Ashley’s Wedding
Ashley, one of Emily’s best friends from high school was having her wedding on Martha’s Vineyard at a Yacht Club. To be completely honest Emily and I were expecting this to be a “big money wedding” because lobster was on menu, but to our surprise it was incredibly planned, amazingly beautiful, and probably even cost less than our wedding! And it couldn’t have been at a better location! Read on..
The trip from Kenny’s apartment to Martha’s Vineyard was a long one! We barely made the red line to South Station in Boston, then after a light jog through several buildings we barely made the bus. We were there on time but the driver was a complete Masshole and almost didn’t let us on because we weren’t there 10 minutes early. The only seats open were two at the very back next to the toilet and over the next 2 hour I was sickened by the chemical smell coming from it. We also made it just in time for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard which was probably the only pleasant part of the journey as we had to walk with our bags over a mile to cottage when we got to the island. Later we would become pros at Uber and probably should have done that getting off the ferry!
We had just enough time Friday afternoon to wander down to a small beach in Lagoon Pond where we fished around for shells and found some cool looking small crabs. One crab had a big sack of eggs it was carrying around and another looked like a baby spider crab, but I couldn’t be sure. Back at the rental cottage we met up with Darcy, Diana, Jen K and Jen C. Darcy and Jen K were high school friends of Emily and Ashley and all their husbands and boyfriends seemed really nice although I can’t remember their names.
We called a cab and headed out to Vineyard Haven to the family Pig Roast rehearsal dinner. I barely knew anybody at this event so sticked close by to Emily who chatted it up with family friends and old school friends from her youth. The guy smoking the pig was the biggest fascination to me. He had on a cowboy hat and was clearly a professional at smoking things. He gave us a lesson on all the edible parts of the pig and even saved the cheeks (the best part apparently) for us as well as other parts of the pig head which, honestly, were the best pig parts I’ve ever eaten, even the snout!
After the dinner we all grabbed an Uber and headed to Nancy’s Snack Bar for more drinks in Oak Bluffs. At this point I was pretty tired and it was pretty cold from the sea breeze. Everyone was raving about the Donovan’s Reef Dirty Banana frozen cocktail that was made by a guy in a small shack at the base of the bar. We had all finally made our way upstairs after 10pm when the bar restaurant opened to the public where we could all stand under heat lamps. I made the mistake of going back outside to get a banana frozen cocktail only to find that I couldn’t bring it back to the bar and had to drink it outside in the cold. Both places are owned by the same people so this didn’t make much sense to me. I used my cold fingers to type out a rare 1-star review on Yelp for not having a sign warning people of this.
On Saturday Emily and I had the morning and early afternoon to enjoy the island. We grabbed a tandem bike (a first for us) from the cottage and headed to Oak Bluffs for some breakfast at Biscuits Cafe in town. It was small and one of the few places not packed with people and it worked well for us. Some of the others from the house walked by but didn’t seem to care to eat with us (not Em’s high school friends).
From Oak Bluffs we took the bike southeast along the Joseph Sylvia State Beach front to the new Bad Martha Brewery, only one of two breweries on the island. We got a kick out of riding the tandem and a couple times passed large groups of younger girls on bikes moving much slower. We sat on the patio of the brewery and sampled a flight of beers before calling home to wish my mom a good birthday, apologizing for not being there with her.
The wedding ceremony at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club on the beach was beautiful. It was a very quick ceremony and everyone helped to move benches out to the sand for everyone to sit on. There wasn’t enough though so Em and I just stood in the back watching. This might literally be one of the last weddings we go to for a while as nearly everyone we know are now married. When we had left the cottage one of Ashley’s friends, Gabby I think her name was, said out loud in front of the cab driver that she didn’t lock the house. I saw the driver immediately start texting after she said this and got super paranoid as everything digital and expensive in my life was sitting in that open cottage. So, after the ceremony I used my first free Uber ride to head back to the cottage, lock and then head back to the reception. It was my first Uber ride and I must say, I’m now a big fan.
For dinner we had an amazing New England Lobster bake, complete with lobster, clams, mussels, sausage potatoes and corn on the cob. This plate would have been $80 at Legal Seafoods! I think Ashley and Matt chose wisely having a simple ceremony and iPod for a DJ which allowed them to give all their guests this amazing meal! I did my best to be polite but certainly didn’t shy away from taking leftovers from those around me. It was all I could do to watch bags of clams being thrown away around me!
I can’t say enough how beautiful the setting was. It had been a decade since I’d watched a sunset on Martha’s Vineyard and this time it was with my beautiful wife which made it even better! I tried to grab a bunch of great photos of all the ladies as well as the beautiful sunset from the upper deck of the yacht club while everyone else was busy dancing up a storm downstairs.
After the reception we all headed out to the Atlantic Fish & Chop House. At this point I was fairly drunk and when I saw how packed it was (squeezing room.. literally) I decided to hang out by myself at the docks instead which was way better! Somewhere in the mix of trying to push through the crowd of people dancing to get to the docks I also lost my sunglasses. Oh well! Pretty soon it was apparent that people were ready to leave so we headed back to the cottage for a few more drinks before turning in after a long, but wonderful day on the island.
On Sunday we had to wake up early and do the whole journey back to Logan International Airport in Boston. Thankfully, Emily rushed us out of the cottage early enough via an Uber Ride for us to grab some much needed food from Fella’s on Union before catching the ferry back to Woods Hole. From there we had better seats on a bus all the way back to Logan for our flight. So, Uber -> Ferry -> Bus -> Plane, at least this direction we got to skip the Train…..
