There are a lot of beaches on Marthas Vineyard—after all, it is an
island. Since it was well into October, it's not exactly swimming weather
(at least for me). But we visited a number of beaches, from the colorful
clay cliffs of Moshup's Beach in Aquinniah, to the views of Menemsha from
Lobsterville Beach, to the view of the island from "our backyard"
at the Lagoon Pond, where I did wade into the water. Below are some photo
highlights of some of the beaches of Martha's Vineyard.
000a-cliffs1_Panorama-header: Aquinnah Beach and Cliffs
000a-cliffs1_Panorama-headertext:
Formerly called the Gay Head Cliffs, the Aquinnah Cliffs are one of the iconic landmarks of Martha's Vineyard. Just to the south of the cliffs visible from the overlook is the Aquinnah or Moshup Beach. The clay cliffs (not super tall) end in the beach sand. It's illegal to climb or walk on or damage the cliffs. They are already contantly being eroded away. 000a-cliffs1_Panorama: The Aquinnah Cliffs by Moshup's Beach (or Gay Head Cliffs and Aquinnah Beach). 000b-sand_and_clay_Panorama: The clay coloring flow into the sand making cool patterns. 001-beach_cliff_Panorama: A patchwork image of the bottom of the cliffs meeting and flowing into the sand. 003-cliffs2_Panorama: A vertical panorama of the Aquinnah cliffs. 004-cliffs3_Panorama: The colorful clay Aquinnah Cliffs. 005-DSC_4826: Aquinnah Cliffs from Moshup Beach. 006-DSC_4827: Aquinnah Cliffs from Moshup Beach (with a rock!). 007-DSC_4828: The rock and the waves. I had to act like a sandpiper to get some of the shots. 008-DSC_4832: More rock and cliffs. 009-DSC_4834: Different rocks! 010-DSC_4835: Things in the sand (tiny jellyfish?). 011-DSC_4836: Close up of a thing in the sand. 012-DSC_4837: More viscuous things in the sand. 013-DSC_4838: And one more shot of the things in the sand. 014-DSC_4839: Vineyard Sound and the cliffs (without the rock). 015-DSC_4846: A closer view of the cliffs. They're maybe 25-30 feet (7-9 meters) high around there. 016-DSC_4870: And a very closer view of the cliffs. 017-DSC_4871: My shadow agaisnst the cliffs. 018-DSC_4872: The cliffs, near to far. 019-DSC_4875: The cliffs and sand. 020-DSC_4878: A rock in the waves. 021-DSC_4879: Lots of little rocks in the water. It's a pretty rocky beach. 022-DSC_4887: Patterns in the sand. It looks sort of like it''s from an airplane. 023-DSC_4888: Entwining shadow tentacles in the sand. 024-DSC_4889: One of my favorite pictures. A rock with full rocket thrust. 025-DSC_4893: More sand patterns, jellyfish-like, but the rock's been displaced. 026-DSC_4894: The trail back to the parking lot with the lighthouse in the distance. 027a-lobsterville_beach2_Panorama-header: Lobsterville Beach 027a-lobsterville_beach2_Panorama-headertext:
Lobsterville Beach is on the western part of the north side of the island. It's on the western side of Menemsha Bight. It ends at the inlet to Menemsha Creek which becomes Menemsha Pond. On the far side of the creek (east) is Menemsha. 027a-lobsterville_beach2_Panorama: Looking eastward from Lobsterville Beach at the curve of Menemsha Bight. 027c-DSC_4895: The path from the parking area to Lobsterville Beach (looking North). 028-DSC_4896: Looking west across Lobserville Beach. 029-DSC_4897: Looking east across Lobserville Beach. Behind the bend in the shoreline is the inlet to Menemesha Pond. 030-DSC_4901: The edge of the water at Lobsterville Beach is pretty rocky. 031-DSC_4902-header: Menemsha Creek 031-DSC_4902-headertext:
After stopping at Lobsterville Beach, we drove to the east end of
West Basin Road which faces Menemsha across Menemsha Creek. It's
mostly a fishing area and place to launch boats. I've been to Menemsha
many times, but this was the first time I saw it from the other side,
facing the pier and buildings on the Creek.
