Martha's Vineyard is not just one destination but many, so varied are the communities that inhabit this 100-square-mile mini-continent a mere 7 miles off Cape Cod. Amid the farms tucked inland in Chilmark, you could easily imagine yourself transplanted to post-hippie Vermont. Along the coast, workaday Vineyard Haven boasts its share of chichi shops; spirited Oak Bluffs, which morphed from an 1830s Methodist encampment (tents inspired the gaudily-painted carpenter's-gothic cottages), can boast a proud history as the "black Newport"; buttoned-down Edgartown harbors captains of industry in lieu of the prosperous whalers of old; Chappaquidick, an unspoiled preserve, is a five-minute hop by ferry; the Wampanoag tribe have reclaimed the magnificent Aquinnah bluffs; and Menemsha remains a bustling fishing port, instantly recognizable as the setting for Jaws. With a few roomy exceptions (e.g., South Beach), most sand access is private, so you'll need to know someone or stay at a nice inn with privileges to get within nipping distance. Just kidding! So far, man-eating sharks remain fictional, whereas the pleasures of this island playground are immediate and real.
- Sandy MacDonald for Triporati
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