We have a mermaid on the property

Do you see her in that beautiful picture taken by our island friend, Elizabeth Cecil? Sitting on top of the rocks behind me, hand shading her eyes peering out in search of something?

The statue and I mirror one another. Is she seeking the future or the past? Love or solitude?

For the first three seasons my husband and I lived on Martha’s Vineyard at Lambert’s Cove Inn, the mermaid statue was visible only in wintertime. In the green seasons, she was covered over in poison ivy. Our intrepid landscaper unbound our rocks, gave the mermaid summertime life.

I thought of my childhood—as an avid swimmer, nearly addicted to the splashing home it provided. Of the book that haunted my girlhood, The Little Mermaid, a fairy tale gruesome in its depiction of the cost of true, unrequited love—the tradeoff being unremitting pain. The mermaid on our rocks is a symbol of many things: tenacity, loyalty, stillness, love of water, a gorgeous secretiveness.

She is a selfless guardian. She’s out of her water home, after all, watching over us. She's become one of the inn’s great companion images. Our new logo, designed by our neighbors at Blue Rock Designs is inspired by her. In our version, she is offering tulips—one of my favorite flowers to grow. Our offering to you is hospitality that comes from our hearts. Come to our inn and receive the warmth and sincerity we dream of bringing to the world.