September 2005
When crowds disappear after Labor Day, you can enjoy the island's quiet pace and wide-open spaces like a local. During the Nantucket Arts Festival (October 1 through 9; 508-325-8588), artists welcome you into their home studios. You can also join an organ crawl to six churches for classical concerts.
Make a plan: The best way to explore Nantucket's mix of conservation lands and architecture is by bicycle, which you can rent from Nantucket Bike Rentals (508-228-1999) and have delivered to your hotel. Pedal into Nantucket Town to explore cobblestone lanes lined with homes from 1740 to 1840, and then hit the Polpis Bike Path for a scenic ride past Sankaty Head Lighthouse to Sconset, an old fishing village on the eastern side of the island. Learn to surf at Cisco beach, where you can ride the waves with Nantucket Island Surf School (508-560-1020).
Check out the island's signature craft, the lightship basket (above right), at weavers' studios and the Lightship Basket Museum (508-228-1177), which provides a map to basket makers' workshops. Sailors first wove these wooden-splint nesting baskets while aboard lightships stationed around the island.
Did you know: Nearly 40 percent of the island of Nantucket has been permanently preserved for conservation.
Kitchen smarts: Francophiles head straight for L'Ile de France (508-228-3686, www.frenchgeneralstore.com), a charming little store of French imports, such as Piment d'Espelette pepper from the Basque region and Poilâne sourdough bread flown in from Paris every Thursday. Visit Bartlett's Farm (508-228-9403), which supplies produce to local chefs and ready-to-go picnics. For Bakelite kitchenware and other vintage collectibles, visit the Made on Nantucket (508-228-0110) gallery on Main Street.
Good food: Head to Black Eyed Susan's (508-325-0308) for Dutch cakes, a delicious pancake stuffed with melted cheese and smothered in maple syrup. The Brant Point Grill (508-325-1320), Nantucket's premier steak and seafood restaurant, offers harbor views and wood-smoked foods, some cooked on a unique fire-cone grill. Satisfy your sweet tooth with mouthwatering fudge made by Aunt Leah (800-824-6330), a retired schoolteacher whose grandmother's recipe remains a family secret.
Call it a night: Stay in the historic district at Jared Coffin House ($120 to $450; 508-228-2400, www.jaredcoffinhouse.com), a 60-room red-brick inn, or at the harbor-front White Elephant ($150 to $625; 800-445-6574, www.whiteelephanthotel.com), a 10-minute walk from town. At the Wauwinet Hotel ($260 to $950; 800-426-8718, www.wauwinet.com), you can sign up for lobstering expeditions, after which the chef cooks your catch for dinner.
Dialing for Seafood: For a picnic on the beach, The Nantucket Lobster Trap (508-228-4200, www.nantucketlobstertrap.com) prepares Meals on Keels, a packaged lobster dinner with boiled potato, corn on the cob, coleslaw, fresh bread, and optional clam chowder, steamer clams, or mussels. Sayle's Seafood (508-228-4599, www.saylesseafood.com) offers a take-out clambake dinner, and the restaurant will ship fresh lobster and other shellfish, as well as clam chowder base (just add cream), for next-day delivery.
The SeaGrille (508-325-5700, www.theseagrille.com) ships its famous chowder nationwide.
