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Sunday, April 15th is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
I’d like to share my experience at the Titanic exhibit two years ago.
My daughter Deb and I went to NYC to see the Titanic exhibit at the Discovery Times Square Expositions building. It has since closed in NYC and moved on to other cities, but you can CLICK HERE to see the exhibit promo.
As you enter the Titanic exhibit you’re given a boarding pass of an actual passenger … you find out at the end of the exhibit whether you survived or not. My third class passenger was Catherine Joseph, she was 24, married and mother of two small children. They all survived. Deb was Nora Hogarty, 18 who was sailing to America to join an order of nuns. She did not survive.
The exhibit was interesting, painstakingly put together and quite haunting.
These workmen are dwarfed by the Titanic’s giant propellers.
As promised in my last post, here is the NY Public Library on 5th Ave.
The cornerstone was laid in May 1902. It was completed in 1910 but it took another year for all the books to be moved in. The library was officially opened at a dedication ceremony in May 1911.
Click here to read the history of the library.
Let’s enter …
(You can click on pictures to enlarge)
The reason Deb and I were at the library in the first place was to see a small exhibit they had on the wonderful PBS Masterpiece series ‘Downton Abbey.’ Turns out the exhibit was across the street but had we known that we wouldn’t have had the pleasure of exploring this beautiful building.
Of the six lighthouses on Martha’s Vineyard I think the Gay Head lighthouse in Aquinnah has the most dramatic and beautiful setting.
This picture of Gay Head lighthouse was taken by me around 1960. I believe the building is the Coast Guard station which was being removed as it was too close to the edge due to the erosion of the cliffs.
This picture is from 2010.
According to the book “Guide to Martha’s Vineyard” the original lighthouse was one of the first revolving ones in the country; often the wooden works became swollen in damp weather, and the keeper or his wife was obliged to turn the light by hand all night long. In 1856 this was replaced by a larger steel structure that housed a stronger light with a Fresnel lens. In 1952 the present automatic light was erected, and the old lens was given to the Vineyard Museum.”
I stayed a few times at the Daggett House Inn before it was renovated and turned into a private residence. One of the things I remember most is their famous Grape Nut bread/toast.
On the lower level of the inn was the breakfast room. According to the Guide to Martha’s Vineyard:
“The room was the first tavern on Martha’s Vineyard to sell beer and ale. In 1660 the taverner, John Daggett, was fined five shillings for “selling strong liquor.” In 1750 the Daggett House was added to the building. Through the years the Daggett House was a custom’s house, a sailor’s boardinghouse, a store, and during the whaling era, a counting house. ”
An interesting feature of the Daggett House was its secret room. I’m not sure what it was used for in the 1600′s or so but during the past years as a B&B it was a guest room, provided they could find the secret door and providing the GHOST wasn’t in residence!!!
The back of the Daggett House had a nice expanse leading to the edge of Edgartown Harbor. A perfect place to have a breakfast or sit and read.
I stayed at the Daggett House twice… once in the main house and once in the charming 2 room house in the garden. It was one of the nicest bed and breadfasts, and now is one of the nicest looking homes in Edgartown.
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Grapenut Bread from the Daggett House.
(This recipe was a staple of the Daggett House Bed & Breakfast on Martha’s Vineyard until it closed. They used to readily hand out recipe cards so I’m assuming there are no copyright issues. But just in case there is, I’m giving full credit here to the inn as it’s their recipe)
Makes 2 loaves
Mix:
2/3 c Grapenuts
1/3 c wheat germ
3 T butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1 1/3 c boiling water.
Stir and let cool to barely warm.
Then, combine 1 T yeast, 1 tsp sugar and 2/3 c warm water, and let stand until bubbly.
Add yeast to the dry mixture. Add 4 c all-purpose flour.
Knead until soft and smooth, then return to bowl and let rise, covered, until double in volume.
Punch down and divide into two loaves, knead for a few minutes, and put into greased loaf pans. Let rise until double in size.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
UPDATED 6/18 to include picture of freshly baked Grape-Nut bread…yum
These are pictures inside the original Fresnel lenses that lit the Gay Head Lighthouse from 1856 until the 1950′s when it was automated. You can see these lenses, which are made up of over 1000 prisms at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown.
“One red, three white light our slumber through the night… Three white, one red bring us back home to Gay Head” Kate Taylor
On Oct 5, 2007 I did my first post about my obsession with the Vineyard. It is 4 years and 7 months later and I’m still finding things to photograph, and write about the place I love most in the world.
I chose to show the above picture of Martha’s Vineyard because it is the one and ONLY jigsaw puzzle I ever did. Really. What prompted me to do this one? It’s of the Vineyard of course. In all honesty I thought it said 100 pieces which seemed like something I could handle… only it wasn’t 100 pieces… it was 1000. It took me a long time but I did it and then I put a coating on it and framed it.
