How the other half lives.

Two Sundays ago I went to Martha's Vineyard.

AND Nantucket.

In the same day.

"How did you do this, oh masterful one?" You ask me. And to this I say to you: I have kickass friends.

Continuing to prove my point that I have the best friends on the planet, hands-down, my friend Steve, who got his pilot's licence in February, took me out on a lovely Massachusetts spring day in fine fashion to both the Vineyard and Nantucket. I've never been to either place, and I have to say that it felt pretty swanky to be visiting both in the same day. It's also pretty darn cool to watch Steve fly - there's so much that goes into it, and he's just fantastic at it. A few thoughts to share:

The airport on the Vineyard looks almost exactly like the airport on "Wings," at least on the outside. Steve and I had an argument while there about whether "Wings" was set on Nantucket or the Vineyard. I claim Nantucket, he claims Vineyard. Anyone with thoughts on this or the time to look this up (the girls I nanny for could wake up at any moment), feel free to comment. We only stayed at the airport at the Vineyard and had a nice soda while watching the planes come and go, enjoying the sun, and having lovely conversation.

We actually got to walk around Nantucket - took a cab downtown and browsed. It was late Sunday afternoon by then so a lot of the stores were closed, and we didn't bother going in places like "Cashmere City" since we figured we couldn't afford the wares, but it's a quaint little fun town. Steve had an ice cream and my lactose-intolerant/lactaid-forgetting self had a delicious cookie. Steve said he couldn't see staying there more than a day, I could see it as a quiet vacation destination for a week or so. Just reading books, laying out in the sun, sailing. Good stuff. Reminds me of the kind of place my parents would love to go, as it's kind of like where they vacation every year (and I used to vacation with them when I was in school) up in Maine, just more upscale. Anyway, in our walk we stumbled across the Club Car, which I took a picture of. I distinctly remember the skeevier brother on "Wings" (the one who dated girl after girl) discussing the Club Car as a good place to pick up women. This furthers my argument that it was set on Nantucket. In any case, it's kind of cool that they actually took local culture and worked it into the show.

There are people who do this kind of day-long excursion every weekend. There's even a sand landing strip on the Vineyard that ends right on a beach, so you park your plane, get out, and put your towel down and lay out. Crazy. I just can't even imagine. But for a day, I got a glimpse. It was loads of fun, but I have to say it wouldn't have been half as fun had I not had great company.

So, to sum up: Thanks Steve. You rule.

Oh, and go visit the Vineyard and Nantucket if you can. They're pretty fun.