Shopping on MVY...Hardly

My first few years on the Vineyard were spent browsing stores on Circuit Avenue, Main Street in Vineyard Haven, and the quaint cobblestone streets of Edgartown. Our child was a mere ten months old our first summer, limiting our beach time to an hour or so. It felt like we spent our entire time setting up, only to turn around and dismantle everything since we had to get home for our son's nap time. So, we browsed these streets, pushing his stroller as we meandered in and out of one store after another. What is reassuring each year we come is how little things change here. The same stores reopen for the summer season, hawking items that arrive on those brown trucks in boxes from far away.

Each town has its own character, apparent in the types of stores that they attract. Circuit Ave. is chock full of tacky shops, selling things that remind me of those stalls set up on fairgrounds where you're lured into taking home items that are nonsensical and absurd. There are stores on this street that make no sense like the Tibetan store filled with Buddha statues and incense. There is one teeny bookstore on Circuit Avenue that sells books about, and written by writers who come to the island. There is the one brand store, the thing that identifies you as a Vineyarder--The Black Dog Store. What started out as a bakery has spawned a cottage industry of Black Dog paraphernalia. There are mugs with the recognizable logo of the Labrador. There are belts with the logo, t-shirts, rain jackets, hats, and just about anything where this logo can be emblazoned. If you've spent any time here, you will end up with a healthy collection of Black Dog clothing, mugs, and in our case, a stuffed dog. There is the famous fudge store where you can watch West Indian men and women rolling out the fudge on to a marble table. They also sell brittle that is decadence in every bite. There are three ice cream shops on this one short block. And the arcade where kids are drawn as a bee to honeysuckle. There are restaurants where you can order the ubiquitous fried seafood platters and other assorted items that is New England, although it now seems there are as many sushi chefs in each of these restaurants, ready to whip up a spicy tuna roll along with your order of fried clam strips.

Vineyard Haven's main street feels less tacky, a bit more upscale. There are shops that sell beautiful pottery made by local artisans, or so they claim. There is one very nice kitchen gadget shop that feels like a mixture of Sur La Table, William Sonoma, and Bed Bath and Beyond. The largest bookstore on the island is here where they sell the same books found at any Barnes and Noble, but also those books about or written by writers from the Vineyard, of which there is no shortage.

Edgartown is Preppyness incarnate in each shop. Pink and Kelly Green are the two main colors for the town with each store competing with the other for the domain of Preppyness. Lilli Pulitzer is the main designer of choice for the 'fashionistas' here. It's hard to believe that grown adults wear belts adorned with whales.

What's surprising and also charming of being here is how we are shielded from the mass consumerism rampant everywhere else in our country. There is not a Target anywhere, although if one did open...the lines and traffic jams that would create in the parking. The island has worked hard to maintain its identity, allowing the idiosyncrasies be part of the character. Each store is owned and operated by a family, who are entirely dependent on the traffic of these months for their year's survival. It is the way our country had operated before convenience became top priority instead of the one on one connections of a community. So, I forgo the convenience of having a Target where I can buy toys, kitchen items, trash bags, and anything else that a household may require in one trip. But the popping into small stores for each item doesn't feel like an inconvenience, really. And having so few options narrows the scope of your needs, which is the most interesting thing to discover. We survive on less of the 'bells and whistles' that each of us is convinced we can't survive without. Instead of buying books at the Barnes and Nobles, we head to the public library. DVDs get rented instead of purchased. Food is purchased in small quantities, particularly produce which is gathered at the small farms on the island. Toys, needed diversions during those rainy days, is done so at a Five and Dime where action figures are placed alongside bed linens.

I know most 'All Year Rounders' go off island to do the bulk of their shopping, getting their Target fix at one of the nearby Cape Cod towns. And most summer residents fill up their cars at the Costco before driving on to the ferry. Yet, the proximity of these conveniences have not overshadowed this simplicity of life here. Granite's in Edgartown still does a mean business during these months as families traipse in for something that they had forgotten or discovered needs replacing. I pray each year that none of this will ever change, that a Walmarts doesn't end up arriving. And so far, so good since my prayers seems to get answered each summer I disembark off that ferry.