The writing never stops: My Impromptu Jaws tour

So I took a little impromptu Jaws tour while I was on the Vineyard for the week. However it was not a goal or even a thought as I boarded the ferry to Vineyard Haven. I’d seen some of the places before— South Beach, The Chappy ferry and was once standing inside the hardware store where Brody bought paint and art supplies for the beach closed signs. Not to mention last year at Joseph Sylvia State Beach where the Kitner boy was fictitiously eaten by Jaws and of course the Jaws Bridge. I’d walked down Main Street in Edgartown before— the same street where in 1974 Roy Scheider portrayed Martin Brody. So in never occurred to me to do it again and catalogue with pictures a kind of Jaws tour.

On day 2 of my stay, we were at South Beach and I found out, I forget how really— too much sun and seawater I guess, that Chrissy Watkins death scene had been filmed there which I hadn’t known before. I started thinking. I have my own vehicle and plenty of time, I could actually do this. It wouldn’t be my priority but when we traveled to a section of island, I would take a small circuitous route and check out the film locations. After all, Jaws along with Star Wars had been my favorite all time movies— from the time they grabbed my childhood psyche and well into my twenties and even though I’ve seen them countless times and almost know every line verbatim, I cannot turn the station when it comes on TV.

I Googled Jaws tours on my phone with horrible Wi-Fi that worked sometimes, sometimes not. I came across a guy named Mike who ran Jaws tours out of a general store on Main Street (in the heart of the Amity town). I asked when he ran another tour. Five tonight, he said. Twenty bucks a head. Forty bucks for two uninterested kids— it would be a snooze fest for them. However, selfishly I was going to do it… until I started thinking I could do one myself, at my and the kids leisure. I Googled Jaws locations, again on Wi-fi that moved so slow sometimes the pages would not even come up… and I didn’t have time to wait around and cross reference locations or Google maps. It’s funny too. Martha’s Vineyard is a whaling community and wants its identity to be as such— nowhere on the island is any plaque commemorating any part of the movie or are there brochures promoting Jaws in any way. It’s like, it never happened. I mean it’s part of Vineyard history and should be at least acknowledged, anyway. So I got a page to come up and as I sat on the soft sands of East Beach in Chappaquiddick, I quickly scribbled the locations and addresses on to a flier for the places I wanted to see.

Now there are people out there, serious Jaws fans who plan trips just for this kind of thing. During successful Google moments I would try and read what others had done— one kid brought a portable DVD player to help navigate and find landscapes, while others read the book, The Making of Jaws (a book I once had and read as a 13 year old)— bottom line these people came prepared. Me not so much. One address had Quint’s shack listed as simply, Menemsha Inn Road. Okay so I tracked it with my map book and it lead me through a dirt road network of private roads and cottages and only through determination and instinct I guess, did I find my way to Menemsha harbor and found the sight. Again, Brody’s house was listed as 265 East Chop and when I arrived there, there was no 265. After a few drive bys it became apparent to me that his house was 267 and the image of the house from the movie became clearer in memory. Of course that was the one house where cars were parked in the driveway and a person was reading on the side of the house. I didn’t want to intrude so I took the picture where I would go unseen despite the fact that the best most recognizable shot would have been from the other side of the house. Whatever. Another time, back in Edgartown, I was looking for the listing 2 South Water Street for the location of Keislings bike rental and there was no 2 South Water Street. I walked all around and asked a couple of store clerks but they all just referred me to the guy Mike who ran the Amity tours. I’m sure he would love to give away his information for free. Anyway turns out 2 South Water was a building created just for the movie and like Quint’s shack was no longer there.

So anyway, I managed and had fun doing it without affecting the integrity of the trip. The kids still swam, jumped off Jaws Bridge, kayaked and rode bikes. I think I would do it again and really get precise like getting the film locations for interior shots as well— the town hall, police department and stuff and I would be prepared with information, pictures, the DVD, whatever it took to create a complete pictorial then and now Jaws/Martha’s Vineyard history. I did miss a few places and got one location wrong (which I published on Facebook but won’t matter as the account is going away soon— got a few die hard Jaws fans/friends who are checking out the Jaws stuff I already posted).

In closing I know this is a totally meaningless venture, waste of time (even now the time it takes to write this, sort through pictures and Google accuracy of the locations) and just a very trivial thing I’m doing. I get it. You’re right. But what the hell… I’m a 37 year old Jaws fan and have been since I was 8 years old. Personally, it was just… well when I was on East Chop and staring out at Vineyard sound, imagining the Orca motoring across the horizon— I gazed at the Brody pier and then followed the coast on down to the left where there was a row of similar piers that looked exactly like the pier that Jaws pulled out to sea when the two old guys were hunting him with his wife’s holiday roast. It was all quiet— the water was flat as ice and serene. Then a seagull screamed across the Sound and it tore into my memory of an 8 year old frightened child, playing Jaws on his bed. It put me into the movie. I was there, in the movie, amazed by this surreal moment. This is why maybe it’s not too trivial, at least in my eyes.

Brody moving towards the giant Pagoda tree on South Water Street


Christopher and Mathew leaning on the giant Pagoda tree.

Aquinnah at park outside Gay Head Cliffs

I tried to place Mathew in the right position but memory wasn't sharp enough. Close though.

Same with Christopher but from a longer perspective. Not sure yet if that rock is the rock Hooper sits on to end the scene.

Trying to line up the Murray Hamilton shot by myself but this Jaws selfie ain't happenin Rog. Where's Mathew?

Amity police Department. Fish ornament was in the movie.

Amity town hall. I read that the only thing that still looks like the interior shots from the film is the curved selectman's desk.

Corner of Main and South Water Street. In between these two buildings was Keislings bike rental, no longer there. I think but have to double check the building on corner was Amity Gazette.

Brody's house 1974

Brody's house 2015. I dropped the bomb with this picture. All I had to do was take the picture from the right side of the house. I was a big pussy though. Oh well, next time.
People were home and outside so I didn't want to creep on them with photos. It is no longer white, as in the movie and has been remodeled but its structure is exact. The back porch where Brody studies the shark book is still there as well as the pier out back where the Brody boys were playing on their boat. "You heard your father! Out of the water! Out of the water now!"

East Chop Drive and you can see the neighbor's houses. I must have turned my truck around three times looking for 265 which didn't even exist.

House to the left of Brody's.

And not afraid to show it.

On Time 1 1974. This ferry no longer in use.

On Time 2

There are a few of these right down the road from Brody's house and this looks exactly like the jetty where the two old fisherman toss the holiday roast into the water only to have Jaws tear down the jetty.

Old Sculpin Gallery. This tall A-frame structure was inspiration behind the design of Quints shack

The Gallery behind Brody as he waits for the ferry.

The view towards the opening of Menemsha harbor where The Orca would have sailed through

The sight of Quint's shack. It is no longer there but on the right where tree and tall grass is behind fence, there is a vacant lot where it stood briefly in 1974 when it was torn down due to strict building codes