06/23/17 - Day 81 - Nantucket, MA
Spent Friday taking a day trip out to see Nantucket, one of a couple large islands off the coast of Cap Cod.
You can get there by air or by sea, no land bridges. Among the ferries, there are traditional and high speed variants, with the traditional trip taking a little over 2hrs and the high speed about 1hr. I took the high speed ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket.
The ferry drops everyone off at the main docks that opens up into downtown Nantucket. You're immediately surrounded by restaurants, pubs, pizza shops, ice cream shops, t shirt shops, etc. It's a short walk beyond the tourist trap area to some of the attractions. One of the most highly recommended is the Whaling Museum.
Housed in what was once an 19th century candle factory, the museum follows the rise and fall of the whaling industry in Nantucket. Between the end of the American Revolution and the start of the Civil War, whaling was a huge international enterprise. Ships based out of Nantucket would go on multi year trips as far as the South Pacific to hunt sperm whales for their oil. The museum displayed tools of the trade, examples of whale oil, a recreation of an oil press facility, and art created by the sailors at the time, namely scrimshaw. They also explained how the actual hunt would progress, including the sighting of a whale, the chase, the kill, and the processing (i.e. butchering) took place, including this bit of trivia - the youngest sailors (usually 12yrs old or less) were responsible for climbing into the whale's head with a bucket to scrape out the last bit of oil from the carcass. Imagine having that job for over a year.
The oil press
Whale Oil (a small portion of what a single whale would provide
Early Map of Nantucket
Examples of scrimshaw
The American whaling industry declined with the start of the Civil War due to the conflict itself and introduction of kerosene, making the use of whale oil for lighting obsolete.
One of the activities I was looking forward to was biking around the island. It cost me an extra $14 to bring my bike on the ferry, so I tried to make the most of it. I ended up going on a longer ride than I expected to.
It was my own fault, I just eyeballed the trail on the map without actually looking up the distance. Unfortunately, most of the coastline is in private hands and out of view from the trail. However, there was some nice scenery.
Likely a very expensive golf course
Nantucket has a craft brewery on the island, so I had to visit it.
It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's really a big open air (expensive) bar. There are a few buildings hosting separate bars (one for beer, one for wine, a few shops). There's a large pavilion and a live band, but no indoor seating. It was quite busy when I visited so it was tough to relax after the long ride. I had a drink (it was ok) and some tacos from a resident food truck (they were awesome), but overall it's not my kind of place. I wanted a low key tasting room, this was not it.
Heading back to the port, I passed by some interesting scenery.
Nantucket was one of the more friendly places I've visited. Most of the folks I passed on the bike trail smiled and waved as I passed by. That's not the same kind of response I've seen in New York and downtown Boston. It was a pleasant visit though I wonder what the place is like during the winter months.
You can get there by air or by sea, no land bridges. Among the ferries, there are traditional and high speed variants, with the traditional trip taking a little over 2hrs and the high speed about 1hr. I took the high speed ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket.
The ferry drops everyone off at the main docks that opens up into downtown Nantucket. You're immediately surrounded by restaurants, pubs, pizza shops, ice cream shops, t shirt shops, etc. It's a short walk beyond the tourist trap area to some of the attractions. One of the most highly recommended is the Whaling Museum.
Housed in what was once an 19th century candle factory, the museum follows the rise and fall of the whaling industry in Nantucket. Between the end of the American Revolution and the start of the Civil War, whaling was a huge international enterprise. Ships based out of Nantucket would go on multi year trips as far as the South Pacific to hunt sperm whales for their oil. The museum displayed tools of the trade, examples of whale oil, a recreation of an oil press facility, and art created by the sailors at the time, namely scrimshaw. They also explained how the actual hunt would progress, including the sighting of a whale, the chase, the kill, and the processing (i.e. butchering) took place, including this bit of trivia - the youngest sailors (usually 12yrs old or less) were responsible for climbing into the whale's head with a bucket to scrape out the last bit of oil from the carcass. Imagine having that job for over a year.
The oil press
Whale Oil (a small portion of what a single whale would provide
Early Map of Nantucket
Examples of scrimshaw
The American whaling industry declined with the start of the Civil War due to the conflict itself and introduction of kerosene, making the use of whale oil for lighting obsolete.
One of the activities I was looking forward to was biking around the island. It cost me an extra $14 to bring my bike on the ferry, so I tried to make the most of it. I ended up going on a longer ride than I expected to.
It was my own fault, I just eyeballed the trail on the map without actually looking up the distance. Unfortunately, most of the coastline is in private hands and out of view from the trail. However, there was some nice scenery.
Likely a very expensive golf course
Nantucket has a craft brewery on the island, so I had to visit it.
It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's really a big open air (expensive) bar. There are a few buildings hosting separate bars (one for beer, one for wine, a few shops). There's a large pavilion and a live band, but no indoor seating. It was quite busy when I visited so it was tough to relax after the long ride. I had a drink (it was ok) and some tacos from a resident food truck (they were awesome), but overall it's not my kind of place. I wanted a low key tasting room, this was not it.
Heading back to the port, I passed by some interesting scenery.
Nantucket was one of the more friendly places I've visited. Most of the folks I passed on the bike trail smiled and waved as I passed by. That's not the same kind of response I've seen in New York and downtown Boston. It was a pleasant visit though I wonder what the place is like during the winter months.
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