"Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it. See what a real corner of the world it occupies; how it stands there, away off shore, more lonely than the Eddystone lighthouse. Look at it - a mere hillock, an elbow of sand; all beach, without a background. There is more sand there than you would use in twenty years as a substitute for blotting paper". Moby Dick, Chapter 14.
And so to Nantucket, for a week of relaxation, home-cooked meals, catching up with good friends, cycling in the sunshine and being woken several times a night by a small child fighting his way out of his travel cot. This small island, just off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachussetts, is famous for its maritime history, its cranberries, its artistic output, its lightship baskets and for boasting more celebrity vacation homes per square inch than almost anywhere else in the US. (The lawns and hedges are not quite as well-manicured as The Hamptons, but come pretty close. And, yes, Nantucket also has Plum TV). Nantucket was once home to the biggest whaling port in the world and the island's nautical heritage is hard to escape: On our street alone, we had an 'Anchor Inn', a 'Cliff Lodge' and a 'Captain Gardiner's House', as well as a 'Scrimshander Gallery' and a 'Brotherhood of Thieves' pub. And when the mist came up in the evening, one could almost imagine Ishmael and Queequeg scouring dark, cobbled streets for Mrs Hussey and the Try Pots inn. Although I'm not sure what they would have made of the designer boutiques.
Unsurprisingly, atmospheric Nantucket is the setting for a large number of films, books, songs, poems and novels - Edgar Allan Poe, Dylan Thomas and Robert Lowell all took inspiration here. As did Billy Joel. But most famous of all is that literary tour de force, the most-hailed of all American classics, memorized and quoted by every schoolchild in the land: ''There once was a man from Nantucket...'. And Moby Dick runs a close second.
We rented a house with our friends Katy, Simon, Dom & Vicky and their children, and had a fantastic week on the island. Early May is a great time of year to visit, being just ahead of the season, when the population of the island jumps from 10,000 to 50,000. It must be said that the Nantucket pace of life was pretty tough; it took me two days to leave the sofa and four days to work up the energy to cycle to a yoga class. However, we did make it as far as Siasconset (pronounced 'Sconset') for an afternoon on the beach and on our last day even visited the island's main tourist attraction: the fascinating Whaling Museum - where I must admit we spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to convince the children to pose for a photo. This was as close as we got to a decent shot. And this was as close as we got to a whale:
And then, all too swiftly, these particular shipmates were packing their bags and heading back to shore. But not before purchasing another famous literary tome to remind us of our holiday: Good Night Nantucket. Thank you for sharing a wonderful day...
Ahhh. I miss you all xx
Posted by: Katy | May 24, 2010 at 05:28 PM
We had such a great time! It was worth the trip for the string of home cooked meals alone!!!
Posted by: Vicky | May 27, 2010 at 10:56 PM