The Inkwell, as one of Martha’s Vineyard’s famed beaches is known, stretches hardly 100 yards between jetties on the north shore of the island. To see it, it amounts to just a sliver of sand, but on a sunny day, the sea is vast and the precise color of jade, beckoning swimmers whose families have descended on the island in the summertime for generations.
Since the 1800s, Martha’s Vineyard has been a renowned getaway for Black families, and Oak Bluffs, a captivating haven nestled on Martha’s Vineyard, is where you’ll find The Inkwell.
Picture The Inkwell, a renowned beach, a mere sliver of sand that transforms into a vast sea of jade on sunny days, enticing generations of families to bask in the island’s summertime magic.
Amidst the elite and the middle class, former President Barack Obama is rumored to have celebrated his birthday in a mansion overlooking the azure waters. In this haven, luminaries like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the late Vernon Jordan find solace. Maya Angelou once painted Oak Bluffs as “a safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned,” echoing the sentiments of those who have embraced this enchanting town.
“I don’t have to catch my breath here,” says Skip Finley, an author and former broadcaster whose family has vacationed on the island for five generations. “It’s the freest place I’ve ever been.”
