The first thing I did on Sunday morning July 16, 2017 was laugh to myself when my photographer mentioned to his wife that we had to “leave the motel no later than eight o’clock so we don’t miss the first ferry to the island at nine.” Tom had figured it would take us about a half-hour to make the nearly 20-mile drive from Sandwich to Falmouth, Massachusetts and he had a Jeep reserved for us to pick up on Martha’s Vineyard at 10:00am. If we missed the Island Queen ferry on its first crossing, the next departure from the mainland wasn’t until 10:30am and it would greatly reduce our sightseeing time on the island.
We left the Sandwich Lodge and Resort motel at 8:12am and my photographer was immediately concerned; especially after his wife said “Oh quit worrying, we’ll get on that first ferry in plenty of time.” Once Vicki had the Avenger parked at the Falmouth Inn, it took a little bit more time than we had figured to walk to the ferry dock. But my photographer’s wife was right; we boarded the Island Queen and we were in our seats at 8:58am – we had an extra two minutes to spare as the ferry left the dock precisely at nine o’clock.
After a short walk into Oak Bluffs, we had no issue with our Jeep reservation at Sun ‘N’ Fun as owner Don Gregory was extremely friendly and very accommodating. I had to laugh to myself when Don mentioned to my cameraman that he might be able to photograph the nude beach near the Gay Head Lighthouse. My biggest concern popped into my resin-filled mind when I wondered whether or not my large photographer would try to prance around on that beach without any clothes on. I had doubted he would do that, but just that image disturbed me. When my head cleared, I was placed in the backseat of the Jeep as the three of us headed out to discover Martha’s Vineyard. While my photographer’s mouth watered at the thought of taking pictures of filming locations for the 1975 thriller ‘Jaws’, there were plenty of other beautiful sites on the island to behold as well; especially since there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature hovered around 90 degrees with a slight ocean breeze.
Our first stop was nearly two miles from Sun ‘N’ Fun that took us to the northern-most point of Oak Bluffs where we found the house that Amity Police Chief Martin Brody and his family lived. But unfortunately for Jaws fans, the house had been renovated over the years and looked nothing like it did in the movie. However, the small boat dock that was situated behind the house was reported to be the one used in the film.
My photographer wanted to capture one final image of Chief Brody’s house from a position where he could see the home and the boat dock, so Tom stepped up onto a berm near a fence to gain a little elevation. Seconds after he took the picture, my photographer lost his footing coming off the small rise and he stumbled into the middle of Chop Drive. From my position inside the closed camera case, all I could hear was a thud, a groan, and the smack of his camera as it hit the pavement. The only way I knew for sure what had happened was when I heard a car pull up close to us and someone asked him if he was okay. Tom hobbled back to the Jeep where his wife was enthralled with her phone; at which time I heard him say: “Didn’t you see me fall into the road back there? I was nearly hit by a car and the protective filter on my camera is broken. Luckily I only have a slightly scraped knee and a bruised ego.” I was lucky as the padded case kept me safe, but all I could do was laugh when I pictured his fat carcass sprawled out in the middle of the road as he flopped around like a wounded opossum that was struck by a car.
Our next Jaws film location was on the western side of Martha’s Vineyard near a small fishing village known as Menemsha. It took a little over a half-hour for Vicki to navigate the Jeep along the paved roads of the island until we arrived at the harbor where Quint, Brody and Hooper had set sail on the Orca in search of the man-eating shark. We spent over an hour in Menemsha as we took in the atmosphere of the fishing village; sites that included a stop inside the Menemsha Fish Market where my photographer and his wife saw an enormous lobster. They also had lunch at a place called the Menemsha Galley that was located next to a vacant lot where Quint’s shack had been built for the film. As I looked out from the camera case, I envisioned the Orca as it sailed out of the harbor.
Tom took the wheel of the Jeep for our seven-mile drive around Menemsha Pond where we ended up near the Gay Head Lighthouse at Aquinnah. Once we made it to that scenic and very popular spot, it was difficult to find a parking place. Once the Jeep was parked, we spent about 45 minutes taking in the scenery near the Aquinnah Cliffs that overlooked Gay Head. We saw several Jaws film locations there, including the Gay Head Lighthouse; a boulder that Richard Dreyfuss sat on during the film; and the location of the famous ‘Amity Island Welcomes You’ billboard. As Tom was photographing the beautiful Aquinnah Cliffs and the beach below, he suddenly remembered what Don Gregory at Sun ‘N’ Fun had told him – there was a nude beach near the lighthouse. And wouldn’t you know it, Don was right!
Once my photographer finished gazing at the beach where he saw sun bathers tanning areas that don’t normally see sunshine, the three of us boarded the Jeep for the 20-mile drive from the western shore of Martha’s Vineyard to Edgartown; which was located on the eastern shore of the island. In the movie Jaws, Edgartown portrayed the town of Amity and Tom was excited to photograph some of the buildings used in the movie.
We arrived in Edgartown around 2:00pm and Tom went to work capturing images of the famous film sites. The four main buildings that he focused on were the Amity Police Department; the Amity Gazette; Amity Town Hall; and the intersection near the hardware store where Chief Brody bought materials to make signs. During our final shoot near the hardware store, my cameraman saw a youngster with a University of Michigan hat on his head. When Tom said “Go Blue” to the kid, it turned out that he and his mother live in Marine City, Michigan; a small town just eight miles south of where we reside. The two of them were visiting Martha’s Vineyard while on vacation.
Edgartown is an old whaling town that was incorporated in 1671 and the three of us found it to be very charming; even though hundreds of tourists seemed to be everywhere. The biggest disappoint for us was the fact that Edgartown Town Hall was closed on Sunday and my photographer knew that the table and clock shown in the movie Jaws were still in use inside the building. It would have been cool if the chalkboard where Quint scraped his fingernails was still there as well.
We had one more major Jaws film site to visit and it was only a short jaunt north from Edgartown. The American Legion Memorial Bridge, which locals have named “The Jaws Bridge”, connects Edgartown with Oak Bluffs along a narrow stretch of land along the Joseph Sylvia State Beach. Numerous scenes in the movie were shot at or near the area – including the scene where the great white shark swam under the bridge after devouring a boater. The beach was also the location where young Alex Kitner was killed by the shark.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, it was time for us to bring the Jeep back to Sun ‘N’ Fun in Oak Bluffs and then catch the 6:45pm ferry back to the mainland. It was less than a four-mile drive from the Jaws Bridge back into Oak Bluffs where we dropped off the Jeep; and since everything went smoothly, we arrived at the ferry dock about an hour before the scheduled departure time. But at exactly 6:25pm, the Island Queen came into view as it made its way from Falmouth.
We had an amazing day on Martha’s Vineyard where we not only had the opportunity to see the naturally beautiful scenery that the island had to offer, we also got to visit numerous film locations from Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster hit movie Jaws. For me, it was okay to take a day off from visiting Presidential sites as I enjoy seeing movie locations as well.
It was around 7:30pm when we finished our walk back to the Falmouth Inn where our Avenger was parked and it was a shade past 8:00pm when we returned to the Sandwich Lodge and Resort where we decided to spend another night. Since my photographer and his wife were exhausted from a day in the sun and wind, they once again walked next door to the British Beer Company for dinner.
I was placed next to the television set at 9:15pm and the room’s lights were extinguished shortly thereafter. There was no doubt that my photographer’s dreams centered on the nudists he saw at Aquinnah Cliffs earlier in the day. For me, the only thing going through my resin mind was a 25-foot man-eating shark named Bruce. Did I think we would need a bigger boat? You’re darn right!