Originally the line under the the title ‘MV Obsession’ said ‘All Martha’s Vineyard, ALL the time’…but I changed it to ‘ALMOST all the time’. There are other aspects of my life I want to share on my blog but it remains at least 90% Vineyard.
So, what have I had to say about the Vineyard. There are 33 categories listed on the left side… I’ve highlighted just a few below. Click on any of them and wander around a bit.
ILLUMINATION NIGHT TOWNS THE TABERNACLE
and the ever popular and challenging…
TRIVIA QUESTIONS (let me know how you do)
Thus ends post #500… here’s to 500 more, or less 
Down a dirt road in the woods of West Tisbury near Indian Hill, is Christiantown.
Christiantown was established in 1659 by Wampanoag sachem Takemmy as a home for Native American converts to Christianity.
A plaque on the above boulder commemorates “the services of Governor Thomas Mayhew and his descended missionaries who here labored among the native Indians.”
By 1600 there were two or three congregations of Native Americans on the Island.
The Christiantown Meeting House, or chapel was built in 1829. There is a tiny altar and six pews inside… nearby is an old graveyard. This is a wonderful place for hiking or a walk in the woods.
The Wampanoag tribe now owns the memorial, the chapel and the burial ground containing graves of early converts.
Christiantown is off the beaten track but worth the effort to find.
In the center of Edgartown stands the Old Whaling Church.
Built in 1843 it is considered the Vineyard’s most outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture.
The Gothic columns are one of its most distinctive features…
…as is its 92 foot high tower. The light in the steeple can be seen many miles out at sea.
Not used as a Methodist Church anymore, the Old Whaling Church is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Trust properties and is used as a performing arts center as well as for weddings and other festive occasions.
One of the most popular concerts is by the Minnesingers chorale group from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. You can see them perform in December during the ‘Christmas in Edgartown’ weekend.
An article a year ago in the Feb, 2009 Vineyard Gazette wasn’t good news for the beloved ferry, the Islander. The Islander was retired in March of 2007 and had sat idle in New York harbor. She was supposed to travel back and forth between Governor’s Island and Lower Manhattan. But some issues had arisen and the Islander was put up on Ebay. What a sad end for the Islander and for those who loved her. The article starts out saying:
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“Failboat,: Islander Is No Longer Seaworthy, Course Set for eBay”
By SAM BUNGEY
Less than two years after her final Vineyard voyage, the once-beloved ferry Islander is floating unwanted off Governors Island, N.Y. waiting to be auctioned off on eBay like so much attic junk.
She is scheduled to appear on the shopping and auction Web site on the morning before Valentine’s Day. There is no reserve bid.
It was supposed to be a new lease on life for the old girl. When the board of Governors Island stepped into buy the ferry in 2007, some dignified sunset years looked in store for the 57 year-old vessel, plying the few hundred yards of calm Hudson waters between Lower Manhattan and the tiny New York bay island.
But she never even made a single journey.”
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On Feb 23, 2009 the Islander was sold for an estimated $23,600. The new owner was not sure if he would sell it whole or scrap it.
For two years the Islander sat idle in NY Harbor.
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According to an article, ‘SO LONG WE WON’T SCRAP THE MEMORIES’, in the Feb 11. 2011 Vineyard Gazette by Mark Alan Lovewell, the Islander was acquired by a marine salvage company in NJ and is being dismantled and the scrap metal being recycled to various foundries.
In 2008 the Martha’s Vineyard Museum did acquire one of the original lifeboats.
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A sad ending for a work horse of a vessel who, even though not sleek or graceful, for 57 years brought her own special beauty to the waters surrounding the Vineyard. The Islander will continue to exist through paintings, photographs and in the memories of those who loved her. There was just “something” about her.
Martha! Martin! New York! Massachusetts! How many aliases and states have claimed this 100 sq mile island? The Wampanoag’s named it Noepe and that stuck until Bartholomew Gosnold came along in 1602.
No one seems to know who the Martin was whose name was once attached to the Vineyard… so let’s move ahead to Martha whose identity is still shrouded in myth. Was she one of Gosnold’s daughters, or his mother, or the name of an English royal. Whoever she was her name stuck and in my opinion has a nicer ring to it then Martin’s Vineyard.
According to the book “The History of Martha’s Vineyard” by Arthur R. Railton, in 1664 Charles II gave NY, NJ and the islands to the east to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1670 Thomas Mayhew, Jr and his grandson Matthew of Massachusetts traveled to NY to ask Gov Lovelace which colony his Island was under… New York or Massachusetts. Gov Lovelace made Thomas Mayhew “Governor for Life” of Martha’s Vineyard and gave him the authority to collect rents from all who lived within its bounds. Voila, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. History lesson over.
