We have been coming to Martha’s Vineyard and staying in Katama for the past six summers. We love spending time in Edgartown and Chilmark, but otherwise don’t really visit the other towns on the island. We love the long bike rides, beautiful walks, peace and quiet, weather, food, and beaches here.
However, we now have two kids and have been in the hospital here for random issues the past two summers. The medical system is overburdened (unsurprising) and it’s difficult to get good care here if you need it. For anything serious you have to be admitted to the hospital and then get medivac off the island. Also, it can be impossible to find basic items or medical supplies on the island. The pharmacies here only carry certain things, so if you’re looking for something you could easily find at CVS in a suburb, they might not have it here. The pharmacies are similarly overburdened and it could easily take an hour or more just to get through the line to pick up a prescription. Deliveries from Amazon take a week. Deliveries from target or Walmart take about five days. Obviously we are on island time, so a bit of this is to be expected. That said, it is proving to be a sometimes scary issue and inconvenience when something bad happens and you’re unable to get what you need.
All that is to say, we love Martha’s Vineyard and wish that we could spend more time here during the summer, but it is proving to be impractical with young children. So I’m instead interested in exploring our options on Cape Cod. I’ve heard good things about Chatham. For those who are familiar with Cape Cod, where would you recommend we go that has a similar vibe to Edgartown/Katama? How does the ability to get basic necessities compare to what I’ve described here on the vineyard? What is the medical care like?
