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Nantucket Island, off the coast of Cape Cod MA, is well known as the summer playground of the "rich and famous." But it is much more than that. Nantucket Village is, more than anything, a quaint village caught in a time warp. A lot of it looks just as it were when the whaling business crashed in the mid 19th Century. There are cobblestone streets, brick sidewalks and warehouse buildings, and endless examples of whaling captain's houses with their iconic widow walks. Lining the streets are century old gnarly oak trees, gas lights, and interesting little shops.
Getting to Nantucket is easy, unless you want to take your car. There is a high speed catamaran passenger ferry that starts service in mid April, and makes the one hour trip, at about 35mph. The slow car/passenger ferry runs all winter as weather permits. Getting your car on the island is quite expensive and you need a reservation months in advance. As soon as the high speed ferry starts running the Island starts wakening from its winter slumber.
Spring is one of the best times to visit Nantucket. (Fall is the other fantastic season to travel along all of the New England coast--fewer people, warm air and water temperatures, and clear-blue sky-weather.) With early spring flowers of the ever present pansies, daffodils, and others, Nantucket begins the ramp up to the tourist season. At this early date the restaurants are starting up, but the Island bus system is still hibernating. Getting around the island without an auto or bus is easy, providing you supply the power. You can easily walk around the village and there are rental bicycles and, of course, taxis.
In this photographic excursion I tried to capture the flavor of Nantucket in the spring, along with it's rich history. I hope you will see why Nantucket is so popular to visitor and resident alike.
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