Martha's Vineyard
In the late 1970s, the residents of Martha's Vineyard tried to break away from the United States and sail free as an independent state. They were unsuccessful but that hardly matters. Vineyarders are free spirits and one of their most dearly held tenets is the commitment to ban chain stores or malls from anywhere near their island.
But in case you think you might struggle to spend your dollars while visiting the Vineyard, prepare to be blown away by an array of one-offs. Begin your spree in style by sweeping up via the ferry. It's then a short walk to Vineyard Haven - or Vineyard Heaven as the locals call it. This happening patch, also known as Tisbury, hosts the Black Dog Bakery (3 Water Street, tel: 508 693 4786), which is packed with fresh doughnuts and hazelnut biscotti.
If you enjoyed your cookie then tell the world by buying a T-shirt (US$20) featuring the black labrador that gave this cult store its name. You can pick one up at the bakery, the Black Dog Tavern (below left) or the Black Dog General Store (5 Water Street, tel: 508 696 8182), where they also sell caps, bags and a preppy ribbon collar (US$20) for the dog with New England leanings.
From Water Street it's a rip-curl to Main Street and the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore (44 Main Street, tel: 508 693 2291). Jackie Onassis used to browse the packed shelves of this recent National Bookseller of the Year and today you might spot the likes of authors Susan Shreve or Alan Dershowitz giving a talk there.
(71 Main Street, tel: 508 693 6888). Labels such as Patagonia, Puma and Birkenstock hang beside
locally designed products such as the Green Room hooded T-shirt (US$18).
For more island style breeze over to Bramhall and Dunn (23 Main Street; tel: 508 693 6437) for silky soft quilts and warm rag rugs - perfect protection against those Atlantic winds.
And just as Main Street merges into State Road, catch up with Tisbury Antiques (339 State Road, tel: 508 693 8333): fine Italian china decorated with swirling roses, linens, English tea boxes, sepia-tinged postcards and a line of pillows inspired by 19th-century European decadence, ranging in price from US$150 to US$425.
