Nantucket’s small size belies boundless history, appeal
The Grey Lady is gorgeous. Just the profusion of giant rhododendron and wild roses cascading over the sand dunes is worth the cost of the hourlong ferry ride south from Cape Cod. But there is so much more to see and learn about on the island of Nantucket, a National Historic Landmark. Its diminutive size (47.8 square miles, in what Herman Melville described as a “small elbow of sand”) belies its rich and boundless history and current international appeal. Thirty-twomile network of bike paths; 82 miles of pristine beaches; an historic town center; no traffic lights, no chain stores. Heavenly.
The moniker “Grey Lady” is both mythical and man-made. As the ancient story goes, the giant Maushope, who was sleeping on Cape Cod, kicked some sand from his shoe and where it landed, became Nantucket, the “faraway island.” The smoke from his pipe drifted over like a fog where it still stubbornly hovers from time to time. Today, weathered grey shingles that dress all the homes create a comforting uniformity of style but also ensure that the lady stays grey.
On the first of my four days on the island, I walked along the soft sands of the windswept beach by the ocean in Wauwinet: tall grasses blowing wildly; the peaks of Nantucket houses barely visible over the sand dunes; the seals bobbing in the wayward waves; the seagulls riding and gliding in the silver sky. As I was the only person on the beach, an all-encompassing sense of total freedom and awe at the natural beauty was thrilling.
Returning to The Wauwinet, the Relais & Chateau that was my home for two days, I joined guests who gathered in the living room. A wood fire was burning, the port and cheese laid out on an antique table, a life-size wooden dog maintained a benign watch over us as well as two aristocratic looking cats peered down at him, protected within their painterly frames.
Beyond the French doors and the scattered lawn chairs, lay Nantucket Bay glistening in the late afternoon sun. A guest I spoke with was a 22-year repeater. She and her husband return to the 33room inn and cottage property for many reasons, including the wonderful staff. “They remember, without being reminded, every detail that makes each guest feel welcome,” she said. I concur.
Another obvious reason is the excellent, award-winning restaurant, Toppers. I dined on huge chunks of fresh lobster in homemade rolls for lunch. For dinner, white asparagus; plump, succulent oysters from their in-house farm; perfectly grilled North Atlantic halibut surrounded by a village of neighborly food — a street of potato and fennel laced with artichoke puree. Dessert came with its own “appetizer” — the creative head chef Kyle Zachary whipped up a coconut custard with pineapple gel, settled it into a ceramic egg cup surrounded by a replica of a bird’s nest. The finale: tangy rhubarb flan.
The following day I and a charming couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, spent several hours with Barry Thurston. As a guide for The Trustees of Reservations preserve, Barry, a natural storyteller, was in top form as he took us on a 2½-hour roundtrip tour through Coskata-coatue Wildlife Refuge on the narrow, northern neck of Nantucket. He pointed out Osprey nests on top of telephone poles where the same birds return each year; the massive nesting site of the largest seagulls in the world; a small lake, home to a single pair of swans and their three signets; a resting ground of a colony of seals, near the historic Great Point Lighthouse and most implausibly, an