Yes, we spontaneously went to the Island fireworks show last night and of course we planned for it! If we don’t have the kitchen sink with us wherever we go, we just aren’t happy. This requires planning. ♥
August is the month for everything on the island; Illumination night, the Fireworks, and the Fair are all this week! I think we might skip the Fair this year, a person can only have so much fun, but last night, the pull to the fireworks was irresistible.
We packed a picnic: fried chicken (the secret to really crisp fried chicken, in case you don’t already know, is to soak it in milk for an hour before you dredge it in flour and fry it in oil–makes a huge difference!), coleslaw (with chunks of juicy pineapple), carrot and celery sticks, a blue mason jar of gin and tonics (with limes), sparkling water mixed with lemonade, a cutting board (can’t go without the cutting board) with cheese and apple slices, a box of Chilmark chocolates — no one is going to go hungry — plus our chairs, blankets, towels, jackets, and of course three cameras! (That’s where you come in.♥) So, off we go, brilliant Joe and his cart on wheels spontaneously getting ready to go to the park to meet our friends for the fireworks!
We trek the half-mile from our parking place through the narrow lanes under shady trees in the Campground, past all the little gingerbread cottages, over to Ocean Park, where the crowd is beginning to gather on the lawn around the bandstand. We find our perfect spot on little knoll, spread our blankets, greet our friends who come with their own kitchen sinks, including six pizzas, two ice chests, and lobster rolls! We are ready!
Us wise people of goodwill settle in to eat our picnic dinners and listen to the band as dark begins to fall and the excitement builds. The Oak Bluffs Fire Department puts these fireworks on every August for whoever wants to come. The “Grand Ladies,” the old Victorian houses you see in the background, have parties on every porch; they overlook the park, and the park overlooks the sea. Kids break open lightsticks and
♫ The Vineyard Haven Band plays the best old music, ♪ the same songs they’ve played for generations, ♪ It’s a Grand Old Flag and Yankee Doodle Dandy ♫ and so many more. The tradition is for the mom’s and dad’s to dance ’round and ’round the bandstand with their children (twirling their lightsticks as they go) as the “band plays on.” It’s a fun way to wait (forever) for the sun to go seriously down, the sky to go completely black, so the fireworks can begin. The kids are so excited, but so are the adults! Two, I know of, especially. ♥
And finally, at 9 pm, on a warm, balmy, windless evening next to the sea; you lean back in your chair, kick way back because the show has begun.
I could show you this better if Youtube was working for me this morning because I took some good videos…but since it isn’t…at least you are saved from the massive booms these “bombs bursting in air” were making! But what you’re missing are the ooohs and aaahs, the clapping, the screaming, the hooping, and appreciative yelling from the crowd. That’s the good part!
The light filled the sky above us.
Squealing and shrieking is occurring….I am sinking deeper into my chair from the attack of the big fireworks right over my head.
Which keep getting bigger; taking up the entire space of an eye, from one edge of your peripheral vision to the other!
Awesome!
The light from the fireworks reflects on the faces of the crowd in this massive shared experience of time-honored tradition . . . little kids will never forget it . . . .
It’s impossible to do justice to the finale with still photos. It was so wild I couldn’t even leave the camera on ’til the end, I had to turn it off in order to hide my face and scream. Joe said it felt like they were going to eat us! It did! They were so close! If Youtube comes up, I’ll add in a video of it later so you can see. I really think you will scream too. (Thereby proving I am not the weenie we all know I am, and normal, like you!)
After the adrenalin had settled down, we packed up and wheeled our cart back to the car under a huge yellow half-moon, and joined the long snaky trail of red tail lights winding along the shore to home. And that was it, another year in the life of the Oak Bluffs Fireworks on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. I hope you enjoyed our little trip. I love being able to take you along. Every day is not a holiday around here even though it must seem like it; it’s been a LUCKY week! ♥
WILLARD starts going out on Tuesday! Good surprises await you! Love you! Have a great weekend! Root beer floats anyone? Lay on a raft somewhere? Water, as in get in some? Life is short, eat dessert first . . . xoxo
P.S. Guess what, I just got access to youtube! (If you really want to know how it felt you would have to turn out all the lights, lay on your back, and put the computer screen about three inches from your face!)
This was last night…. but first I have to give you a little history: On Martha’s Vineyard, there’s a neighborhood called The Campground. It began around 1840 as a Methodist meeting place; they came with their families every summer for years, camping out, setting up their tents in this location about a block from the sea. After a while, they started building tiny cottages, with almost no space between them, where their tents used to be. The Tabernacle (above) was constructed in the 1870’s, and is the center of the Campground; the cottages go all around it, with narrow walkways and “roads” just the right size for a horse and buggy, but not so good for cars.
The little houses are dripping with history (and gingerbread!). Illumination Night started in the 1870’s when they began lighting up the Campground; the cottages are decorated with paper lanterns; the evening begins with a community sing in the Tabernacle and picnic dinners on the lawn; then the street lights go out; the cottages light up; and everyone strolls down the lanes to oooh and aah at the colors. And that was last night! I took a million photos….thought you’d like to see some of them . . . Ready? We’re going to get there early and get a good parking space.
I almost don’t know where to start with the photos! The cottages are painted in the most imaginative ways, and they all have porches. Look at that little detail on the screen! And the curtains! Someone loves this house.
Porches, paint, rocking chairs, and gingerbread . . .
Peeks at simple elegant cottage life.
The furniture, like the cottages, very big on charm. Where less is more.
And more is fun. But you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
This is where the truly festive people live! Makes you feel normal doesn’t it? So let’s go to the Tabernacle and sing!
On our way there, these two adorable people. And now it begins . . . small town life at its best. 
You’re in there, under the tabernacle…or you’re outside, playing on the lawn, throwing lightsticks around. You’re singing I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah, Yankee Doodle Dandy; you sing B – I – N – G – O, and you’re doing stand-up-sit-down songs with the leader of the band.
I think I see you! And then . . . . . . the lights go off! Everyone out of their chairs for the promenade.
The people on the porches love it as much as we do. They get to people watch; we are the animals in their ever revolving zoo!
People go all out, it’s a gift! And we love them for it! 
Do you believe in magic?
