Physical State of Matt #19: MASSACHUSETTS
- 50statesofmatt
- Apr 6
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 10
I had only planned to visit my friends on Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend, but it was so idyllic I turned it into my Massachusetts week.
The name of the island is credited to a British explorer with one of the best names I've ever heard: Bartholomew Gosnold. It was originally called Noepe or "land between the streams" by the native Wampanoag Tribe. In 1602 good ol' Gosnold came along and named it after his daughter - or mother - no one's quite sure since they shared the name.
I first met Brad in 2001 when we were working for the producers of Even Stevens on the third and final season of that show. During that time we learned our way around a film set and an AVID editing system, created behind the scenes specials for several films, and got to know the cast & crew including Shia LaBeouf, just 16 at the time.
Brad and I, with our friend Chris, who I met studying abroad in Australia, formed a film company called March Films since we all have March birthdays. During the last few weeks of Even Stevens, Shia approached us to produce a short film that he wanted to direct with his buddy Lorenzo. Brad, Chris, and I pulled together a two-day shoot that summer for Shia to make "Let's Love Hate" (I know, it's a confusing title).
We premiered the film at the Decibel Entertainment Festival in Trinidad and took it around on the festival circuit. Brad, Chris, and I had countless adventures together, and I'm proud we still consider each other best of friends almost 25 years later.
When I was 30 I had a major life transition - similar in ways to this one, but much smaller in scale. Brad and his wife Carolyn took me in and gave me a place to crash when I found myself between jobs, apartments, and relationships.
After several weeks, when I was back on my feet and ready to leave, they graciously invited me to stay. I ended up living with them for over a year, earning me the apt nickname Dupree, after the Owen Wilson character from the movie.
It was Carolyn, a fellow Stephen King fan, who hooked me up with tickets to the premiere of IT, which I mentioned in my MAINE post.
Brad and Carolyn have had their house on Martha’s Vineyard for years. I have always had an open invitation to visit, which I promised to do, but hadn’t made it up to this point. This was my opportunity to finally do so.
Martha’s Vineyard was a quaint, modest fishing island and summer vacation spot in 1974 when the movie Jaws was shot there. In 2024 Vineyard Haven, the main hub for ferries to and from the mainland, beat out Jackson, Wyoming and Breckenridge, Colorado as the most expensive town in the US.
I should have anticipated the volume of traffic heading to the ferry on a Friday in July, but I didn’t think ahead. I discovered the parking lot in Falmouth was full and was rerouted to a back-up lot miles away. This lot was packed as well, but large enough to have a few open spots way in the back.
A parking shuttle and forty minute ferry ride later, I was riding shotgun with Brad and his golden retriever Bear, back to their house just past Oak Bluffs. Brad has been remodeling houses since he left the film industry. His house on the Vineyard has been completely redone and felt brand new despite being a hundred years old. It offered comfort and stunning views of the water.
I had days to catch up with Brad and Carolyn - more time than I’d spent with them in years. Just like when I was in TENNESSEE, it was wonderful to reconnect with the friends who knew me well before I started dating my former partner, and who got to know her as well. It was a helpful reminder of who I am, even if I lost sight of that during my marriage.
I spent a lot of time with teenagers that week - more time than I’d spent with them since I was one myself. Brad and Carolyn’s daughter Maddie and her friend Nicole (Nikki B) were both at the house. Their friend Hudson, from another family who summers on the vineyard, visited often.
Teenagers get a bad rep - and I’d argue that in most cases they earn it. These three were undoubtedly teenagers - easily exasperated, glued to their phones, keen to gossip, and full of the confidence that comes from a lack of life experience. But I was impressed by them. They were sharp, hard working, and kind.
I’ve never wanted kids of my own, but if I had I would have been proud to have raised any one of these three. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this small sample size changed my mind about teenagers in general, but I enjoyed my time with them immensely.
My first full day there, it poured ferociously. Wind swept the water sideways, pushing waves around the little inlet and buffeting the boat against its dock. I love a good rain storm, and there is something poetic about looking out on a tempest over the sea - especially with a mug of hot tea from the comfort of a warm and tranquil house.
The weather cleared up by that evening when Brad and Carolyn had dinner plans at The Atlantic in nearby Edgartown with their neighbors, and they included me. I've been obviously limited by space on this trip - only what I can fit into my car. For special occasions, I packed one blazer, which I used at my mom’s wedding, and a couple of dress shirts.
Unfortunately I hadn’t been planning on going anywhere fancy during my short weekend visit to The Vineyard, so I had only a couple sets of my casual road clothes with me. Thankfully, Brad and I are about the same size, so I was able to borrow some clothes. I felt like an official Islander.
The dinner and company was fantastic. As I wrote about in my FRIENDLY post, at the end of dinner a minority owner of the Boston Celtics who’d been hanging out at the members-only club upstairs, brought their championship trophy down to the bar to show it off. It was a madhouse, people crushing in to touch it or take pictures with it. “You just never know on The Vineyard,” said Brad with his characteristic smirk.
