Martha's Vineyard - All good things must come to an end

The weekend at the Vineyard started with a trip into Vineyard Haven to drop Chuck off at the ferry.  He assumed a new position with USA Hockey and needed to go to Hartford, CT for a weekend meeting.  As Chuck was getting on the ferry in Vineyard Haven, my dearest friend, Leslie was getting off the ferry in Oak Bluffs.  Hooray!  What fun lies ahead?

What a fox!

Leslie and I were roommates in college at the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks)!  We were "northerners" living in a southern world.  We were "partners in crime" (yes, we rescued a baby squirrel once)!  We have remained close friends for 39 years and try to see each other at least once a year.  Whenever we see each other, it's like we've never been apart...conversation is easy and laughs are plenty.

We spent Friday relaxing by the pool and being served a wonderful selection of exotic drinks by Bartender Dan.  We played cards, listened to great music, and spent most of the night laughing. 

On Saturday morning we decided to take a trip to the flea market in Chillmark; it's supposedly the longest running flea market on Martha's Vineyard.  Dan and Kate decided to come along (Patrick remained in bed) and we (probably not Dan) had fun looking at all the "treasures".  The highlight was the table set-up by the local alpaca farm.  As soon as the lady said "Oh, you should stop by the farm, we have 40 new babies", Leslie and I were off.  Since we are both animal-lovers and have been known to talk baby-talk to just about anything with fur, we offered Kate and Dan the option of going back to the house.  Being "troopers", they decided to go with us.

We decided that Dan should be the designated driver and off we went.  I must say that I was a bit nervous when Dan decided to "take a back road".  The "back road" was truly a back road; it wasn't paved and the ruts in the road were at least 12 inches deep; but it was an adventure and we spent most of the trip laughing!

Finally, the path cleared and we had arrived!

We had to park here!

A recent hair cut!

What a sweet baby!  This one was less than a week old!

Even Kate thought they were cute!

We spent lots of quality time with the alpacas.  They make the sweetest "humming" sounds.  Leslie and I "talked" to just about every baby!  Dan looked bored after about 5 minutes, but he was a good sport (and besides, we let him drive through the "back road" on the way home)!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and then the three girls took a trip to Lambert's Cove Beach. 

Isn't she beautiful?

My contribution to the beach!

I always search for heart-shaped rocks to add to my collection!

A productive day!

We had a wonderful seafood dinner in Oak Bluffs - they made me try a steamer - yuck!  I'll stick to fried clams or clams in my chowder!  Leslie and Kate and Dan left on Sunday (so sad) and Chuck returned (so glad).  We went to the band concert on the lawn (overlooking the ocean) in Oak Bluffs on Sunday evening.  Lovely.

On Monday we took a trip to Gay Head to look a the cliffs at sunset. 

The view is breathtaking.

Looking good in his RayBans!

We were too hungry to wait for the sun to set, so we headed over to Menemsha in search of the perfect lobster roll!  A perfect end to a great week!