Startle

The president always hits Nancy’s when he’s here. Nancy’s in Oak Bluffs is a bar and informal place for lobster rolls and seafood. Nancy’s is a great island tradition in Oak Bluffs.

I’m a swing season girl. What’s fun about visiting Martha’s Vineyard on the swing season is you get everything it has to offer at the height of the season obviously with fewer people and also in the swing season you have also elected to experience some weather. And sort of part of the experience is that weather. So you’ve got to be a little prepared for everything in the swing season. As a homeowner up here I love it, because when I do get a big blow or you’ll be talking to someone in New York and they’ll go “wow I can’t believe it’s 72 and sunny” and I’ll be “no, here it’s 60 and it’s blowing 40.” So hurricane weather, especially as a homeowner I find that I get to test my house a little bit. You know, “okay, I can take that blow.” It’s a fun time but you have to be ready for anything because you could get anything.

Well we love the Atlantic in Edgartown. The Atlantic in Edgartown is has a clubby feel. It actually has a private club upstairs: The boathouse. It has that same clubby feel downstairs and I am fond of the Atlantic for lunch. Seeing friends, and come back at dinner and seeing them there again at dinnertime. You’re embarrassed that you’re at the same place again and then you realize that they are too. I like that part of it. The menu is seasonal, seafood; they’ve got pizzas and burgers. They run a really good front of the house. <br/><br/>My favorite restaurant on the island is the Chilmark Tavern. I absolutely love it. It’s a little bit of a hidden gem up-island. The hospitality is just so great and it’s just a wonderful wonderful place to spend an evening. And it’s BYOB, which makes it sort of more affordable and kind of fun, because up-island is dry, obviously. And I also love the Home Fort. The family that runs the Home Fort also runs the Menemsha Inn as well as the Beachwalk. And they’ve just done a wonderful job. They’ve really reinvigorated those properties.

Well, one of the things about Martha’s Vineyard is that it’s got five distinct towns that are completely different and offer these wonderful views of the island that are really specific to each of those towns. So if you go to Martha’s Vineyard and you just go to Oak Bluffs, that’s just Oak Bluffs. If you just go to Edgartown, you’ve just seen Edgartown. So I think it’s really important when you visit Martha’s Vineyard to allow time to really circumvent the island and see the wonderful farmland and windswept beauty of up-island around Chilmark and Aquinnah and enjoy the historic buildings of Edgartown and the honky-tonk whimsy of Oak Bluffs. Three completely different experiences. With all due respect to Nantucket, you get off the ferry, you’re on Nantucket: <br/><br/>1. Enjoy the honky-tonk whimsy of Oak Bluffs. <br/><br/>2. See the wonderful farmland and windswept beauty of up-island around Chilmark and Aquinnah. <br/><br/>3. Enjoy the historic buildings of Edgartown.