Author: Taryn McBryde

Nantucket Essays, Nantucket History & People

Spreading the Fishing Bug

Not every type of fishing involves rods and reels. Nantucket has an abundance of quahogs, hard shell clams that live in the shallow sandy areas around the island. When I was in my early teens, it seems that once or twice each summer I’d end up on a trip with Oscar Bunting, a commercial fisherman, to go with him and scratch up those tasty morsels. Oscar looked like he was from central casting’s selection for “The Old Man and the Sea.” He was a very strong guy with forearms that rivaled Popeye’s, a real-life Cap’n Quint. Oscar had a steely look in his eyes that told you he was a serious man but he softened that look with a frequent and wonderful deep laugh. I loved those quahog digging trips with him!

Island Science

Summer Magic

Ladybug season is upon us! As May rolls into June, we are at peak observation time for our myriad of ladybug species—when the larvae change into the adult stage we know and love. And even though it’s not unusual to see a ladybug around the island, it’s still a bit of summer magic to spot one.

An Island Point of View, Nantucket Events

From the Stage

To know the future, know the graduates.

Nantucket High School, for most of its recent past, puts its graduates on stage for the family and for friends. They sit there, arrayed in the ceremonial cap and gown, and present themselves to the town. Neither the superintendent, nor the faculty, nor the school committee present them to the public wrapped in blue and white. Instead, they present themselves. “Here we are,” they say, “for better or for worse, we are the best this community could do. You have committed the future to us.”

Plein Air Nantucket
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

Painting across the Isle

Don’t be surprised on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 11 and 12, if you see many artists painting, sketching, and drawing downtown, along the docks, and at Nantucket beaches. It’s the start of the 13th annual Plein Air Nantucket. Artists on Nantucket look forward to participating in this popular festival organized […]

Theatre Workshop of Nantucket Cast of Sense & Sensibility on cobblestone street
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

TWN Opens Its 68th Season

Theatre Workshop of Nantucket opens their 68th season with a playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Sense & Sensibility. The tale the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. Set in gossipy late 18thcentury England, with […]

Lady Slippers
Island Science

Look Out for Lady Slippers

It’s the time of year to hunt for one of my favorite spring flowers. No, not to pick, but to view and enjoy in the wild. The Pink Lady’s Slipper Orchid (or Lady Slipper Orchid), Cypripedium acaule, is emerging now in time to flower around Memorial Day. As the name implies, Lady Slipper Orchid flowers look like elegant pink ballet slippers. Of course, being a New England native orchid, these plants are much hardier that their delicate appearance implies. The Lady Slipper orchid is a hardy perennial that is able to withstand the brutal New England winters underground. The leaves emerge in springtime (usually early to mid-May) with the flowers visible late May to early June.

Wine Festival
Nantucket Events

A Wine Journey One Glass at a Time

This weekend the annual Nantucket Food & Wine Festival draws hundreds of wine enthusiasts and fine dining connoisseurs to Nantucket Island. While the many NWF ticketed events promise to tantalize taste buds and delight oenophiles, Current Vintage is inviting the public to attend an intriguing series of ten tastings and events from May 16 to 18.

Go Bucktails!…
Nantucket Essays, Nantucket Voices

Go Bucktails!

Yikes—it’s the second week of May and no Nantucket anglers have caught a striped bass yet! The first striper of 2023 showed up on May 3. I remember this well as my wonderful, crazy wife Beth landed it! She didn’t know that it was a big deal at the time. I certainly did. So here we are, us Nantucket fishing types, waiting in anticipation. Antici-paaaaaation…it’s keeping me waaaaaaaiting…