What happens when one of your friends moves out of state and invites you to visit her at her new home in Nantucket? if you are like me, you jump at the opportunity and book a flight months in advance knowing that the weekend you agreed upon is a holiday weekend and prices are going to skyrocket. That is how my husband and I found ourselves in Nantucket; a small island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Honestly speaking, Nantucket would never have crossed my radar were it not for my friend and I am so glad we got to check it out because it exceeded my expectations.......or rather lack of. Anyway, let me get started on the recap of our trip.
Getting to Nantucket
There is a reason this island wasn't in my radar, getting there is such a hustle and can be pricey, especially during summer which is high season. Of course we opted for the cheapest option we had which was flying into Logan airport in Boston then taking a bus heading to Hyannis in Cape Cod. We used Peter Pan bus to go to Hyannis and Plymouth & Brockton coming back to Boston (both go back and forth, it was just a matter of timing and that's why we switched companies). The trip took about 2 hrs and in my true fashion I blacked out through out the whole ride.
PS: Both buses can be found at the airport, just ask at the information desk to be directed to their stop.
From Hyannis we took the Hy-Line ferry to Nantucket, the ferry ride was about an hour long and it was actually pretty pleasant. I was scared of getting motion sickness but I didn't, thank goodness!
We got to Nantucket when the weather was still bright and sunny so we were able to hit the ground running in order to maximize our short stay. The island is not big so that made it easier to check out what it has to offer in a short period of time, I will just go ahead and summarize what we did......
Day One
Technically this was half a day since we got to the island in the late afternoon. Majority of the time was spent at the beach enjoying the warm weather and walking around to get a feel of the island.
How pretty are these houses covered in flowers?! seems like that's the thing on the island, lot's of houses covered or surrounded by pretty flowers.
There was no shortage of well trimmed and manicured lawns.
We had the whole day on our hands to explore more of the island so while my friend was at work, her sweet husband drove us all over showing us different areas and points of interest.
When visiting Nantucket and someone tells you, let's go to the mall. Don't expect a typical mall, this is where you end up. A place where people drop off what they don't need and others come to sift through the stuff to get what they need, everything is free and if you are lucky you can get some good stuff.
Oldest windmill in Nantucket built in 1746.
A trip to this island isn't complete without checking out their functioning lighthouses. There are 3 on the island: Brant Point Light, Great Point Light and Sankaty Head Light. I only got photos of two but you get the idea.
Sankaty Head Light
Brant Point
Day Three
We took a day trip to Martha's Vineyard which is bigger than Nantucket (it has 6 town while Nantucket only has 1). We took the first ferry out in the morning and the trip was about an hour long, I have always associated Martha's Vineyard with where US presidents take their vacations so I was imagining a stuffy, snobby place but we were in for a surprise! it was very touristy and packed with people from all over. Since we didn't have a lot of time, we decided to stick to Oak Bluffs and Edgartown (2 of the 6 towns in the island).
There are many ways to get around the island so we opted for a public bus which was cheaper, a whole day pass of $8 would let you get on any bus going to whichever town you want to visit for the day. There were long lines of people waiting to get onto the bus to Edgartown, which we had been told is the most popular town on the island. Fortunately the buses were frequent so we did not have to wait for too long. When we got to Edgartown we walked around, checked out some of the many cute little shops and basically just soaked in the vibe of the town, cute and quaint is how I would describe it.
Since Oaks Bluff is where we would be departing the island from, we saved it for last. In my opinion I think Oak Bluff had a spring break vibe while Edgartown had a more relaxed and mature vibe to it. I liked both as each had its own appeal.
The popular gingerbread houses in Oak Bluff (google the back ground story).
PS: Carry cash when venturing to Martha's Vineyard, we were surprised by how many places accepted cash only for payment.
We headed out of the island in the afternoon after enduring really hot weather. We were all tired and sweaty by the time we were getting back to Nantucket. We took it easy for a few hours before heading out to check out the local night life to end the night on a high note.
Day Four
We headed back home after having had the best mini vacation ever! I had zero expectations on this trip but it turned out to be one of our best vacation getaways. It's funny how certain places can surprise you, Nantucket was definitely a pleasant surprise!
That's it folks! I need to catch up on my sleep and get back to the regular routine........seriously can I just win the lottery and get to vacation forever? a girl can only dream, we have another mini getaway coming up at the end of August so watch out for an update.