Travel Diary: Nantucket
Last week I traveled to Nantucket with my mom and sister for a girls’ trip! We have always wanted to explore the island, and I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much I would love it. They were right. It was everything we expected it to be and more! Today I’m sharing the highlights of our trip so you can get a peek at all of the cedar shake houses, adorable…
Share
Last week I traveled to Nantucket with my mom and sister for a girls’ trip! We have always wanted to explore the island, and I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much I would love it. They were right. It was everything we expected it to be and more! Today I’m sharing the highlights of our trip so you can get a peek at all of the cedar shake houses, adorable boutiques, delicious seafood meals, and historic lighthouses!
We stayed at the Union Street Inn, which I cannot say enough good things about. It is a historic bed and breakfast located just a block away from all of the hustle and bustle of the major town and wharf, which was an ideal location because we could walk to pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. The inn was extremely adorable and cozy, and embodied all of the historic charm that Nantucket is known for!
Our room could not have been any cuter or any more “us!” We simply could NOT get over the striped wall paper and the huge buffalo check headboard and chairs! I mean…
Here’s a look at the afternoon tea and pastry set up that the Union Street Inn has for the guests.
When we arrived, the first thing we did was go on Gail’s Tour (after we picked up a coffee and pastry at Petticoat Row Bakery 🙂 ) Gail is a local lady who’s ancestors have lived on Nantucket for generations, and she knew everything. She was so informative and interesting to listen to as we rode all around the island and got to see every quaint little lane and gorgeous house. She pointed out all of the unique characteristics of the island, such as Sankaty lighthouse, the cranberry bogs, and the oldest standing house. It was wonderful to be able to immediately relax and take it all in as soon as we got off of the plane!
For lunch on the first day we hit up Millie’s restaurant, which overlooked the ocean and was delicious! There’s nothing like a good mid-day chips and guac…
We spent a lot of time riding around on bikes we rented and doing a little exploring and looking at houses. My mom, being an avid gardener, wanted to see every lush garden and vibrant window box. My sister and I, being nosy girls with big dreams about our “future houses,” wanted to see every spectacular ocean front mansion. 🙂
That shade of pink though!!
One of our favorite adventures of the trip was going SEAL WATCHING! I am a big time Shark Week fanatic, which comes with a long fascination of seals and basically everything about the ocean. We took a guided tour out to Great Point Lighthouse, where we got up close with about a dozen seals who were playing in the break of the waves right off the beach. They were soo cute and chubby and silly. They weirdly reminded us of large puppies, and the guide informed us how they share the same ancestors with dogs, which was fascinating to learn about. It was a fun experience to get to see the shoreline of Nantucket by boat as well!
The. Shopping.
We’ve been to Paris, St. Barths, and New York City, and yet we are strongly favoring Nantucket at the best boutique shopping we’ve ever seen! The cobblestone streets of the town and the docks of the wharf were lined with the most eclectic and adorable boutiques, jam packed with bright accessories, vintage treasures, and both glamorous and casual ensembles. Each store had so much personality– were in absolute awe! Here were a few of the highlights:
Cashmere on cashmere at Monelle boutique. Sections of this boutique were organized by color and you know how I feel about that… #hearteyes
This pom pom woven basket bag at C.J. Laing caught my eye immediately. It’s so playful and those are my colors! Remember I blogged about a similar one in my Nantucket Packing List post?!
Vintage Lilly Pulitzer finds at Current Vintage!
Look! I found my mom in doll form! ha
(also at Current Vintage)
A few other shops we loved:
(the single largest collection of Lilly Pulitzer I’ve ever seen besides at the warehouse sale!)
(the sister store to In the Pink)
(where “Nantucket red” was created!)
(my mom especially loved this one!)
^^ Definitely make sure to stop into each of these if you are ever in Nantucket!
We stopped at the Great Point Lighthouse before dinner on our second night to take in the view! Notice the aviators and the long necklaces… I think when we spend this much time together we tend to dress like each other. You definitely can’t tell that we’re related, right?!
Cheers at Galley Beach, where we went twice for drinks! The atmosphere was simply unbeatable.
Read all about the restaurants where we went to dinner and see what I wore each night, here! (The restaurants were so good they deserved their own post…)
The last day we visited the Whaling Museum where we got to see the documentary about the history of Nantucket, which was fascinating. Also, we learned that a movie is coming out this December called In the Heart of the Sea (I’ve read the book) which is about the Essex whaleship which left Nantucket and was violently rammed by a whale, thus wrecking the boat and leaving the crew to fend for themselves for three months on the open sea. Chris Hemsworth (hottie) stars in it and you’ve GOT to see the trailer because it looks like it’s going to be a good one. BUT, my point is that they filmed a lot of the movie on Nantucket!
On our last day we caught up on everything that was still “on our list” like eating ice cream from The Juice Bar and doing even more shopping. The entire atmosphere of the town was so lively, bubbly, and welcoming, we felt at ease as soon as we stepped foot onto the island. We are traditionally island girls, after all.
I can’t even tell you how bummed we were to pack up (shutting my suitcase is always my biggest struggle of any trip..) and head to Nantucket’s adorable airport (which is cedar shaked, might I add). Thankfully, we went back to Long Beach Island, which is so different from Nantucket but will always have my heart. We are already planning a trip next summer and thinking of extending our stay! Much love to Nantucket for both a relaxing and wildly fun mid-summer getaway. We will be bACK!
p.s. Share this post this the peeps you know who live on Nantucket or love visiting as well! I would love to hear from them so they can add to our to-do list the next time we visit! xo
xxAmy
