Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Martha's Vineyard and is part of the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts. The island became internationally recognized following the July 18, 1969 incident, where U.S. Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy accidentally drove his car off the island's Dike Bridge, fatally trapping his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne inside.
Until 2007, Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick were connected by Norton Point Beach, a narrow, two-mile long strip which would occasionally become temporarily breached by the weather. In April 2007, a strong storm again breached the beach and the two islands are now separated by a 300-yard (270 m) channel. The southeastern point of this beach is called Wasque Point—a popular fishing spot for catching bluefish, striped bass, etc.
Privately owned barge-like ferries called On Time II and On Time III shuttle pedestrians, bicycles, and up to three cars at a time between Chappaquiddick and downtown Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. Two ferries run during the summer months and one during the off-season. The island has just one business, a combination of a general store and an automobile mechanic's garage, which is only open in the summer. Besides the Dike Bridge, tourists come to the isolated island to visit the MyToi Gardens, a small Japanese garden created amidst the native brush.
Read more about Chappaquiddick Island: Origin, Geography, Ted Kennedy Incident
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“I ... would rather be in dependance on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of those too who rather than submit to the right of legislating for us assumed by the British parliament, and which late experience has shewn they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)