Virtual Visit: Gingerbread Cottages on Martha's Vineyard

Oak Bluffs is one of our favorite towns on Martha's Vineyard.  It is very strollable (totally a word), lots of fun shops and restaurants and a gorgeous park that you can chill in once you've snagged a goodie from MV Bakery.  But the most fun walk we took while tooling the town, was amongst the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association also known as the "Gingerbread Cottages."

(This one was my favorite)

Rows and rows of gorgeous cottages adorn the streets in this neighborhood with an interesting history that dates back to 1835.  According to their website, the area grew out of the religious "camp meetings" of the time with the first meeting being in 1835 when there were nine tents on the grounds.  From that 1 1/2 acre plot, the community has grown to encompass 34 acres today.  There are 312 privately owned, beautiful gingerbread cottages.  In case you're wondering, no you don't have to be Methodist to stay here.  ;-)   For the full, detailed history of the camp, click here.

Each cottage is individually owned so they all have unique and distinct decorating both inside and out.

You can rent one of these cottages by going through the association website or I've seen several listed on VRBO if you look up Oak Bluffs as your destination.  This one is close by and I am in love with the stove alone, perfect for a girls weekend and I don't even mind sharing with the ghost one guest said they saw wandering the place.

There is nothing more fun than going house to house and just taking in all of your favorite details of every house down to a fun way to keep people off the porch in the off season.

(How cute is that?!)

They do have walking tours available every Tuesday and Thursday in July and August at 10 am that last around 90 minutes.  At the time of publishing, it is $12 for the tour.

It's close to the water and neighboring shops and restaurants so while it feels like it's own little enclave from society, all of the conveniences are within a short walk.

The tabernacle is at the center of the community.  You can read more about its history here.  They continue to have guest speakers come in to deliver non-denominational sermons every Sunday in July and August.

The Gingerbread Cottages and it's surroundings are a must stop if you're on Martha's Vineyard.  We were fortunate enough to be able to stroll it completely alone in the off season when it was in full bloom.

Parking is insanely limited here so park by the bay or a few streets over where you may have better luck.

Would you stay in a Gingerbread House?

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