Since my wife’s family has a house there, we spent the weekend in Martha’s Vineyard and attended the book festival.

We took the Steamship Authority ferry from Woods Hole terminal, and were there in no time, going straight to dinner at the delicious State Road restaurant. My sister-in-law was telling me about how not long ago they couldn’t make a reservation when Obama was dining there.

The next day we went to the small but mighty Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival at the Chilmark Community Center. We attended the panel Violence & Justice, featuring Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Chain-Gang All-Stars), Jessamine Chan (School for Good Mothers), Rebecca Makkai (I Have Some Questions for You), Richard North Patterson (Trial), moderated by John Gennari, Professor of English and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, University of Vermont.

After that we went to the Lucy Vincent beach, and then toured the island with our hosts. Martha’s Vineyard is really beautiful, but what pleasantly surprised me the most was learning about its history as a welcoming place for people of color back when the whole country was segregated. That’s why there’s such a strong presence of the black intelligentsia in the island.

Before heading back to Boston, we spent some time trying to get a table at a restaurant, which we finally managed to do at the Offshore Ale Co.

What a lovely and memorable weekend!

Here are some photos.