Martha’s Vineyard… Amity Island
With our time running out in Massachusetts, we needed to check off one major activity that had been sitting on our “To-Do” list: taking the ferry out to Martha’s Vineyard and exploring the island. We were unfortunately one week too early, as the following week marked the 50th anniversary of the movie JAWS, which was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard. They’re making a huge deal out of it, planning an entire week called “Amity Week” to celebrate the fictional Amity Island and JAWS. As unfortunate as the timing was, every week in our world is “Amity Week”! Get your beach gear together—we’re going to need a bigger boat for this one.
Mile: 65,032
Quote of the Blog: “We’re going to need a bigger boat"!” - JAWS
Movie Scene of the Blog: “It’s a Great White/Eating Machine” - JAWS
The ferry we took to the island departs from New Bedford, MA, which is just a quick 25-minute drive from our house to the terminal. We only had one day to explore the island, so we made sure to catch one of the earlier ferries. The ferry itself was very nice—and very fast! We enjoyed the scenery and battled the wind on our ride out. At one point, I got up to take a couple pictures and walk around the boat, only to come back to find that my seat next to Amity had been taken by some random person. Pretty funny stuff! It was a smooth and easy ride out to the island.
Martha’s Vineyard is slightly larger than Nantucket, with multiple harbor towns and several beaches scattered across the island. Our ferry dropped us off in Oak Bluffs, a really cute tourist town. After leaving the boat, we wandered through town for a bit. We stopped for coffee and a doughnut at Back Door Donuts. We had only planned on grabbing coffee, but when we saw the shark-shaped doughnut, we couldn’t say no. It was almost too cute to eat!
Next, we made our way to the bus stop to head over to Edgartown. This turned out to be the best way to get around the island. It’s too big to bike from place to place, and car traffic would’ve driven me nuts within five minutes. The buses were very convenient—when you wanted to stop, you just pressed a button.
Our first stop was the famous “Jaws Bridge,” a small bridge over an estuary leading to a salt pond. While exploring the beach, we took photos where the iconic scenes were filmed and made sure to check for sharks! Young Billy probably wouldn’t have even come out to the island, considering how afraid I used to be of sharks. That fear came straight from watching JAWS. So being here was low-key thrilling—and, at times, pretty comical—for Amity and me. After that, we hopped back on the bus and headed into Edgartown.
Edgartown is where many of the JAWS beach scenes were filmed. While exploring this part of the island, we tried to hunt down some of the Amity Week merch that was scheduled to drop the following week, but we weren’t as lucky as we had hoped. The best things we found were a bottle of Amity Island Red Blend wine and an official Amity Week flyer—which they wanted $35 for! Needless to say, we passed on the flyer because of the price. One of the funniest things we saw was an advertisement for a “Guided Tour of Amity.” Amity figured she’d probably be the best tour guide for that! Another hilarious thing we saw in Edgartown was a statue of a man lounging. We have totally seen this state before in Leawood, Kansas next to the Early’s house.
Another short bus ride from Edgartown brought us to South Beach, where the opening beach scene in JAWS was filmed. We were surprised by how quiet it was. We lounged by the water for a while and soaked up the sun.
After that, we wanted to check out one last town on the island: Vineyard Haven. Once again, we were a bit let down in our search for Amity Island or Amity Week gear, but the town itself was great. We got in some walking and tourist-ing. Amity loved all the hydrangea flowers everywhere, and her new tattoo matched them so perfectly! With her sweater perfectly draped over her shoulders and tied in front, she totally embodied the Martha’s Vineyard stereotype.
After one last quick bus ride, we were back in Oak Bluffs for dinner. We wandered around and found a charming restaurant perfectly situated on the harbor, overlooking the water and all the boats. It was called Lobsterville Bar & Grill, and it had very southern-style architecture. We scored a great balcony spot and took in the moment: our final weeks in Massachusetts, sitting in Martha’s Vineyard, literally on Amity Island. Absolutely amazing.
We wrapped up our time on the island by doing one of Amity’s favorite things—exploring weird and quirky spots she finds on Atlas Obscura. Not only did all the JAWS filming locations we visited show up there, but so did the famous Gingerbread Houses—brightly colored, uniquely designed homes that look like something out of a fairy tale. An Atlas Obscura win for sure!
After a short walk, we were back on the ferry heading home. Luckily, right next to the ferry terminal in New Bedford is an ice cream shop we’d been wanting to try—Acushnet Creamery. We made it just before they closed. After a long day exploring Amity Island (AKA Martha’s Vineyard), some bomb ice cream hit the spot!
Although we didn’t find any Amity Week merch for Amity herself on this trip, I was able to pull off something rad for her. Our anniversary was the week after our visit, which coincided with Amity Week. I reached out to the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks—a summer collegiate baseball team on the island. For Amity Week, they played one game as the Amity Sharks in honor of the 50th anniversary of JAWS. I managed to get her a team uniform! She couldn’t have been happier and got serious street cred from her patients and coworkers when she wore it to work. GO SHARKS!
Nothing is more “Live Rad” than conquering your childhood fears and visiting an island that celebrates JAWS! On top of that, having a wife who’s spent her life being asked if she was named after that movie only made the trip that much more memorable. Next time we head out there, “We’re going to need a bigger boat!!!”