West Tisbury

Time slips away easily in West Tisbury. The clock in the church tower is hand-wound, and strikes the hour by day and night. Music Street, in the heart of the village, got its name from the sound of the pianos brought back by the whaling captains and heard through open windows 150 years ago. The tiny police station by the Mill Pond is just as described in the mystery books of 13th generation town resident Cynthia Riggs. Across the street, an old country store, long since closed, collapses in on itself. In the town cemetery, visitors leave small toy birds on the grave of 19th century poet Nancy Luce, who kept chickens as household pets.

You can definitely get away from it all in West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard's traditional farming community. The porch at Alley's General Store, in the heart of the village, is the place to watch the day go by. Pick up a copy of the Broadside, for "one thin dime", and find out what the locals are talking about – the single sheet, front-and-back paper is a distinctive blend of news and speculation, and is put out by a West Tisbury couple who seem to know and hear everything.

All the Vineyard takes its flora and fauna seriously, but never more so than in West Tisbury, where the trees that canopy the roads have a special protected status. Trim anything back without approval, and life can get mean pretty fast. The Island's leading conservation groups all have properties within the town boundaries where visitors can take easy, peaceful hikes of varying durations:

A different, but equally dramatic, exploration of nature may be found at the Polly Hill Arboretum on State Road. The horticulturist Polly Hill cultivated plants and trees grown from seeds from around the world for over 40 years. She began planning when she was 50 years old, and optimistically assumed she'd see the trees grown; until the last few years, you could see her charging around the grounds on her golf cart, checking out her often fully-grown trees shrubs. Today, the arboretum is a non-profit institution preserving and expanding on her work. It is open for visitors, sunrise to sunset (there is an entrance fee), and for guided tours once a day in the summer.

The combination of community, farmland, ocean beaches (hidden from view down sometimes impassable dirt roads that feel a little like washboards to drive) and hundreds of sheep and cows have inspired artists for years. West Tisbury is home to a number of Vineyard artists, and some of them have galleries – marked by roadside signs – in their homes. Watch for the big OPEN signs, usually hung under a piece of their work. Two more formal galleries are visitor favorites. The Field Gallery, across from Alley's, has big white dancing statues of women by Vineyard artist Tom Maley on its lawn. The Granary Gallery at the Red Barn, on Old County Road, has memorable displays of photographs by summer resident Alfred Eisenstadt, and many paintings and sculptures. Frequent artists openings at them are big events in a little town.

Outside the village center, along State or County roads, are small stores, two schools – one a charter school – and shops, including the Up Island Cronig's (described by residents as Little Cronig's) and Conroy Apothecary, a popular morning gathering spot for Vineyarders who like to get the day's news. (Some of those same news gatherers are often seen later in the day at Alley's, spreading the news they gathered.) Chicama Vineyards, open to the public, is at the very edge of the town, down a paved road that passes the Vineyard's only co-housing project.

At 33.6 square miles, West Tisbury is the second largest village of the six on the Vineyard, and has a population of 1700. West Tisbury residents like their space; there are only sixty eight of them per square mile. They support an elementary school with almost 400 children, grades pre-kindergarten through 8, along with a library across from Alley's and an active senior center called Howes House.

Public Beaches Long Point, open to non-residents who purchase stickers from the Trustees of the Reservation. The tiny beach at Uncle Seth's Pond, a small freshwater pond on Lambert's Cove Road. Lambert's Cove Beach, set aside for year-round and summer residents of West Tisbury. Sepiessa Point Reservation, a nature preserve. Although you can't reach the beaches without a kayak or canoe, this is a cluttered beach swimming and picnicking spot.

The houses often aren't visible from the road, but when they are, they may have interesting architectural characteristics: one, an "eyebrow" window at the roof's peak, has begun to be included into a few of the newer homes being built on the Vineyard. The Lambert's Cove settlement also has its share of fine homes and a charming white church. The cove was once a place of anchorage for the town of West Tisbury.

Summer events in West Tisbury include a farmer's market every Wednesday and Saturday at the Grange Hall, and an annual fair on the grounds of the Agricultural Society. The fair, an old-fashioned country livestock fair that features chicken judging contests and a frying pan tossing competition, is the gastronomical event of the year. People line up like lemmings for the strawberry shortcake, tempura and ribs prepared by local organizations, then go over to the rides to see if they can keep it all down. The fair is advertised by a new poster each year, selected by the Ag Society from dozens of entries.

The Ag Hall itself, where many of the more fragile exhibits are housed during the fair (including the biggest pumpkins and children's art centered around crops and animals), is a point of pride for the Vineyard. It was built via an old-fashioned barn raising, with every able bodied person pitching in. Some of those who worked on it will tell you they secretly inscribed on now-hidden boards their names or the names of people who couldn't be there. One Island resident can still tell you where he put the one with Island favorite daughter Carly Simon's name.

In August, the biggest book sale on the Island, sponsored by the West Tisbury library, runs for four days at the local school (on the last day, all books are free for the taking). And in winter, Parsonage Pond is a favorite skating place when the ice gets thick enough to support a good hockey game.

Martha's Vineyard Transit Authority buses go to town center, with connections west to Aquinnah and east to Vineyard Haven and Edgartown.