**Nantucket Adventures**

The endless summer continues!!

Now that I’ve been twice, I’ve fallen in love with the picturesque village-vibe the island gives all its visitors. So, I’m creating a series based on my adventures to the island of Nantucket. Since I live in Massachusetts, I’ll be sharing all my Nantucket Adventures with you each time I visit the Cape & islands going forward. Spending a weekend down the Cape & taking a day trip to any of the small towns on Cape Cod for ice-cream & fried clams are among my list of summer must-haves.

Yup, you read that right! I’ll drive for over an hour on 495 for fried clams, yum! Every summer, I make it a point to take day trips to mainland beaches like Nantasket Beach, Nauset Beach, Skaket Beach, & many others. However, there’s something that’s always intrigued me about going to the beach on an island. Why not give into my intrigue using an island located in my own backyard. When I watch channel 5 news, I always pay attention to their predictions for the Cape & islands. I’m always surprised seeing how different the weather on Nantucket is compared to my local forecast outside of Boston.

I’d watch the weatherwomen & men predicting extreme wind chill & vast temperature differences for Nantucket thinking, Although this is my third time on the island, this trip is more about work than play. So, for me, I didn’t care so much about the lack of sunlight & warm weather awaiting team AKCstyle on Nantucket in May.

If you know anything about New England in spring, you’re not expecting glorious sunlight & 70-degree temperatures anywhere. That’s rare around these parts until June, well, maybe. This round of Nantucket Adventures begins long before arriving to the historic island. If you’re planning an off-season trip like mine, you need to keep reading.

**The Nantucket Hotel Staff**

The best customer service which made this off-season experience so much fun!

Here was my content-batching plan:

Depart for Hyannis around 10am for a 1pm ferry-ride
Use this three-hour time gap to batch content in-and-around the port
Grab lunch at Spanky’s & relax a bit before the one-hour ferry-ride

No matter how many times I checked the weather (app, website & local weather forecast) I wasn’t seeing anything about the choppy seas effecting travel. With a rare morning of sunshine & moderate temperatures ahead of me, I finished packing the car & rallied my partner in crime. This time, my mom accepted the invite to join me for this work trip. Just before pulling out of the driveway to begin our journey, my phone rings out with multiple email notifications. Usually, I’d ignore this until we hit the road, but something made me stop & check. Thankfully I did because they were from Hy-Line Cruises.

Each notification is slightly different, but basically the ocean is too choppy for boat travel. “Due to wind & rough seas, no ferries are traveling”. While scrambling to figure out when the next ferry is scheduled, we decide to continue heading to Hyannis. Booking the next boat at 3pm didn’t seem too bad. We’d still arrive on Nantucket with enough time to explore the island & take some great photos before dark.

Day One & Two Shot List:

Golden-hour footage
Sunset beach photos
Two- three reels
Lots of food & drink content

That’s what we planned but it didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped for. Fast forward to 3pm, no ferry. The wind is still too intense. Re-schedule…. Fast-forward again to 4:30pm. No ferry & the Hy-Line made the safe decision to cancel all remaining trips to Nantucket & Martha’s Vineyard. Luckily, we had an inside scoop thanks to a few Nantucket residents. So, we made our way to the Steamship Authority before abandoning our trip all together. As we booked our far less expensive Steamship tickets, hours pass & ferries continue being cancelled.

Fortunately for us, the weather loosened up enough for a 7:30pm ferry to take sail! The downside, well, we missed all the “day-one”, pre-planned content. We also didn’t make it to Nantucket until 10:30pm. So, our first day of content batching on Nantucket ended without the planned photos & videos. But, like the title promised, we did have an adventure. Despite our plans being completely de-railed, we still managed to create many original reels, photograph AKCstyle brand pictures, & spend mother-daughter time together. Due to this experience, I’ll never take the forecasted weather predictions for granted again. That’s for sure!

The Nantucket Hotel

In May 2022, my mom & I decided to treat ourselves to a staycation on Nantucket. We're based in MA already so figured the ferry ride to the island from Hyannis Port would be a nice trip. We knew most things on the island wouldn't be open yet & the weather wouldn't be the most picture-esq but still it would be a nice getaway. Unfortunately, the weather was FAR from on our side. The seas were so rough that our 1pm ferry (Hy-Line Cruises) was cancelled several times throughout the day. We almost abandoned our trip, but Malik at the front-desk of the Nantucket Hotel called me & suggested I try the Steamship Authority b/c the boat is bigger.

Although we couldn't make it off the mainland until 9pm!!!... Malik stayed in touch with us the whole way there, making sure we wouldn't be abandoned. He even tried to help us order dinner, so it'd be ready for us when we checked in after-hours! From the time we arrived until the time we left, the service, accommodations & amenities were fantastic. Plus, we had the hotel pretty much to ourselves since the season hadn't really started yet. When Malik was off-duty, Nik was our go-to person at the front desk & continued the top-tier service. Can't wait to go back & stay on the island again. This will be my go-to hotel on Nantucket (as long as there is availability).

The Nantucket Taproom

Smaller Portions, But Good Quality Food

Although the portions aren’t oversized here, the food is so good! I came here with my mom & we each got Margaritas since it was “Margarita Tuesday”. They weren’t overly strong, but not too sweet. The popover basket appetizer had 2 popovers. Wish there was a 3rd for us to split b/c it didn’t feel like enough for the price. However… the main courses made up for the holes in our stomachs. My mom had salmon & I ordered risotto. Both were so fresh & the perfect amount of food to leave room for dessert! This is a great place for a group of friends to meet up & grab drinks at the bar or have a sit-down intimate dinner. Make sure you make reservations; this place fills up fast for dinner.

what to order at the nantucket taproom popovers — 📷 photo credit: Ashleigh K. Copeland

the nantucket taproom dinner specials nantucket, ma — 📷 photo credit: Ashleigh K. Copeland

pan roasted salmon dinner the nantucket taproom — 📷 photo credit: Ashleigh K. Copeland

what to eat for dinner risotto the nantucket taproom — 📷 photo credit: Ashleigh K. Copeland

desserts from the nantucket taproom — 📷 photo credit: Ashleigh K. Copeland

Rose & Crown

Upscale Dive Bar Vibes

I visited Rose & Crown during the off-season, so the place had a pretty sleepy vibe. I heard from the staff this place is usually an exciting bar to visit on the island in the summer. The food was fresh & hit the spot after a long day of walking around the island on a rainy day. The aesthetic is like an upscale dive bar (if there’s such a thing!). We shared an Asian-inspired salad which was large enough for two. We also shared a fish & chips dish, would recommend. There were more than enough French fries to go around too. The specialty drinks are a must have here!