I’m away on my first child-free vacation in four years. By myself. After a few unsuccessful attempts to coordinate a girls weekend over the last year, I decided what I really needed was some time away and I didn’t care if I didn’t have company. Being alone with the kids nearly 24/7 is draining and I felt like I wasn’t being the mom I wanted to be, my patience were thinner, the amount of times I was checking my phone to escape to the outside world were more frequent and I was missing out on the bigger picture. But more than that I was exhausted.
So I set aside some money from one of my accounts and booked a long weekend for myself. I chose Martha’s Vineyard because it’s within driving distance from my house, so no extra costs for flights and if I needed to get home (god forbid) I could. Plus I’ve never been here, so there was the added benefit of trying something new.
I booked an adorable carriage house in Edgartown and off I went. I was lucky to have my trip overlap (by one day!) with an old friend from college, so I spent Saturday night with a glass of wine, takeout, and good conversation.
Yesterday was my first full day here and it was lovely. I slept until 10; took a long, hot shower: and drank hot coffee while reading a real estate guide on the front porch (just for fun, I was kidding on Instagram when I said I was moving here!).
I spent the afternoon exploring Edgartown on foot and then hopped in the car and drove to the end of Katama Road to North Point Beach where I read a book and relaxed in the sun.
To save money and for convenience, I hit up the grocery store when I got on the island and bought items for breakfast and packed lunches, but I promised myself to enjoy dinners out. Last night I treated myself to a dozen oysters and an Allagash White Ale (nice job, Portland!) at the Chowder House, before driving back to Edgartown on Beach Road.
The kids would have loved Beach Road, with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other, so many places to stop and find crabs and clams and shells. Picnic tables and enough sand for a thousand castles. They will love it here.
The weather has been perfect — high 60s to low 70s — and I came early enough in the season that I’ve avoided a lot of tourist congestion. I was one of six people (in fairness the other five were groups) on the beach yesterday afternoon. This has been heaven.
