Nantucket: It Truly is a State of Mind

Recently, I took advantage of a special FAM trip to Nantucket sponsored by the Steamship Authority, which offers fast ferry service to the island. The day dawned bright and sunny, but unseasonably cool for spring on Cape Cod and with the threat of afternoon showers. Undaunted, I grabbed my windbreaker and headed down Route 6A, the Old King’s Highway, to pick up my friends Helen and Mary for our date with the 11:00 AM fast ferry.

Nantucket, many say, is a state of mind, and having lived there briefly between college graduation and my first teaching position many years ago, I must concur. There is something about the light, the rustle of leaves against the cobblestones, and the wind that whips the sails in the boat basin that envelopes your soul in a dreamlike reverie. It haunts you when you leave and embraces you when you return, as you undoubtedly will after your first visit.

The name, of Native American origin, means faraway island, and so it is, yet still readily accessible, so that even a daytrip is worthwhile. The trip from Hyannis is a little more than an hour by high-speed ferry and only 15 minutes by air. I particularly enjoy arriving by ferry and seeing the whole town come into view as the vessel rounds the lighthouse at Brant Point and enters the harbor. At approximately 3.5 miles deep and 14 miles wide, the island is smaller than Martha’s Vineyard and just a bit larger than Manhattan. More than 12,000 acres (almost 40 percent of the island) are protected from development, which is a fact that is much appreciated by the nearly 7,000 year-round inhabitants. When the “summer folk” arrive after Memorial Day the population swells to more than 50,000.

It was smooth sailing across the Atlantic to Nantucket Town, where we were greeted by Chester Barrett, a native islander with a gift for gab. Chester is a septuagenarian character with a New England twang and a fondness for his ancestral home that is infectious. He took us around the island in his comfortable 30-passenger tour bus and regaled us with humorous anecdotes about windmills, cranberry bogs, and whaling captains in a delightful 90-minute circumnavigation of the “Gray Lady”, Nantucket’s nickname.

After our tour, we walked the cobbled streets of downtown Nantucket, admiring the storefronts and serene nature of this fabled island situated just 30 miles offshore. A few hardy local proprietors were readying their shops in anticipation of the hustle bustle that the upcoming “season” will bring.

Nantucket is the only place in the United States that is a town, a county, and an island, and in its entirety, both a State Historic District and a National Historic Landmark. It is a place where nearly half the land is held in conservation, and there are no stoplights, shopping malls, or fast-food franchises. Instead, there are cobblestoned streets and brick

walkways where locals stop to chat and everyone seems to know your name. It doesn’t take long to feel at home here.

Sadly, our day came to an end much as it began, with a trip aboard the MV Iyanough.  But, I am hopeful as the ferry rounds Brant Point on the return to “America”, as Chester referred to the land across the sound. Hopeful that the daffodils waving their lovely heads signal the advent of spring; that the contentment I feel from a day well spent will endure; and that Nantucket will be waiting for me whenever I am able to return.

Cape Cod: A Brief Maritime History

To the mariner, Cape Cod represents both a hazard and a haven. On a sunlit summer day, with balmy breezes and endless sandy coastline, boaters can be lulled into a sense of complacency, blissfully unaware of the treachery that lies beneath. It is the shallow sand bars several hundred yards off the beach that present the greatest danger. Here is where countless storm driven ships have grounded over the years, broken into pieces under the pressure of tons of raging water, and spilled their fragile contents and occupants into the bone chilling surf. So many ships have piled up on the hidden sand bars off the coast between Chatham and Provincetown, in fact, that those fifty miles of sea have been called an “ocean graveyard.”

In the early 1800s, there was an average of two wrecks every month during the winter. It was not, however, until 1872, that a really efficient lifesaving service was put into operation by the United States government. Stations were erected every five miles on the beach. Six or seven surfmen and a keeper lived in each station and kept a continuous watch. When a ship in distress was sighted, a red signal was fired from ashore to let the crew at sea know they’d been seen. Then the lifesaving crew went into action.

