The cottage had been rented from the Lawrence family by Ted's cousin, Joe Gargan. (YTedK).

             Kennedy himself arrived on Martha's Vineyard at roughly 1:00 p.m. on Friday 18 July, 1969. He then took the ferry across to Chappaquiddick Island, chauffeured by Jack Crimmins. After racing his boat in the regatta, he returned to Chappaquiddick and went to the Lawrence cottage at about 7:00 p.m. By this time he had been driven over the Dike Bridge twice by Crimmins in Kennedy's black Oldsmobile. .

             At about 8:00 p.m., Paul Markham arrived at the Cottage, followed roughly half an hour later by Mary Jo Kopechne and the rest of the partygoers in a rented white Valiant. (YTedK) Moderate, but not excessive drinking took place at the party. The Boiler room girls testified at the Inquest in 1970 that Mary Jo had not been drinking that night, and indeed was not a drinker. Ester Newburgh testified that Kopechne had been completely sober at the party and that: " . Mary Jo was not a drinker. Five or six drinks would have been completely out of order with the way she lived. And if a girl who didn't drink had that much to drink you would certainly be able tell if she was more jovial than normal, and she was not." (YTedK) (Blood tests on Mary Jo's body showed .09% of alcohol, equivalent to 5 or 6 80-90 proof drinks). (McGinniss 583) .

             At roughly 11:15 p.m. Kennedy mentioned to Kopechne that he planned to leave and return to his hotel in Edgartown. Mary Jo also wanted to return to her Edgartown hotel. Despite the fact that Crimmins drove Kennedy "on practically every occasion" (McGinniss 585), Kennedy asked Crimmins for the keys to the Olds to drive himself. Crimmins testified at the inquest that "He told me that he was tired and that he wanted to home and go to sleep . He told me that he was going to take Miss Kopechne back; that she wasn't feeling well". (YTedK).

             According to Kennedy and Crimmins, Kennedy and Mary Jo left the party in his car at 11:15 p.