LIGHTHOUSES AND SOUTH BEACH

A foggy, coolish kind of day, we decided to visit the remaining lighthouses. The East Chap Lighthouse, above, is built into a building. Its fenced with a no trespassing sign by order of the Homeland Security Dept. Its possible the lighthouse keeper lives in the building or maybe they have expensive tracking equipment inside. We then drove to the West Chap Lighthouse surrounded by a small park with benches. Much friendlier.

Of course, it doesn't take you long to realize if you've seen one, you've seen them all. They are prefabricated of steel and set on a foundation. No one lives in this lighthouse. It sits next to a residential area. Most property owners built for that view of the ocean, sky and light and the views from this bluff are beautiful.

Back to Edgartown for a closer look at their lighthouse. This one sits on the low waterfront and has a history. On this spot the first lighthouse on the island was build in 1828. Shoddily made of wood, the lighthouse keeper grumbled about having to row to work every morning. He wouldn't live in it because the roof leaked. It had a lantern that could be seen from 14 miles The powers that be built him a wooden causeway. Since then, the sands have filled in the area and no boat is needed to get to the lighthouse.

 Keeper after keeper decried the shoddy structure as unsafe. In 1938,  a hurricane demolished it. The money was appropriated for the new one.

The Children's Memorial Project  was placed here, with the names of children who died to be memorialized in stone bricks inlaid around the "light". While there, emotional visitors sought the name of a child they knew and treated the stone with great reverence, brushing away the sand and placing there a flower.

 Some of the most beautiful old houses in New England stand sentry to this harbor, some with widows walks from the whaling days of two hundred years ago.
We drove around and viewed some of these stately old homes with lovely yards.

We drove to Katama Beach, on the south side of the island. It was chilly but even so, two people were on the beach.

Just as we were leaving, a bi-plane swooped down but before I could get my camera out, it was out of sight. We saw the ads for a ride on this plane, for $199. Worth it, in my opinion. They are noisy, and cold and acrobatic.

We stopped at Ben and Bill's Ice Cream Shop and enjoyed a delicious triple deck ice cream, but decided we preferred regular fare over the Lobster Ice Cream. The only place on the island to serve lobster as a dessert.
And, we walked again among the painted ladies because they are endlessly charming, to me, anyway. This one seemed appropriate for a light house day.

I never seem to capture a bird photo, but this was my lucky day.