Nantucket...far away land

Our annual family excursion landed us in Nantucket this year, September of 2008. Since our primary means of transportation on the island was pedaling about, we made every effort to pack lightly for this four day get-a-way from civilization as we know it in Concord, NH. In our family it is a sure bet that the 'coming and the going' are the most stressful components to any get-a-way. As all trips begin, it is the 'not so simple' process of getting out of the house that make us all glad we didn't do this kind of thing everyday. After a few wrong turns in Hyannis, we made it to the one o'clock ferry by the skin of our teeth. Traffic was not all that bad driving through Boston, nor were the driving conditions. Amazingly all four bicycles remained in tact on the roof of the car. After purchasing our ferry tickets, we scrambled to make it onto our ferry. Little did we know that what we got onto was more of a cargo ship than a passenger ferry. We nestled ourselves near another family and sat in make shift seats made out of the widest rope I have ever seen. We shared our provisions, homemade zucchini bread, with the family beside us who were traveling to Nantucket for a wedding celebration. After two and a half hours we finally made it to our destination and later found our home away from home on Centre Street at the Martin House Inn where we were greeted by our wonderful hostess, Skye. At the bed and breakfast we crossed paths with numerous lovely people from California to Ireland who were just a pleasure. Two of our four days were dedicated to traveling while the other two, riding our bicycles about the island exploring and swimming in the ocean and bay areas. We had a nice visit to the Whaling Museum located on Broad Street. There we were left in awe after learning about the journey of the whaling boat, The Essex. In her time, Nantucket was once the whaling capital of the world. After the "Great Fire" of 1846 which burned through Nantucket fueled by whale oil and wood in the docks and warehouses, hundreds were left homeless and impoverished. Amazingly, Nantucket was rebuilt, this time primarily in brick. Through tragedy and loss, the whaling industry survived until the last boat left Nantucket's harbor in 1869 and never returned. It rounded the southern most tip of South America, Cape Horn, and back up the western coast finally making it to California where its crew found other means of survival, gold. Over the years since then, the economy and survial of Nantucketers relies on tourism. All in all, anticipating stormy weather and the tail end of a hurricane, we were lucky to be blessed with the weather that we did have and the company that we spent it with.