Plymouth to Hyannis to Nantucket to Hyannis

Wednesday, 16 October

Yesterday we had a short chat with a park ranger on the waterfront in Plymouth and he told us that strong winds were forecast for Thursday, the day we had planned to visit Nantucket, and that the ferries would be unlikely to run. So we rang the ferry company and they obligingly changed our bookings to today. That meant an early start from Plymouth to get here in time for the 9.30 ferry. Fortunately all went smoothly, including the ferry crossing.

We had booked a bus tour of the island and that was interesting and informative, and also took us to parts we could never have seen on our own, like one of the lighthouses and a cranberry bog. Apparently last week was the cranberry festival, when everyone gets involved in the harvest. Would love to have seen that.

There are rules about which colour you can paint your house here. The main theme is silvery grey with white trim. Many of the houses are made of shingles which have weathered to that beautiful silver grey. There are only a few brick homes. We looked in the windows of a couple of real estate agents and decided that we probably couldn’t afford a holiday home on Nantucket. They were all over a million, with a couple up to about 28 million. I suspect that if you don’t keep your lawn immaculate and your window boxes up to date with the current festival, you get thrown off the island. It was all picturesque and chocolate boxy.

We were wandering past an Episcopal church when a lady stopped and told us about a Tiffany window inside. We investigated and it really was a lovely window.

Had quite a wander round the town as our return ferry was at 5 o’clock. Finally found a coffee shop in a rather out of the way side street and were able to sit down for a well earned cuppa. Anne coped well with terribly uneven pavements but must be exhausted after all that walking on her bung leg.

The return trip was uneventful and we checked into our motel, then found a really nice bistro just across the road. We topped off a tasty meal with a creme brûlée that we didn’t need but did enjoy. The wind had really picked up by the time we were walking home and I can hear rain outside now, so we’re extremely glad we had our Nantucket experience today.