alpaca Company enough, it is a given that you will have fun, the only problem is trying not to spend too much money in the gift shop!
Stop by the Island Alpaca Company and visit some of the residents.
After visiting the alpaca farm, I went to the Gingerbread Cottages and oh my goodness, are they a sight to see! The cottages truly look like they popped right out of a children’s story book, they are so colorful and ornate-looking. There are 318 cottages, all part of a collection of Methodist camp meeting houses.
The cottages have a very long history, going all the way back to 1835, when a half-acre of rural land bordering a sheep pasture was chosen as a place to hold a small Methodist camp meeting. By 1859, what was then called Wesleyan Grove had expanded to become one of the largest permanent camp meeting sites in America. At first, attendants were housed in tents but by the 1860s and 1870s, as the camp became a more permanent and year-round establishment, the tents were replaced with cottages, many of which have a whimsical Carpenter Gothic style, which was popular at the time. The cottages that replaced the tents still maintained a “tent-like” feel to them. By 1880, the cottages became known as “Cottage City” and by 1907, the name was changed to Oak Bluffs.
Approximately 318 of the original 500 cottages remain today and collectively they make up the 34-acre Wesleyan Grove National Historic District. If you want to go on a tour of the cottages, which I highly suggest as I doubt if you will ever see something quite like it, you can go to www.mvcma.org/walking-tours.html and book your walking tour. You will love your tour, the cottages are just delightful and I promise, you will not want to leave.
A lighthouse’s Fresnel lens is one of the displays at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
On a later visit to Martha’s Vineyard, I went to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, which I had never been to before, but which I very much enjoyed. The museum is not very big but it has a lot to offer.
If you enjoy history, you are in for a treat. Besides the events they have, which you can find on the museum’s website and consist of events such as Stories from the Anthropocene with Dr. David Foster, which is a virtual program and Hidden Collections with Bow Van Riper, another virtual event, they also have a plethora of exhibitions. Some of the exhibitions are permanent and some are outdoors or online—the museum has definitely done a good job making the most of things during the pandemic.
One of the upcoming events, which I think looks very fascinating, will be at the museum from August 3 to October 11 and it is called “Work of the Soul: Meta Warrick Fuller, Lois Mailou Jones, Delilah Pierce, and Olive ‘Cutie’ Bowles.” This exhibit will explore the work and interconnected lives of four extraordinary Black women artists who lived, vacationed and worked on the Vineyard during the early to mid-20th century. They are pioneering sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and world-renowned painter Lois Mailou Jones, artist and educator Delilah Pierce, and seamstress-turned-artist Olive “Cutie” Bowles.
The museum also has genealogy services and their library includes published vital records for almost every town in Massachusetts. They have a rich history of famous families who lived on Martha’s Vineyard and their collection includes everything from scrapbooks to, newspapers, maps, and many photographs.
The museum also has many fun and educational programs for children. On their website, they have a curriculum with several different programs your children can do to learn more interesting Martha’s Vineyard history. Additionally, the museum also has a very extensive collection of over 30,000 items related to all aspects of life on the island, all items that have been donated or purchased over the past 80 years. You will see everything from agricultural tools, to coins and costumes, guns and swords, toys, and much more. You will definitely get a full education from this museum.
Many parts of Martha’s Vineyard were not yet open when I went to visit earlier this year, but nonetheless, there were still a number of fun things to do. Between the excellent food and great shopping options, you will never be bored on Martha’s Vineyard.