Ashley, one of Emily’s best friends from high school was having her wedding on Martha’s Vineyard at a Yacht Club. To be completely honest Emily and I were expecting this to be a “big money wedding” because lobster was on menu, but to our surprise it was incredibly planned, amazingly beautiful, and probably even cost less than our wedding! And it couldn’t have been at a better location! Read on..
The trip from Kenny’s apartment to Martha’s Vineyard was a long one! We barely made the red line to South Station in Boston, then after a light jog through several buildings we barely made the bus. We were there on time but the driver was a complete Masshole and almost didn’t let us on because we weren’t there 10 minutes early. The only seats open were two at the very back next to the toilet and over the next 2 hour I was sickened by the chemical smell coming from it. We also made it just in time for the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard which was probably the only pleasant part of the journey as we had to walk with our bags over a mile to cottage when we got to the island. Later we would become pros at Uber and probably should have done that getting off the ferry!
We had just enough time Friday afternoon to wander down to a small beach in Lagoon Pond where we fished around for shells and found some cool looking small crabs. One crab had a big sack of eggs it was carrying around and another looked like a baby spider crab, but I couldn’t be sure. Back at the rental cottage we met up with Darcy, Diana, Jen K and Jen C. Darcy and Jen K were high school friends of Emily and Ashley and all their husbands and boyfriends seemed really nice although I can’t remember their names.
We called a cab and headed out to Vineyard Haven to the family Pig Roast rehearsal dinner. I barely knew anybody at this event so sticked close by to Emily who chatted it up with family friends and old school friends from her youth. The guy smoking the pig was the biggest fascination to me. He had on a cowboy hat and was clearly a professional at smoking things. He gave us a lesson on all the edible parts of the pig and even saved the cheeks (the best part apparently) for us as well as other parts of the pig head which, honestly, were the best pig parts I’ve ever eaten, even the snout! 
After the dinner we all grabbed an Uber and headed to Nancy’s Snack Bar for more drinks in Oak Bluffs. At this point I was pretty tired and it was pretty cold from the sea breeze. Everyone was raving about the Donovan’s Reef Dirty Banana frozen cocktail that was made by a guy in a small shack at the base of the bar. We had all finally made our way upstairs after 10pm when the bar restaurant opened to the public where we could all stand under heat lamps. I made the mistake of going back outside to get a banana frozen cocktail only to find that I couldn’t bring it back to the bar and had to drink it outside in the cold. Both places are owned by the same people so this didn’t make much sense to me. I used my cold fingers to type out a rare 1-star review on Yelp for not having a sign warning people of this.
On Saturday Emily and I had the morning and early afternoon to enjoy the island. We grabbed a tandem bike (a first for us) from the cottage and headed to Oak Bluffs for some breakfast at Biscuits Cafe in town. It was small and one of the few places not packed with people and it worked well for us. Some of the others from the house walked by but didn’t seem to care to eat with us (not Em’s high school friends). 
From Oak Bluffs we took the bike southeast along the Joseph Sylvia State Beach front to the new Bad Martha Brewery, only one of two breweries on the island. We got a kick out of riding the tandem and a couple times passed large groups of younger girls on bikes moving much slower. We sat on the patio of the brewery and sampled a flight of beers before calling home to wish my mom a good birthday, apologizing for not being there with her. 
The wedding ceremony at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club on the beach was beautiful. It was a very quick ceremony and everyone helped to move benches out to the sand for everyone to sit on. There wasn’t enough though so Em and I just stood in the back watching. This might literally be one of the last weddings we go to for a while as nearly everyone we know are now married. When we had left the cottage one of Ashley’s friends, Gabby I think her name was, said out loud in front of the cab driver that she didn’t lock the house. I saw the driver immediately start texting after she said this and got super paranoid as everything digital and expensive in my life was sitting in that open cottage. So, after the ceremony I used my first free Uber ride to head back to the cottage, lock and then head back to the reception. It was my first Uber ride and I must say, I’m now a big fan. 
For dinner we had an amazing New England Lobster bake, complete with lobster, clams, mussels, sausage potatoes and corn on the cob. This plate would have been $80 at Legal Seafoods! I think Ashley and Matt chose wisely having a simple ceremony and iPod for a DJ which allowed them to give all their guests this amazing meal! I did my best to be polite but certainly didn’t shy away from taking leftovers from those around me. It was all I could do to watch bags of clams being thrown away around me! 
I can’t say enough how beautiful the setting was. It had been a decade since I’d watched a sunset on Martha’s Vineyard and this time it was with my beautiful wife which made it even better! I tried to grab a bunch of great photos of all the ladies as well as the beautiful sunset from the upper deck of the yacht club while everyone else was busy dancing up a storm downstairs. 
After the reception we all headed out to the Atlantic Fish & Chop House. At this point I was fairly drunk and when I saw how packed it was (squeezing room.. literally) I decided to hang out by myself at the docks instead which was way better! Somewhere in the mix of trying to push through the crowd of people dancing to get to the docks I also lost my sunglasses. Oh well! Pretty soon it was apparent that people were ready to leave so we headed back to the cottage for a few more drinks before turning in after a long, but wonderful day on the island.
On Sunday we had to wake up early and do the whole journey back to Logan International Airport in Boston. Thankfully, Emily rushed us out of the cottage early enough via an Uber Ride for us to grab some much needed food from Fella’s on Union before catching the ferry back to Woods Hole. From there we had better seats on a bus all the way back to Logan for our flight. So, Uber -> Ferry -> Bus -> Plane, at least this direction we got to skip the Train…..
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