Nantucket

There once was a girl from Nantucket…

quote:

---

Thinking about going on 3-4 day trip this summer to the island. Anything I must do or see ??

---

We went to Cape Cod/Boston last summer; stayed in Hyannis for several nights and went to Nantucket for a day. We took an early (8:00 maybe), fast, just people ferry and returned about 5:00. There is a car ferry too but we didn't think we needed a car for a day trip. We booked the ferry 3 or 4 months before we went. It was full.

Must do is the Whaling Museum. Lots of interesting things in there, a few videos to watch and a guy gave a talk that was very good.

We took the shuttle bus to the Sconset (Siasconset - it's spelled two ways) community which is on east side of the island. We walked the trail that parallels the beach for about a mile +, then walked back to the village and caught the bus back to town. There is a lighthouse near there but we didn't walk that far.

We then walked around the docks, ate lunch, and caught the ferry back to the mainland. There was one or two places we didn't see because they happened to be closed but I don't know what you would do there for 3 or 4 days unless maybe you went fishing or road a bike around the island.

[/url][/img]; [/url][/img]
The trail at Sconset is different; there is the ocean and beach on one side and on the other side are people's yards, for part of it anyway. We talked to a local and he said that's where you walked, right through their yard. It was mid day and not many people were home or sitting out.

My in-laws are going to Nantucket this summer and here is the blog they used to plan their trip: 4 days in Nantucket

They are in their late 50’s….not sure how old you are, if you are going alone or with the SO. They are doing Nantucket for 3 days and Martha’s Vineyard for 4 days.

My wife lived there for 10 years and I was able to go visit several times, longest being 6 weeks. Below are our recommendations.

- Whaling Museum: tells the history of the island including how these guys would just get on whaling ships and leave for 2-3 years searching for whales to collect the oil from their heads to sell; made lots of money for the island and the people on it.

- Sconset Bluff Walk: incredible pathway along the bluff on the east end of the island; amazing views of the ocean, beach, and allows you to have a full scale view of the serious erosion on that end of the island (has put many homes in jeopardy and has required them to move Sankaty Head Lighthouse); you are literally walking through the yards of homes that are $20 million and over

- Cisco Brewery: this place gets hopping in the summer; cool venue where they have a courtyard between the winery, distillery, and brewery; usually have lots of tents set up because it gets so "hot and humid" up there; live music pretty much all day

- Beaches: water is cold as hell and lots of Great Whites in the area (check out acksharks on IG)
Steps Beach: a little bit of a walk from the parking area, but is shallow water so typically a bit warmer than other spots; will have lots of kids for these very reasons
Madaket Beach: west end of the island, amazing sunsets; water is deeper and cold; they had closed portions of it last summer due to erosion;
Cisco Beach: parking is very close, deeper water, lots of surfers;
Miacomet Beach: is a nude beach; pretty peaceful spot because there will not be kids, but there will be some tiddies and swinging dicks

- Light Houses: Brant point is the easiest to get to as it is in Nantucket Harbor; Sankety Head Light house is the iconic Nantucket light house as it has the red and white stripes, and Great Point Light House is harder to get to but worth it (will need a 4 wheel drive vehicle and then will need to let the air out of the tires to drive over the sand, there is an air station for when you get back to air the tires back up, this also requires a significant walk, but there is usually a seal population near the end and can be a good spot for potential viewing of Great Whites hunting seals;

Drive down Hulbert Ave, at one point in time, was the wealthiest street in the US, The Johnsons (J&J), Abigail Johnson (Fidelity), John Kerry all have houses on this street;

Restaurants: Cru and Slip 14 are always favorites; they are on the end of the piers near the harbor and you can see the MASSIVE yachts that park there (think 4-5 story yachts); Brotherhood of Thieves; the absolute best seafood is Sayle's (swordfish is incredible, also lobster is outstanding); Seagrille was probably my wife's favorite place on island; and this may sound crazy but the grocery store Stop and Shop will steam lobsters for you among other items for a very inexpensive price (I think we paid maybe $25 per sack of boil); Blackeyed Susan's for breakfast, and sandwiches from Bartlett farms and Something Natural; catch a dinner at Millie's on the west end of the island for some good food and sunsets; never ate at the Wauwinet but had some drinks and they have a really nice outdoor seating area with great views. The Galley is a great place for a sunset dinner on the beach (food is overrated, but the view is unbeatable. Last and certainly not least, Juice Bar, I believe is all homemade ice cream and cones, this one will be obvious because there will be a line out the door and around the corner in the evenings (not kidding), so maybe hit it after lunch.

Bars: most of the above restaurants have good bars but my favorite hands down was Club Car; is basically an old rail car in the middle of downtown that was made into a bar; got a small piano and they can/will play anything you want. If Tony is working, he knows Calling Baton Rouge!!

- Golf: not sure if you want to play, but Siasconset Golf Course is open to the public and was a lot of fun to play; the wind will be crazy, but fun nonetheless; they have clubs that you can rent. I believe Miacomet Golf Course has reopened and is open to the public.

- Shopping: there will be plenty of women's shopping but for men, I would hit Town Pool (shameless plug for my friend Sean's store) and Murray's Toggery shop (think Smather's and Branson, embroidered pants)

I would definitely rent a vehicle for some of the time you are there and rent some bikes; two very different ways to see the island;

Most people I met and that my wife was friends with were pretty cool, but of course you are going to run into some real arsehats;

We did go over one day and did most of Martha's Vineyard; it pales in comparison, much larger, chain restaurants and just seemed trashier to me. I just have a lot of great memories from there and will go back soon to visit as we still have lots of friends that live there.

If we think of anything else, we will post it or if you have some questions, let us know!

Super place to visit

but here is some advice

Do Not Ever

Ever

Ever

Drink a cup of coffee from the concession aboard the ferry

You will not be able to get rid of that taste for 5 years