Day 3: We're Gonna Need a Smaller Boat

Happy Independence Day!

Well, shock of all shocks, we managed to get up this morning before the alarm even went off. We've been so worried about the hour drive to Woods Hole and the holiday traffic, we managed to leave by 8:15am.

We did such a good job beating the traffic, we actually got to the ferry two hours early. So they put us on an earlier (and much smaller) boat. Which was fantastic, because our other concern was making it to our hotel in Edgartown well before they close down the streets for the Independence Day parade.

The small ferry let us out in Vineyard Haven (the other dock is in Oak Bluffs), a good fifteen minutes before we were supposed to have left on our original ferry. Despite being early, we were still anxious to get to Edgartown. So, we drove straight on to the hotel and parked.

As expected, our room wasn't ready, so we walked down to the beach. We went up inside the Edgartown lighthouse, which was built in 1939 after the original wooden 1828 structure was damaged in a hurricane. The current one is all metal and prefabricated. They just bolted the pieces together and instant lighthouse!

We strolled around Edgartown for a bit just to take it all in and look around in the various shops. Grabbed some lunch at the Seafood Shanty, then went down to the pavilion by the Chappaquiddick Ferry, sat up on the roof, and just enjoyed the sights and the breeze.

The Colonial Navy of Massachusetts were lining upright below us, so we watched them get started and followed as they marched up to Water Street and performed in front of a nearby hotel.

Since the parade wouldn't start for a couple more hours, we caught a special showing of Jaws at the Edgartown Cinema. So cool to see scenes filmed 40 years ago in locations where we'd just been standing. Hasn't really changed at all. Last time we were here, we took the Jaws tour, which I was happy to see is still going strong.

We got out of the movie in plenty of time for the parade. We found a spot on the sidewalk near the theater and watched it go by. It seems they have a tradition of throwing candy from the parade vehicles. Some kids even had nets on long poles to make it easier to catch flying pieces.

After the parade we finally checked into our room and relaxed for a few minutes. We finally ventured back out a while later for a small dinner before catching the fireworks.

All in all, an excellent Fourth of July!