Leave it to Anna: Nantucket Edition
We are on Nantucket this week, so read along for some New England inspiration and glimpses into summer island life.
We are on Nantucket for a mid-week quick getaway to celebrate our wedding anniversary that’s coming up later this month. Nothing like a late August wedding in DC to celebrate all things love, commitment, and humidity! We exchanged the heat and tornado warnings of DC for a cooler (but still humid) New England air. It’s our first time here and we are having so much fun exploring this very walkable island. The food, the shopping, the boats, and the sunsets… You know it’s been a good break when you book your next stay before leaving to go home.
Murray’s Toggery Shop is the OG shopping experience on Main Street and the home of the island famous Nantucket Reds. A family-owned business since 1945, Murray’s began selling the brick red sailcloth pants back in the 1960s. With regular washes, they fade from brighter red to the recognizable soft pinkish red shade synonymous with the preppy lifestyle. Red canvas fabric meant to fade over time, resembling the color of the sails that were popular off the coast of Brittany, France. I convinced my husband to get a pair of Nantucket red shorts, which looked great during dinner at Cru on our first night. The pink of the shorts matched the warm lobster roll that I ordered for dinner, which was delicious.
Per a recommendation from a friend, on Tuesday we took a complementary shuttle boat to TOPPER'S Restaurant on the other side of the island for lunch. It was very windy and the whole boat party got soaked from the wild waves on the way. The restaurant, located at The Wauwinet beach resort, nicely offered towels for the soaked guests and sat us on an enclosed patio with heat lamps to dry off. We opted to take the shuttle back to town given the rough waters and high seas. It’s a great excursion that includes the sea bound entertainment with the price of your lunch!
Since this trip was partially inspired by The Five Star Weekend by Elin Hildebrand, which I read earlier this summer and recommended here on the Stack, it was only fitting that I got to meet the one and only “Queen of the Beach Reads” herself while here. She can be found every summer Wednesday chatting with her fans and signing books at Mitchell’s Book Corner on Main Street. She recently started a new literary podcast “Books, Beach and Beyond” with Tim Ehrenberg, a fellow Nantucket resident and creator of "Tim Talks Books.” I listened to their podcast on the plane (they interviewed Ann Patchett in the latest episode), so it was so fun to meet them both in person. They are as down to earth and fun in real life as they appear on the podcast!
The best part of Nantucket for me is walking around town to look at beautiful historic houses, the surrounding gardens, and the vintage Defenders that populate the roads here in even greater numbers than Nantucket Red pants. Limelight hydrangeas are at peak bloom and seeing all of the window boxes around town inspires me to recreate them at home. I also love seeing all of the creative house names - “Whale Worth the Wait,” “Not Inn,” and “Ferry Whistle” are some of my favorites.
Hope that you enjoyed this bonus travel post and I will see you here on the Stack again on Sunday! Until then, you can follow Leave it to Anna on Instagram or Facebook. If you think your friends will like the recommendations that I sent your way, please share my newsletter. Leave it on Anna is also on Threads, so thread along here.
Thank you Anna! Looks very nice!
Seems like we have similar taste :-)
Hi Anna - my sister and I were in Nantucket earlier this summer for a day trip (we took a ferry from Cape Cod as we were staying in Chatham, MA).
I would like to plan a trip next year ...staying on the island ...and was wondering, do you mind sharing the name of your hotel and whether you recommend?
Thanks again ...I enjoy your Blog! Barbara