Too Much?

We will be in Martha%26#39;s Vineyard for the day on Thursday. Taking the ferry over and renting a car. This is what I%26#39;ve got planned. Would like to know if it is too much to tackle in one day. Also any must see shops? Thanks. Annette

Pick up car in Vineyard Haven, see West Chop lighthouse, possibly do some shopping.

Drive to Menemsha for lunch at The Bite.

Drive to Gay Head - walk along beach, see cliffs, lighthouse.

Drive to Chilmark/Tisdale - Visit Chilmark Chocolates and Alley%26#39;s General Store, maybe Mrs Blakes Pies, possibly some shopping along the way.

Drive to Edgartown - see lighthouse, old whaling churge, possible shopping

Drive to Oak Bluffs - see East Chop lighthouse, ride carousel, see gingerbread cottages, some shopping, and dinner

Drive back to Vineyard Haven, drop car and catch ferry

Too Much?

looks like a wonderful day - I think it is entirely ';do-able'; , tho you may have to cut out a bit of shopping to make it all work :o(

Too Much?

I agree, it%26#39;s doable as long as you have a decent amount of energy. Don%26#39;t skip Oak Bluffs, that is, the ';campground'; a/k/a the gingerbread cottages built around the Methodist church and tabernackle.

Shopping -- if you are interested in lots of ';local'; books on the island, on Cape Cod, and the like, the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in Vineyard Haven is the place. This is the biggest bookstore on the island. I also like the Bowl and Board in that town, and some of the other home accessories stores on Main Street. One of the most special shops (again in Vineyard Haven) is Midnight Farm.

The shopping in Edgartown is also very good. And Menemsha is very charming -- you%26#39;ll want to walk around for at least 1/2 hour there.

Be sure to check your ferry reservation -- you might be on a return ferry out of Oak Bluffs, OR you might indeed be departing from Vineyard Haven.

Thanks for the help. We did most of what we wanted to do and had an amazing day on the island. We took the 9:30 ferry over, and picked up the car from AA rental. Grabbed some sweets from the Black Dog and started driving. Stopped to take some pics of West Chop and made our way to Menemsha. Stopped at Chilmark Choclates (which by the way are out of this world and are worth the cost of the ferry and rental car just to get some!!). Fell in love with Menemsha. What a charming little village. To our disappointment, The Bite wasn%26#39;t open - was to open the next day - of course! Continued on to Aquinnah. Loved the lighthouse and cliffs. Walked along Moshup Beach. I could have spent the whole day there - it was one of the most beautiful beacheas I%26#39;ve ever seen. From there we stopped at the Chilmark Store for lunch and Alley%26#39;s to poke around. Got to Edgartown which was very busy compared to what it was up island. We looked around in a few stores, then went to see the lighthouse which was so beautiful and picturesque. Then drove to Oak Bluffs, drove through the campground association and looked at all the adorable cottages. We were a little sad that the carousel was closed, but we peeked in a few stores, had dinner at The Lookout Tavern (great lobster roll and chowder, huge portion of fried scallops), and then drove back to Vineyard Haven. Didn%26#39;t get to do as much shopping as we would have liked, but we did make it back on the 7:30 ferry. All in all a fabulous day and we definitely will be going back. Hopefully next time we%26#39;ll stay a night.