If the sea permitted, they launched their special surfboats–some equipped with air chambers (to help keep them afloat), cork fenders (to keep them from being smashed against the sinking ship), and righting lines (to use in case they capsized). When weather and surf were too violent to launch the surf boat, the alternate method of rescue was the “breeches buoy”. The buoy consisted of a pair of canvas breeches fastened inside a life ring and suspended from a life line and pulley system between the stranded ship and shore. A small cannon was used to shoot a lightweight line to the ship, which in turn was pulled on board by the ship’s crew. Simultaneously, the surfmen erected a twelve-foot wooden crotch to suspend the hawser line and breeches buoy above the surf and buried an anchor in the sand. In practice, the whole operation had to be done within five minutes. Only after all this was accomplished could one victim at a time be rescued as the breeches buoy was tediously pulled back and forth from shore. Visitors can view the breeches buoy in action at a drill given weekly during the summer months by National Seashore Rangers.

For a glimpse of the contraption in action, go see the movie “The Golden Boys”, which was filmed on location in Cape Cod in 2007 and, in part, at the Old Harbor Life Saving Station at Race Point in Provincetown. The climatic final scenes of the film depict a rescue at sea off the coast of Chatham. The film is currently playing at movie houses on the Cape and throughout the country.

To mark Cape Cod’s rich maritime history, the Annual Cape Cod Maritime Days is celebrated throughout the month of May. For more information and a schedule of events, which includes lighthouse and walking tours, nautical art exhibits, maritime lectures, boat-building exhibits, and kayak excursions visit http://www.ecapechamber.com/MaritimeDays/

Reminder: While visiting the Cape, we invite you to stay at The High Pointe Inn in West Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Ambling Down Historic Route 6A: The Old King’s Highway

One of my all-time favorite things to do on Cape Cod, no matter what the weather or season, is to amble along Route 6A, the Old King’s Highway in my sporty little red Mazda Miata, a 50th birthday present from my husband, Rich. Recognized as one of the ten most scenic byways in America, the road winds 34 miles though the villages of Bourne, Sandwich, West Barnstable, Barnstable, Yarmouthport, Dennis, Brewster, and Orleans,

roughly paralleling the coastline of Cape Cod Bay. Route 6A is the heart of Cape Cod and the heart of the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District, America’s largest designated historic district, which is bounded to the south by the Mid-Cape Highway (Route 6), and to the north by Cape Cod Bay.

Driving along this scenic byway you’ll be transported through centuries of Cape Cod history, passing scenic harbors, great salt marshes, unique galleries, and the distinctive architecture of treasured old sea captain’s homes. But my particular guilty pleasure in driving 6A is that it is lined by hundreds of quaint shops filled with the most unique and unusual items.

Of course, there are the ubiquitous antique stores, dozens of shops featuring handcrafted items, including lanterns, ironworks, baskets, weather instruments, fine jewelry, pottery, fine art, cuckoo clocks, birdbaths, and home and garden items. Tucked amid these are whimsical little places to purchase Christmas collectibles, Cape Cod Angels, antique maps and nautical items, along with an herbal apothecary and a hand weaving shop. And here-and-there along the way are quirky general stores, an even quirkier bookshop, and numerous spots to quench your thirst or sate your appetite.

If you’re not a shopper, 6A can still delight. Strong preservation efforts have resulted in the protection of open lands and historic structures along the corridor. Conservation lands in many towns along the way offer nature trails and several villages have developed walking tours. Some of my favorite museums also line the corridor of 6A, including the Natural History Museum, the Cape Cod Art Museum, the Edward Gorey Museum, the Sandwich Glass Museum, and Heritage Museum and Gardens, with its historic round barn and car museu and my grandchildren’s favorite, a restored, and fully functioning carousel.

Other Sights Along 6A:

Bourne
Aptuxcet Trading Post
Cape Cod Canal Bicycle Trail
Briggs-McDermott House

Barnstable
Olde Colonial Courthouse
Barnstable Comedy Club
Trayser Memorial Museum
Barnstable Superior Courthouse
Cape Cod Art Association

Brewster
Harris Black House and Windmill
Cape Museum of Natural History
Stoney Brook Grist Mill
Brewster Historical Society Museum
Nickerson State Park
Cape Cod Reperatory Theater

Dennis
Josiah Dennis Manse & Old West Schoolhouse
Cape Museum of Fine Arts
Cape Cinema
Cape Playhouse
Scargo Hill Tower

Orleans
Cape Cod Rail Trail Bicycle Trail
French Cable Station Museum
Jonathan Young Windmill

Sandwich
Shawme Crowell State Forest
Sandwich Glass Museum
Dexter’s Grist Mill
Thornton Burgess Museum
Hoxie House
Heritage Plantation
Wing Fort House
Green Briar Nature Center
Nye Homestead

Yarmouth
Bangs Hallet House
Yarmouth Nature Trail
Winslow Crocker House