News and Events for Nantucket Island
To start, the weather in March was incredible here on Nantucket. Then, April was the pits (including more than the just the weather). May rolled around where we usually see an influx of people at the start of the season; however, that did not quite transpire this year. Fast forward to today, and summertime is so close you can taste it! It is definitely time to enjoy a splash of summer in your glass.
If there are plenty of fish in the sea, then Nantucket is the place to catch them. Whether you’re on the water or at its edge, wetting a line is a wonderful way to relax, contemplate, and, if you’re lucky, feed your family and friends. Our waters are home to a myriad of species like fluke, bluefish, black bass, bonito, but the draw for most anglers on this island is the striped bass.
While the museum remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, the public can still enjoy a virtual experience of what the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum has to offer. Enjoy exhibits and artifacts ranging from the Breeches Buoy, an ingenious shore-to-ship rescue device akin to a zip line today, or hear the story of the Wreck of the W.F. Marshall in which all lives were saved including that of a very large Newfoundland dog.
An all-star slate of luminaries who personify creativity and passion will come to your home this July when Alessandra Branca, Meg Braff, Richard Keith Langham, Young Huh, and Ellen Fisher are the featured speakers for 2020’s Nantucket by Design.
Our native orchids are remarkable for their diversity and their adaptations. Almost all of our orchids are rare and confined to specialized habitats. For some of our native orchids, these specialized habitats have meant a rarity or potential extirpation from the island. There are some species, however, that are still locally common enough that you may be able to catch a glimpse of one of these special native plants.
Nantucket is known for its roses, particularly in the town of ‘Sconset…such quaint, squinting faces, smiling as you stroll past. This season, we might be greeted by the roses more often than our usual annual visitors. As with people, roses can be a bit thorny, but give them a chance and you’ll see that the more attention you pay, the more sunsets you spend, a “New Dawn’ will rise. Roses can be a complicated and unforgiving challenge, but when done right, there is no better reward. Whether it be heirloom roses or hybrid tea, one thing holds true, you’ll need sunlight. . .
On Saturday afternoons, I have been driving around the island and taking pictures. While the weather continues to be stuck in a damp June-uary, the season has begun. I drove down to Straight Wharf to photograph the boat basin, then out to Cisco Brewers, Cisco Beach, and then back to the head of Main Street. At nine o’clock, in May, with trees laden with leaves, cherry blossoms clustered, and absolutely no cars. Aside from people like me, memorializing the absence and remarking at the silence.
Growing up on Nantucket in the 1970s – where to start? Let’s do it the way most great stories began…
Once upon a time, the whole of Dionis Beach was open, I swear. And that’s where all of us islanders would go. Every nice weekend in the summer, hundreds of Nantucket families would congregate out there. Cars filled the beach. Tires would be deflated in the adjacent parking lots – a process that seemed to take forever when I was a kid.
Staff of the Nantucket Atheneum are very eager to get books back in yourhands, and starting June 8, this will begin to happen.
During Phase 1 of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ opening schedule,the Atheneum has been completing some necessary maintenance and preparingthe front entrance for curbside service.
