This year before the kids went back to school, we decided to take a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. I had never been there before and was looking forward to spending some time up North on sea salt beaches. I knew this would be a short vacation 3-4 days at most but knew as a family we would enjoy the road trip there and spending family time together. I did my research beforehand and jotted down a few places to visit upon our arrival.

I’m writing this post to share with you the highlights of our trip.

Day 1: We drove to Falmouth, Massachusetts and stayed at an Inn off of Main Street.

Day2: The next morning we ate at one of New England’s largest breakfast spots, Percy’s Place. We really enjoyed the hash for breakfast.

After breakfast we drove to the Steamship Authority parking lot to park our car overnight and shuttled over to catch the ferry at Woods Hole. The ferry ride was 45 minutes.

We arrived at Oak Bluffs and checked into our B&B across from Inkwell beach.

We walked to Nancy’s Restaurant where I ordered Fish N Chips and New England Clam Chowder (my favorite!!). The food is absolutely delicious and you won’t find a McDonald’s at Martha’s Vineyard. Only fresh farm to table meal pleasers.

Next we stopped by Mad Martha’s Ice Cream shop. This is by far the best homemade ice cream I’ve had before. I’m a coffee lover so I ordered coffee flavored and the hubby and kids had vanilla and chocolate chip (yes they aren’t too adventurous when it comes to ice cream).

Next we stopped at Flying Horses Carousel, one of the oldest carousels in the United States. Really cute … the horses had “real” hair and you were a lucky kid if you grabbed a brass ring.

Then we walked down Circuit Ave to tour the Gingerbread cottages. This was the most charming area of our trip. These candied-style cottages were so colorful and fun with lots of history behind them.

Next, we relaxed at our B&B. The kids were very content napping on the porch swing 🙂

We went to Inkwell beach after sunset just to get our feet wet.

We ended the day with a late night dinner at the Lookout tavern in Oak Bluffs. I ordered Half dozen oysters and house Pinot Grigio.  We did a lot in one day and looked forward to a good night sleep.

Day 3:

The next Morning we got up really early to watch the polar bear plunge , a tradition at Inkwell beach and watched the beautiful sun rise.

Our B&B provided us with a nice breakfast. We enjoyed the waffles made fresh with fruit toppings.

We took the bus to Aquinnah to see the red clay cliffs and Gayhead Lighthouse . Aquinnah is on the opposite side of the island about an hour ride from Oak Bluffs. On the way there,  the bus stopped at jaws bridge and we were able to see people jump off the bridge. When we arrived at Aquinnah we ate lunch and toured the light house. Aquinnah is really beautiful at sunset.

We spent most of the day at Aquinnah and headed back to Oak Bluffs to grab donuts at Backdoor Donuts. Unfortunately the line was so long and the kids were so tired we decided to go back to our B&B and called it a night.

Day 4:

On our last day we visited East Chop Lighthouse and Mad Martha’s again 🙂 We plan to visit Martha’s Vineyard again and we really enjoyed our weekend trip.

Please share with me your favorite places to go on family vacation.