Friday, April 18, 2014

Parks and Cape Women Online

Before I get to today's "P" post, I wanted to share that my article entitled "A Midwesterner's Love Letter to Martha's Vineyard" was published in the Spring issue of Cape Women Online this week. I was a little nervous about this article because it's one of the most personal things I've ever written, but now that it is finished I'm super excited to have it on the site. I'm celebrating its publication for this week's Celebrate the Small Things hop!

If you'd like to read the article, please visit the magazine site here.

Now on to P and the parks of Martha's Vineyard.

Since Martha's Vineyard is a beautiful island, it's no surprise that it is the home of some beautiful parks.


Owen Park, named for William Barry Owen, who is known for purchasing the rights to Thomas Edison's Victor Talking Machine, is one of those. After his death in 1914, Owen's widow gave the land the park is situated on to the town of Vineyard Haven and the park was born. Located on the Vineyard Haven harbor, it's a picturesque park that is also close to the town's shops and restaurants. Clancy and I enjoyed our visit there last year.


Another charming park is Ocean Park in the town of Oak Bluffs, which was featured in yesterday's "O" post.

Ocean Park gazebo (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The gazebo shown above is the centerpiece of the park. When I was a kid, band concerts were held at the park every Sunday evening in the summer. While the band played inside it, kids would run around the gazebo.

When my niece was a baby in the early 1980s, my dad would pick her up and take her around and around to the music. What I remember most about this is that our dog couldn't stand it if she was not included. She would insist on accompanying my dad and niece and wouldn't be left out. I can't remember if other dogs joined in, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did because the island has always been very dog-friendly.

I can't see the gazebo now without thinking of our little beagle/dachshund dog with her big ears flapping in the wind and her little legs going like crazy to keep up with the concert runners.




My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.

41 comments:

  1. Congrats on the publication of your article!

    This park looks lovely and Clancy seems happy about visiting it. :)

    shahwharton.com

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  2. Congrats, Julie. Beautiful pic's and wonderful memories!

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  3. That's funny the dogs wanted in on the dancing action.
    Congratulations on the article! That is good stuff.

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  4. Congratulations on the article, Julie! I think you should put all your A-Z posts together and write up a memoir/travel guide about the Vineyard. :)

    Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
    Minion, Capt. Alex's Ninja Minion Army
    The 2014 Blogging from A-Z Challenge

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  5. I can see why Clancy would enjoy it there. Congratulations on the article - it deserved to be published.

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  6. Congratulations on the article publication.
    Beautiful pics too.
    Happy Easter, Julie.

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  7. Congrats on your article getting published!

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  8. @Shah, I think he was. Thanks!

    @Cathy, thank you!

    @Alex, yeah, she wouldn't stay out of it LOL. Thanks!

    @Madeline, oh, thanks! Maybe I will do that. :)

    @Bob, thank you, I appreciate that.

    @Suzanne, thanks so much.

    @Sarah, thanks, I'm excited about it.

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  9. Your lovely photos and descriptions have me longing for summertime (and missing my pooch, who passed away last year).

    Happy A-Zing
    Laurel
    Laurel's Leaves

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  10. Love that picture of you and Clancy. :)

    And congrats on the article!

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  11. Congratulations on the article Julie. Love your picture.

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  12. Congratulations on your article's publication! That's fantastic!

    Thanks for sharing both the pictures and that wonderful story with us- I'm smiling from ear to ear!

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  13. I will check out your article when I get a chance-Good for you and you should be proud! Parks are wonderful and I see you have a black lab-I miss my Katie girl (she was 13 when she passed away 2 yrs ago). Dogs are family and they always bring back such beautiful memories

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  14. What lovely pics and what SWEET memories!

    Congrats on your article, Julie.... off to read it now!

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  15. HI, Julie,

    I just popped back again after reading your article.

    I touched me... How incredible you found yourself from digging back into the past and appreciating your forefather's history...

    How lucky you are to have such long roots established in an America gone by...
    (posted this on O by error...lol)

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  16. I'd love to hang out in Martha's Vineyard and see all the white rich people.

