Holiday homes of the rich and famous ...... Martha's Vineyard

The first official day of Fall and yet it could be mistaken for Midsummer's Day. Not a cloud in sight and very hot. We planned to take the ferry from the nearby harbour and spend the day on Martha;s Vineyard, a journey of thirty-five minutes. The ferry was on time and the short seven mile trip was perfect as we sat on the top deck ad the sea was like a mill pond.

Once docked, we headed for the centre of Oak Bluff and bought tickets for a two hour tour of the six villages on the Island. We learned a lot from the bus driver who had lived there all his life and had met several of the rich and famous who own homes or visit this 'in' isle. As a young man he'd also managed to appear as an extra in the film Jaws, which was shot there. He'd once met Jackie Onasis and had met and knew well, the Clintons. He passed round a number of photos of his family with the Clintons, some taken at the Whitehouse where he and his family had stayed several times!

We were treated to some picturesque ocean and beach view, but as much of the island is tree lined, its difficult to glimpse the homes of the stars.

Nevertheless, we saw Billy Joel's house, Carley Simon's and where Mr Obama spent his holidays (and the bar where his daughter had worked this year). Martha's Vineyard is covered in wild grape vines, but they are unsuitable for wine making and there are in fact no vineyards on the island. This was the quiet season and yet the island still appeared busy ..... wouldn't want to be there on the fourth of July! Back in Oak Bluff, we strolled round the Gingerbread houses and cottages and then after ice cream (good, but not Ben & Bill's!) we headed back to Falmouth.

In the absence of anything more appropriate, I picked Johnny River's 'Sea Cruise', today!