Summer on Nantucket

Steven and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary this July with a trip to Nantucket. After a work-intensive start to this year, we had spent most weeks looking at each other saying “I need a vacation.” Steven had started a new job earlier this year with no break in between, while I was having one of my busiest wedding seasons yet (yay!). After looking over my production calendar for the month, it worked out perfectly that we could take off the week of our anniversary.

It was our first time on the island for both of us, so I went deep into research and recommendations on what we needed to do. I began by booking our stay at Faraway, right in the heart of the downtown. This space was brimming with design inspiration around every corner. From their visual branding all over the website, to the paper collateral upon arrival, to the interior design of each and every room, I was impressed and inspired. Not only was the hotel beautiful, but they had an additional restaurant on site. In the morning, their espresso bar, Cymbals, was open for coffee and donuts. Later in the afternoon, the full restaurant, Sister Ship, served dinner and cocktails. The staff across the hotel and restaurant were wonderful and our entire stay was filled with excellent hospitality.

For our first day, we took the ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket right around lunch time. Since it was too early to check in, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went to lunch. It was drizzly when we first arrived, so the downtown was packed. We found availability at The Tree Bar for lunch and by this point the rain had cleared out. We sat on the patio and enjoyed a limoncello spritz to kick off vacation. While here, we got the text that our room was ready, so we went back to the hotel to settle in. We spent some time popping into the shops downtown for most of the afternoon and decided to pregame our dinner reservations with ice cream from the Juice Bar. This iconic spot on the island did not disappoint! Their homemade waffle cones were the best I’ve had - so good that we returned a few times this week. Dinner for our first night was right on site at Sister Ship. We sat inside and enjoyed the details of the design. One of our favorite appetizers was the gambas pil pil, a chili shrimp dish served with toasted sourdough. By the end of the dinner, we were exhausted from a full day of travel and wrapped up the night here.

One of the most highly recommended spots on the island was Lemon Press, so this was our top priority for brunch on day two! We found seats at the bar and enjoyed breakfast here every morning to follow. Their brown sugar cinnamon iced latte was the go-to for us. After breakfast, we knew we wanted a beach day, so we took the shuttle over to Jetties beach. Fun fact - Nantucket has a free shuttle bus that has quite a few routes all over the island. Since we didn’t take a car, this was super helpful in getting around to some of those further spots. Faraway also allowed us to take beach chairs and towels, so they provided everything we needed! We enjoyed a few hours at the beach and then popped into The Corner Table. Steven got a brown sugar cinnamon iced latte here (which was his favorite on the island), and I enjoyed their raspberry matcha. We had a later dinner reservation again this night, so we took the shuttle out to Siasconset to do the iconic bluff walk. Sconset was the most picturesque place I have seen, a hydrangea heaven filled with worn cedar shingles and miles of coastline. We followed the trail past some stunning properties and I was snapping plenty of photos. Our dinner reservations this night were at Or, The Whale. They had a cute patio tucked in the back of the property with lights and an outdoor bar. We wrapped up the night here and walked around a bit downtown before heading back.

Day three kicked off once again at Lemon Press, where I had the best acai bowl. Highly recommend! From there we went right back to The Corner Table for second coffees and spent some time sitting on their patio. We decided to rent a Jeep and explore more of the island together, which Steven was thrilled about. Our first stop was Cisco brewers, since the Nantucket location is their flagship. I unfortunately found the experience to be too similar to their Boston locations, which meant a lot of standing around. It was packed with guests and there was no live music at the time, so we opted to only stay for one drink. The Peached Whale is my favorite of their beers, but I also enjoyed the Summer Rays. From here we drove to Millies for a mid-afternoon snack and then drove around the island. The goal was to make stops at different beaches along the way, so we put together a queue on both Spotify and Google Maps to spend the afternoon exploring. Some of our stops included Ladies Beach and the Sankaty Head lighthouse. We had no dinner reservations this day, so we left the night open to a beach picnic. We grabbed a sandwich from Walter’s and watched the sunset from Steps Beach (one that was on my bucket list). It did not disappoint! After returning the Jeep, we waited in line at the Juice Bar for another round of ice cream to end a perfect night.

For our last day on the island, we took the morning to sleep in and pack up our things. We had to check out of the room and left our bags with the reception staff. We grabbed our first coffee from Cymbals and I enjoyed their iced latte out on the patio. We spent some time here before heading back to a final breakfast at Lemon Press (you already know I got another acai bowl). We took a walk down to Brant Point lighthouse for some sightseeing and wound up back at The Corner Table. We didn’t have a whole lot planned this day, so we enjoyed most of the afternoon sitting on patios drinking various beverages. We had an early dinner reservation at Bar Yoshi, which was my favorite meal of the trip. The atmosphere outside was lively, surrounded by shops and other restaurants on the water. The weather was perfect to sip ranch waters and try their sushi. I loved the dynamite roll and Steven had the poke bowl - both of which were delicious. I think we may have ate our weight in spicy tuna and ice cream this trip and I loved every second of it! We had a sunset ferry to head back to the Cape - the most beautiful views to end our trip. I could not be more grateful for such a refreshing and inspiring few days on the island with my best friend.