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  17. @Laurel, oh, I'm sorry about your pooch!

    @LG, thank you!

    @Rachna, thanks so much, I appreciate.

    @Beverly, thank you, I'm so glad you liked it.

    @Birgit, oh, I'm sorry about your Katie, I can imagine you miss her. My dog is actually a mutt, we're not even sure what he's got in him LOL.

    @Michael, I'm so glad you liked it, thank you for your comment!

    @Michael, I'm not rich so I guess you wouldn't see me.

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  18. Parks are wonderful places, and I love the memory of your dog running after the concert goers.

    Congratulations on you article!

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  19. Congratulations on your article!!!!

    I love the picture of the gazebo. It's beautiful!

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  20. Julie, your article is such a wonderful glimpse into the birthing of a novel. Augmented by your lovely pictures here, we can now all appreciate your love and longing for the Vineyard.

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  21. I love gazebos too. They have one in our park here, and I could seriously spend all day in one, just thinking and feeling.

    True Heroes from A to Z

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  22. Congrats, well deserved!

    If a few words are written from the heart and soul, it shines through in the prose. I like gazebos and porches.

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  23. How wonderful to have an article out there. I love that gazebo. A perfect place to sit and read or stare at the sky.

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  24. @Tyrean, she was a little cutie for sure. Thank you!

    @Chrys, thanks so much.

    @Inge, that means alot, thanks!

    @Crystal, I love them too and I don't even know why. There's just something about them. :)

    @DG, thank you! And I do as well..

    @Lee, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

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  25. I love that you're getting articles published (and getting speaking engagements, too)!! You're my promotion hero!! :)

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  26. @Lexa, oh, you're so nice, thanks!! I feel like I have a long way to go but it feels good to get a few things under my belt. :)

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  27. Yay for you, Julie!

    Hugs and chocolate!

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  28. That's awesome about your article! And that gazebo (love that word) is beautiful.

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  29. Congratulations! It's a beautifully written article. Have a lovely Easter weekend. :)

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  30. That's a lovely picture :) I'll hop by to read your article tomorrow. Congratulations!!

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  31. All the fun they must have had way back when. The days spent there are indelible.

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  32. I can understand those blank stares when you mentioned Martha's Vineyard. It used to happen to me as as we (as a family) would always go to nondescript places, where the mad crowd was not there to disturb us.

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  33. @shelly, thanks! Hugs back to you.

    @Loni, it is a cool word, isn't it? Thanks!

    @Christine, thanks so much, you too.

    @Liz, thank you!

    @Susan, they are. :)

    @Haddock, those are just the kinds of places I like. :)

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  34. Congratulations on your publication. Those parks are beautiful. I love a gazebo.

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  35. There's nothing better than lazing about in the shade in a park in, say, spring. Summer, not so much. And winter not so much either. haha.

    Major congrats on your article, Julie - that's awesome news!!

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  36. @Nana, thank you!

    @Trisha, yeah, I'm not a summer person either. I wish it could be spring & fall all year LOL. Thank you!

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  37. Congratulations on the article, I will go and read it now. The island parks sound beautiful. It all sounds so lovely that if I lived on the East Coast, I would visit the island.

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  38. I read your story and it touched my heart. I spent my summers on many islands in the Stockholm archipelago, but our house was on one of them. So I have my love for islands that I too came upon as a child. I forgot you wrote for Best Friends. I supported them from their beginnings until this latest recession. Now that thing are looking up, I will do so again. this is a wonderful article, so much to love, a lighthouse keeper, wow. And I just read about Horace Greeley as a character in one of Roland Yeomans' books.

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  39. Hi Julie - gorgeous place .. and I love the photo of you and Clancy ...

    I'm missing out - I see from Inger's comment .. sad, but true! Cheers and Happy Easter .. Hilary

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  40. Awww that's a lovely memory of your cutiepie dog. It's great to have a pretty place like the gazebo to reminisce. Congrats on the article! I bookmarked the site and will read it tonight when I have a little more time. :D

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  41. Congrats on the publication :)

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