Nantucket Revisited

"My god, we're going to look like Day Trippers!" was Significant Other's comment when he saw the bags of sun glop, beach towels, sweatshirts and all the accoutrements of our venture. "But we are Daytrippers," I reminded him.

Monday morning we boarded the Hyannis Ferry for the faraway isle of Nantucket. I have been making this trip since my children were in diapers. Everything about it is familiar and known and yet it is always thrilling.

I was curious to see if Nantucket had changed, because in the donkey's years since we began traveling there it has been discovered by new money and six million dollar homes have sprouted like weeds, and the island has become the in home to the heavy hitters. There has always been money there, but it didn't scream itself from the rooftops, and life was laid back and casual.

Our last trip there was the weekend before September 11th, and the juxtaposition of those two events lent the expedition a certain amount of dread. But the ferry plowed through the water in the usual somnolent pace, and no windmill farm sprouted in Nantucket sound, and soon the lighthouse at the far end of the island came into view, then the jetties and thank god Brant Point looked the same, with the old houses still there, and the kids poking around on the beach.

Lunch outdoors at the Ropewalk. Couldn't imagine anywhere else. Delicious corn tortillas with very fresh cod, black beans, tomato, onion and cheese. Tostadas New England Style. It just really worked. Looking around, the people looked the same. Lots of Lily Pulitzer on tiny tots and their moms, as was right and proper. Lady with facelift and enhanced pouty lips. Older foursome with no enhancement whatsoever. Big boats tied up. We always ignore the warning that only boatowners are welcome on the pier. Phooey. The docks used to have more sailboats and fewer stinkpots, but that's been changing for a long time. Always cool to look at the boats.

Afterward, a stroll through town. Way too much traffic, but many of the same stores and still the butt-busting cobblestones, if you are on a bicycle. Whaling Museum much expanded, but the Dive Shop hadn't changed. Children's beach deja vu. New houses, but at least not intruding on the familiar places. Ice Cream place still next to the Dive Shop. Rum raisin still outstanding. Life is good. Yacht club looked like the days of yore.

Back on the ferry and the return trip to Hyannis. Years ago it was said of the Daytrippers, that they brought a clean shirt and a five dollar bill and changed neither. Not quite true.
Fortunately, there are few signs of the new money except for a zillion jewelry store ads in the tourist guide. Like Palm Beach for cryin' out loud. But the rhythm of island life seemed unchanged. The good island life. Ah, New England!