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Travel: Come, Let's Stroll in Nantucket
The summer haven of Nantucket shines again on one special December weekend.
by Annie B. Copps
View the Slide Show: Nantucket Holiday Stroll.
My first trip to the island of Nantucket was in the 1970s. My little sister was a toddler, and my older brother was spending the summer with family friends on a ranch out West. My mother sensed that I was a little jealous of both the cute baby and my big brother's adventures, so she packed us up for a long girls' weekend. We took the ferry from Hyannis and spent the weekend eating ice cream, visiting the Whaling Museum, swimming at Children's Beach, riding bikes out to 'Sconset, and window-shopping. I spent the return trip working on a needlepoint pattern that Mom had bought me and admiring my excellent sunburn.
That was the first of many trips to an island that captured my heart decades ago, as it has those of the many thousands who spill out of the ferries and fill its cobblestone streets. With its beautiful beaches, outstanding sailing, vibrant shops, and waterside dining, it's so easy to fall in love with Nantucket in the summer.
But there's another Nantucket. Come fall and winter, it's a sleepy New England village. It belongs again to the locals, and to the hardy souls who love walking its windswept shores with no one in sight, who duck into its warm restaurants, where everyone seems to know everyone else. There's one special weekend in December, though, when the streets hum with visitors again. Officially it's the annual Christmas Stroll Weekend--though locals call it simply "Stroll." It began 37 years ago, and the idea hasn't changed since: Give people a reason to get together, to enjoy the island, to give a big boost to its shops and restaurants, and to celebrate a place that doesn't close up when the air turns cold--it simply relaxes, and in a way its people grow warmer. Stroll brings together people in a good mood, inspired in part by festive shops decorated with holly boughs and fanciful window displays.
We arrive by high-speed ferry on Friday, and the spirit of the weekend ignites suddenly as we spy a giant wreath hanging from Brant Point Lighthouse, then boats across the harbor decorated with Christmas trees on their bows and colorful lights strung up their masts. Greetings at the Straight Wharf dock seem more heartfelt than in the summer months--there's less baggage, less bicycle chaos, more hugs and laughter.
The Nantucket Whaling Museum never gets old for me, so our first night begins here. The museum was renovated in 2003-2005, creating an even more attractive setting for the historical and cultural displays highlighting the island's past as a whaling community. There's nothing abstract here. When you see the 46-foot-long skeleton of a sperm whale hanging above, you know what it feels like to be dwarfed by nature in all its awesome power. All around you is evidence of the islanders' life before tourists came ashore. There's exquisite scrimshaw on display in the many glass cases, along with lightship baskets and other period folk art.
But this is Stroll Weekend, so the year-round items share space with the annual "Festival of Trees"--a big deal on the island now, with some 70 holiday evergreens decorated by local merchants, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. Most trees are tasteful, themed expressions of Christmas; others are cheeky cultural commentaries--such as one draped with ornaments of empty prescription bottles of Prozac and Viagra. In yet another room of the museum, a hush falls over the gathered audience as a slightly giddy group of fresh-faced high-school students file up onto risers and in perfect harmony charm the crowd with holiday favorites.
Reader Comments
Comment from Sue Wardleworth on November 24, 2010
This really makes me want to be there next year. Have never been to Nantucket must start saving
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