I’m not much of a basketball fan (or a fan of Boston for that matter), so I stayed at the table, too cool for school. That was, until Carolyn shouted “Matt, get in there. For the blog!” Of course she was right, so I did.
Sunday had been the last day I’d planned to stay. I was heading to Vermont, though I didn’t know where yet. Carolyn had to fly back to LA for work, but Brad asked me to stick around, like he had when I was 30.
When I thought about it, it was obvious. I’d never been to Martha’s Vineyard before, and it wasn’t the obvious place. So I changed my plans on the fly and made Massachusetts state number 19. In addition to getting lots of time with Brad, I got to hang with Bear. I’d been missing my pups back in Portland, so it cheered me up to give him pets.
The view from the office they let me use was stunning. Improving your workspace can change your whole attitude about work - even when it’s frustrating. Between meetings, I watched ospreys hunt the inlet, circling and diving into the water for fish.
Brad took me around to explore The Vineyard. No matter where we went, I was shocked by the amount of traffic. Despite being only 100 square miles, roads on the Vineyard seemed to be constantly congested. I guess that makes sense during the summer when everyone wants to be there. However, like most towns that survive on seasonal tourism, I was told it’s a ghost town in the winter.
A few times during the week we drove to Nancy’s Restaurant, where Maddie worked in the takeout window. I must have consumed a dozen lobster rolls before my week on The Vineyard was up, a delicacy I only allow myself when I'm in New England. One evening, after a late lunch, I decided to walk back from Oak Bluffs to the house.
I was convinced that the mosquitos in MAINE were the worst I’d ever seen - that was until the Martha’s Vineyard mosquitos said “hold my beer”. I had more than a dozen itchy bites swelling on my body by the time I finished the two-mile walk.
But mosquitoes aren’t even the worst pests on The Vineyard. Hudson joined us for dinner at Nomans that night, fresh from getting a dose of antibiotics in the emergency room. He showed off the rings of his “bulls-eye rash”, an early warning sign of lyme disease. He had the most rings the doctors had seen on a patient that season, he boasted.
Martha’s Vineyard has a thriving tick population and one of the highest rates of lyme disease in the country. After learning this, I avoided tall grasses and checked, then rechecked, myself religiously for ticks.
Hudson shared another story with me that blew my hair back. The previous summer he was working as a lifeguard in Chilmark when he and a group of other lifeguards discovered a package that had washed ashore containing 24 kilos of pure cocaine, the largest cache that has ever landed in New England. I thought that only happened in the movies!
One afternoon, Brad took me, Nikki B, and Bear out for a cruise on his boat. Nikki B selected some EDM tunes to play. It had been a while since I’d been out on the water and the day was perfect. As Brad opened up the engine and we sliced through the water, the song “Where You Are” started playing.
“I get this feeling, I want to be where you are. I want to be where you are. I want to be where you are.” I grinned as the sun warmed my face, Bear perched on the prow with his face in the wind - it seemed like everyone would want to be where I was at that moment.
Brad took us through Middle Ground and into Katama Bay, pointing out landmarks along the way:
There was the impossible-to-miss 15,000 square foot Ernie Boch Mansion, built in the 1980’s by an auto dealership magnate.
There was the ultra-exclusive Chappaquiddick Beach Club, nearly impossible to get into no matter how rich and connected you are.
And there was the Chappy Ferry, a pair of little boats that takes passengers and their cars the 527 feet between Edgartown and Chappaquiddick. Chappaquiddick is a smaller island to the east of Martha’s Vineyard. It is, of course, the site of the infamous drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne in a car driven by Senator Ted Kennedy in 1969.
My final day on the Vineyard, Brad drove me (for another lobster roll) to Menemsha on the opposite end of the island. I remarked, as we drove through it, that center of the island actually has very little development - everyone wants to be on the coast. It’s largely a wooded area woven through with 44 miles of bike paths.
Menemsha is a small village that supports most of the fishing which is still done on The Vineyard and is the origin point for many of small cruises. It doubled for Amity Island Harbor, which launched The Orca to hunt and finally kill the giant shark in Jaws (spoilers).
Being such an iconic film, you can imagine that the people (and chamber of commerce) of Martha’s Vineyard are proud of the island being used for the filming location of Jaws.
My last day before leaving I went to what the locals call Jaws Bridge, which is featured in a classic terrifying scene.
Despite signs saying it’s forbidden, hundreds of people go there each day to “jump jaws”. Being the cinephile that I am, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity while I was there.
The week on Martha’s Vineyard was, on the whole, a restful one. Seeing old friends had a grounding effect on me after the persistent moving, week in and week out. When you’re feeling lost, it can be helpful to spend time with those who know you best. It recharged me, which I truly needed for my 4-day, 1,500 mile drive to Iowa.
I stopped by Boston on Friday morning to spend some time with my mom and Jeff before his surgery. It was the last time I saw him.
Yes, and…
Matt
PS - Brad drives from LA to Martha’s Vineyard and back each summer so he can have his truck and Bear with him on the island. Based on my rave reviews of Sandusky, he stopped by with Maddie on his way back to LA to check it out. He reported that he enjoyed it.
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