Category Archives: Activities

Get Excited for Taste of the Vineyard

January 28, 2016 Sandpiper Rentals Staff Leave a comment

Do you love good food? What about charitable causes? If you answered ‘yes,’ don’t miss out on this year’s Taste of the Vineyard. The Taste, as it’s also known, is held for two nights every June. This year, 2016, marks the 31st iteration. Starting June 16th, the lawns of the Dr. Daniel Fisher House will host more than 15,000 square feet of tents featuring delicious food and handcrafted beers and wines from more than 90 of Martha’s Vineyard’s finest establishments. Revelers will pick up their complimentary wine glass and buffet tray, then stroll amongst the tasty offerings. After you’ve had your fill, head over to the dance floor, where Jerry Bennett and the Sultans of Swing will provide the tunes.
Two nights after the party, the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust will reconfigure the tents and host a dinner and charity auction for 350 invited guests. These guests will enjoy a preliminary cocktail hour and peruse the items for auction. After the silent auction, they’ll be treated to a delectable dinner, coffee, cordials, and Chilmark chocolates. Dancing, of course, is also on the agenda.
The Taste of the Vineyard is a charity event. All proceeds go to the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization. What originally started out (in the mid-80s) as an effort to save the Flying Horses Carousel has transformed into a fundraiser to preserve twenty landmark buildings. The Taste is the organization’s most important fundraiser, and has sold out every year since 1999, so get your tickets early! Attendance is limited to 1,200. Tickets are $150 per person, all of which goes to a fantastic cause. Don’t miss out on Martha’s Vineyard’s most-anticipated event!

To view a complete list of the restaurants and breweries participating, you may do so here.

If you’re on Martha’s Vineyard, you may also wish to view the historic properties the Preservation Trust preserves. You can find a full list below:

Be sure to stop in and check out these fantastic properties. If you’re looking for something truly unique, we highly recommend the Flying Horses Carousel, which we’ve discussed in a previous blog post.

And if you’re heading to Taste of the Vineyard, you’ll need a great accommodation. Our Martha’s Vineyard vacation rentals provide a perfect base for relaxing and unwinding in between all of the great activities you can enjoy during your time on the island. We have rental properties all over Martha’s Vineyard, so you can choose to stay on your favorite part of the island. Whether you want to be right in town or more isolated, we have the perfect rental for you. Visit our website to check availability and learn about all of our services!

Getting Here, Martha's Vineyard, MV Rentals, Services

How Does the Steamship Authority Work?

January 12, 2016 Anne Mayhew 6 Comments

For those of you that have been to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, you know that the process of bringing a vehicle along on your Vineyard vacation can be very trying if you don’t know the process! Our island population goes from around 15,000 year round residents to 100,000 August visitors. You really do need to take a ferry to and from the island. It is a 45 minute ferry ride from the Cape.

Once you have booked your Vineyard vacation rental, you will need to work on making arrangements for getting here. The Steamship Authority does not take reservations for the summer season until sometime in January. This year they open reservations online and via mail on January 20th. Mark your calendars! They will open the phone lines up on January 27, 2009.

Sometimes it feels like you have won the lottery when you get just the right times for your reservations for your August vacation. The process can seem unbearable much of the time but following are some tips that might help:

Go online to the Steamship Authority and sign up for your profile number and pin prior to making your reservation.
Go online as soon as you can on January 20, be patient as you may get bumped off the site due to high volume.
Book any time you can on the day of travel or as close to the day of travel and request to be wait listed for your preferred times.

You should know that the wait list system does seem to work out for most travelers that are reserving their tickets this far in advance. The steamship has represented in the past that they do not completely book all of the boats so they will have some flexibility. Things do shift around but you may not know for sure right up until travel time. They do also have a day of sail number you can call to try to change your reservation while you are on the road.

I once had a customer call and book a house one Saturday in August, drive down and get right on the boat and arrive at my office to pay for their vacation home and pick up their key, all in the same day. This is not the norm and I do not recommend you wait to see if this works but, please realize that some of the systems that may seem very flawed can work well in the end!

Events, Martha's Vineyard, Things To Do, Vineyard Haven

Vineyard Playhouse Shows Shouldn’t Be Missed

December 10, 2015 Sandpiper Rentals Staff Leave a comment

Love theater? Check out the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, located in beautiful Vineyard Haven, MA. The Playhouse, built in 1833, served a variety of purposes in its early life: a public meeting house, an Episcopal church, a Masonic lodge, and more. In 1982, Eileen Wilson and Isabella McKamy founded the theater and, in 1993, moved it to its current Church Street location. Since then, the building has been completely renovated and restored, and even expanded to better serve the cast, crew, and guests.

The Playhouse features a wide variety of plays, ranging from the Bard to modern-day tales by promising young talents, like Barney Norris. Mr. Norris won the 2014 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. In April 2015, the Playhouse featured his play, “Visitors,” which The Independent called “a play made with love.” Fans of classic works will enjoy productions by Shakespeare (King John, Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, Henry IV, Henry V, Julius Caesar, and more) and Tennessee Williams. If you’d like to learn more about their productions, visit The Vineyard Playhouse’s Production History.

The excitement at the Vineyard Playhouse extends beyond the stage; the Marilyn Meyerhoff Lobby hosts a variety of fun events throughout the year. This October, the lobby hosted a Poetry Café. The $10 invent included a beverage, a slice of pie, and, of course, readings from local poets. It’s also a popular spot for book releases and stories. Be sure to keep an eye on the Lobby Events page.

If you’re there in the summer, be sure to check out The Fabulists. The Fabulists are a troupe of Playhouse actors performing hilarious script adaptations for children every Saturday during the summer. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children, and the laughs are guaranteed! Visit The Fabulists webpage to learn more.

Speaking of children, the Vineyard Playhouse also offers Theater Arts Camp. If you’re heading to Martha’s Vineyard for a week in summer, why not enroll your kids in a fun-filled theater experience? The camps are for children ages 7-13, and run from early July through late August (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.). You can view their contact information here.

Come out and join the fun at the Vineyard Playhouse! You never know who might appear! At one single play, the premier of Edward Beck’s “Sweetened Water,” the Playhouse hosted actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams, actress Amy Irving (Carrie, Yentl, Traffic), and fashion designer Kenneth Cole.

If any (or all) of this interest you, we encourage you to read the Vineyard Playhouse’s theater news and reviews page.

And if you’re heading this way, be sure to reserve your accommodations through Sandpiper Rentals. Our Martha’s Vineyard vacation rentals are ideal for relaxing and unwinding in between all of the great activities you can participate in during your time on the island. Our rental properties are located all over Martha’s Vineyard, so you can choose to stay on your favorite part of the island. Whether you want to be right in town or more isolated, we have the perfect rental for you. Our homes are all unique, yet they all offer comfortable accommodations and luxurious amenities. Visit our website to check availability and learn about all of our services!