On our first full day on Nantucket, we had a nice little al fresco breakfast at the hotel. There was a pretty whale-tail shaped vase on the table with fresh hydrangeas in it.
I had a delicious veggie omelet! 😋
We walked downtown for an excursion I had planned, which I'll get to in a minute, but first here are some pictures of The Nantucket that I took as we embarked upon our walk.
I'd scheduled us to go on a two-hour bike ride tour in the morning with a guide. I thought it would be a fun way to see the sights, and it was. The guide was a really nice guy who knows Nantucket very well and serves in the local government there. It was nice to talk to him and get a local's perspective of what living on Nantucket is like, and it was fun to ride a bike again too, although a little scary at times on some of those narrow cobblestone streets, especially in the part of town where there was a lot of traffic! Thankfully there were no crashes or other embarrassing incidents that took place. 😄
We rode over to see the view at Steps Beach, which is one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen, and that includes the Caribbean.
Does this helmet make me look like a dork? Answer: yes.
We stopped at the Oldest House on the island (dating to the 1680s!) and once again the fact that I'd read Away Off Shore the week before proved very helpful in making the places and people from history much more familiar and significant. The guide was impressed with how smart I was. Ha ha, just kidding (kind of!).
We stopped at other places along the way but we rode a lot too so I didn't take very many pictures. I'm so glad we did this bike ride! Even though it was pretty warm out.
We got smoothies for lunch in town and walked back to The Nantucket, stopping at a few places along the way.
Where we got our smoothies.
For the afternoon I had booked a poolside cabana, and it was the perfect thing to do after a long morning bike ride. The cabana was cozy and comfortable and it came with a huge platter of sliced fresh fruit. The pool was great too; it was salt water and it was nice and warm. I swam and read and relaxed for the afternoon.
Delicious, healthy, and refreshing!
We ate dinner at Breeze, the hotel's restaurant, where I had to try their lavender honey roasted salmon. It didn't disappoint! After dinner we walked downtown again for a ghost walk! We got there early and I meandered around for a little while my mom talked to a friendly old man who I later talked to as well. He was a direct descendant of one of the island's prominent families that I'd read about in the book! He even had their last name, Gardner. That was so cool! It was like history brought to life, literally! Meeting that kind old man was a highlight of the trip for me. And once again, I'm so glad I read Away Off Shore before we went away off shore to Nantucket.
How Macy's began!
This is the shop where Macy got his start. I bought a belt here nine years ago and it's still the belt I wear almost all of the time when I need to wear a belt.
The ghost walk was fun. It was the same guy who did the one that Peter and I went on in 2011. He didn't remember me (I have no idea why 😜) but I remembered him!
This hotel is haunted! I'd thought about staying here when I was looking at places to stay but wanted something a little fancier. But I bet this would have been nice! Maybe next time!
It was a fun day and we slept pretty well that night!
