Others are stately. Then there is Martha's Vineyard, where no tourist escapes without buying a Black Dog T-shirt or paying outrageous cab fare. Just seven miles south of Cape Cod, the Vineyard is easy to get to by ferry. Getting around is another matter. When thousands of tourists squeeze onto an island that's only 24 miles long and 10 miles wide, the streets get congested.
Bicycles are everywhere.
So are gawkers. But it's worth the trip. Some of my most treasured childhood memories came while driving with my dad through the Berkshires hills that rise in western Massachusetts, from the valley of the Housatonic River. From the Berkshires, take the Mass Pike - that's the Massachusetts Turnpike, a.k.a. There are few drives as relaxing.