Greetings From Amity Island

Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard — the real-life Amity Island from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. The island is all charm: scenic views all around...and yes, ideal for a film buff retracing Brody's steps. I was there for the beauty, Jeff was there for the Jaws connection.

View from our awesome balcony: Quint's beer. Beautiful sunset.

I think we had the best view on the island with huge wrap around balcony: Room 5 at The Attleboro House! Perfect spot next to Oak Bluff Harbor.

But before that, we had to get to the island! Steamship Authority Ferry: Jeff's happy place.

A stop at the Martha's Vineyard Museum set the stage for our time on the island, thanks to a special Jaws exhibit. Interesting props, replicas, scenes and stories capturing what was happening here 50 years ago.

Note: A real shark does not have jowls. A mechanical shark has hinges that need hiding.

Many of the actual movie props were disassembled and are now long gone, including the iconic billboard. However, it is nice that some things are easy to replicate.

An island highlight was our tour with Experience MV Tours. Jeff had booked a group tour, but we ended up being the only ones so we basically had a private tour. While that was great, what made it even better, was that our tour guide, Dave, has lived on the island for over 50 years and was around for the filming of Jaws! He worked at the bar across the street from where all the actors and crew stayed for several months. He had tons of stories. He also served as a gofer for various errands and was a driver for Roy Scheider, when the teamsters weren't around.

That's Dave in the background in the white hat

One interesting fact related to the filming, is that MV has very strict building codes regarding height and placement - no exceptions even for Hollywood. Well, the film crew really liked the look of this particular building, but they wanted something on the water in another part of the island. After lots of smoozing and agreeing to add powerful local people and their families in the movie, a temporary building permit was granted.  

Inspiration for Quint's Shack

Quint's Shack was constructed in Menemsha, used for filming and then promptly torn down. According to Dave, when it was torn down, he posted about free lumber available and all of it was hauled away by locals in just a few hours. The spot still remains undeveloped today, due to those building restrictions and intentional preservation efforts.

Outside of the tour, we also spent a ton of time recreating memorable scenes from the movie. With the help of SetJetters app, Jeff walked in the same footsteps from 50 years ago. We spent from 10-20 minutes trying to line up the shots just right, while avoiding cars and other people. (We only had about 15 seconds to capture the Chappy ferry shot!). Jeff is usually the photographer, but I had to step up my game this time, so that Jeff could be in the pictures! (Although honestly, Jeff framed the shot, I just had to line up the SetJetter image and click the button. 😏)

An adjacent view near all the movie scenes

There was one more encounter we had...no, not with the shark. We met the second victim of Jaws -- Alex Kintner, known in real life as Jeffrey Voorhees (no relation to Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th). Jeffrey Voorhees lives on the island and used to work/own/manage The Wharf restaurant, and is known to still show up occasionally. We ate dinner there but no sign of him. We escaped the Jaws Escape Room, and swung back by the restaurant later, and sure enough he was there! Jeff just hoped for a quick picture with him, but he was a chatty guy and ended up sharing stories, memories and pictures from his phone for about 20 minutes.

While the island is quite popular for its connection to Jaws, there is definitely more history and plenty of other sites to experience. Yes, yes, of course there is a lighthouse!

1828: East Chop Lighthouse

While the carousel was not running, the rings were still available to yank out as you go by!

1876: Flying Horses - oldest carousel in America

In the 1800s, a group of Methodists would regularly retreat in an area of the island and stay in tents annually. But over the years, the tents were replaced with cottages, built in a charming architectural style called Carpenter’s Gothic, which became known as "Gingerbread Houses". 300 of the 500 original cottages remain today.

And don't forget the food at any number of quaint taverns!. We chose The Black Dog Tavern -- Fish n chips for Jeff, a delicious salad for me.

This place was a perfect blend for us!