I took a series of pictures that I put together into a panoramic photo.
To keep the caption on that picture short, I'm putting more details
about it here.
The panoramic picture of Menemsha
was taken from the west side of the inlet of Menemsha Creek
(where Menemsha Bight feeds Menemsha Pond).
The big white house with the red roof and the flagpole on the right
is the US Coast Guard. Boathouse Road goes right along the creek.
And the big white building with the red roof in the center of the
picture is the US Coast Guard Boathouse.
It appeared in the movie Jaws.
This repleaces the previous one that burned down in 2010 and was
dedicated in 2015.
The previous one was built in 1938.
And just for fun, here's a 3-frame animated GIF on
the making of
the panorama from pictures Marlene took of me taking the pictures.
031-DSC_4902: Menemsha Pond looking south.
032-DSC_4903: Menemsha Pond looking west-ish.
033-DSC_4904: And one more of Menemsha Pond.
034-DSC_4912: Menemsha creek opening out into Menemsha Bight on
the left with the end of Boathouse Road and the pier visible.
034a-menemsha_Panorama:
A panoramic photo of Menemsha, described in the section
intro.
035-DSC_4913-header: Red Beach
035-DSC_4913-headertext:
After leaving the Menemsha Creek spot, we took a left turn onto Lobsterville Road rather than a right. The road goes less than a quarter of a mile before ending at the northwest corner of Menemsha Pond. This is Red Beach, open only to residents during the summer. This was the first time I had ever been there. 035-DSC_4913: Clams...and more acceptable water quality. 036-DSC_4914: This was after the season, so not crowded, but COVID-19 is still around. 037-DSC_4921: Looking eastward. Menemsha Creek and the ocean are just beyond the point. 038-DSC_4922: A horseshoe crab shell. They look pretty freaky. 039-DSC_4923: Another horseshoe crabs shell. Their blood is blue (so I've read). 039a-red_beach_Panorama: 180° panorama of Red Beach, looking south and west onto Menemsha Pond. 040-DSC_4958-header: Eastville Beach/The Lagoon Pond 040-DSC_4958-headertext:
The Eastfille Beach is at the edge of the Lagoon Pond that's just beyond the drawbridge that connects the Lagoon with the Vineyard Harbor. It's also by our place. Marlene and I walked around it one day. 040-DSC_4958: Marlene walking along the Eastville Beach and the Lagoon Pond. 041-DSC_4959: The drawbridget that separates the Lagoon Pond from the Vineyard Harbor. 042-DSC_4960: The beach and the neighbor's house. 043-DSC_4962: What's on your mind, besides your seaweed, I mean hat? 044-DSC_4963: Some colorful little boats by the beach. 045-DSC_4964: The skeleton of some…thing on the beach. 046-DSC_4965: Stairs that go down from a house to the beach. Note how there is no support for the base in the center of the picture. 047-DSC_4966: The stairs fromthe previous picture. 048-DSC_4967: Driftwood on the beach. 049-DSC_4969: Frank preparing to dive off the (sandbound) pier. 050-DSC_4970: Frank is in hot water. Well, cool actually. 051-DSC_4976-header: Katama Bay 051-DSC_4976-headertext:
051-DSC_4976: Looking across Katama Bay to Chappaquiddick. 052-DSC_4977: Looking across Katama Bay to Chappaquiddick. 053-DSC_4978-2: Looking across Katama Bay to Chappaquiddick. 054-DSC_4979: A map of Huckeberry Barrens by Katama. It's a very quick hike. 055-DSC_4980-header: Norton Point Beach/Katama Beach 055-DSC_4980-headertext:
055-DSC_4980: The entrance to Norton Point Beach. South Beach is to the
right (east) of it.
056-DSC_4981: "♪♪ I need somebody…
♪♪"
057-DSC_4982: The waves at Norton Point Beach.
058-DSC_4983: Marlene takes a picture of herself.
059-DSC_4984: Marlene eclipses the sun.
060-DSC_4989: The edge of the beach at Norton Point Beach.
Bottom:
