Nantucket
It is, as Melville wrote, 'a mere hillock, an elbow of sand', and yet ... it has one of the most beautiful main streets in America; as for the rest of the island, it took Melville a whole chapter of Moby Dick to describe it properly - its look, its meaning and its moods.

Paul Theroux

The Harbor House Hotel. Nicky arranged for us to have the best room in the Hotel, in the top-centre of the picture, the one that is featured in the brochures. Looking out from the Harbor House entrance hall. Nicky at work in the White Elephant Resort restaurant. Breakfast overlooking the harbour and Children's Beach from the White Elephant hotel garden. Officially the terrace was closed for breakfast for the season, but the morning of Nicky's Birthday was so beautiful Nicky decided we would eat there - and other residents followed suit! Joe, one of Nicky's friends, lent us his jeep for the day. On Nantucket people rarely lock their cars, or even remove the keys from the ignition when they park them. Birthday Girl and her Dad on the beach. Surprise Birthday cake made by the chef of The Harbor House. Jenny and I were privileged to spend a few days on Nantucket in 1996 while our daughter Nicky was working at the Harbor House Hotel and White Elephant Resort. It was her 21st Birthday while we were there and breakfast that day in the garden of the White Elephant, overlooking Children's Beach, Brandt Point and the harbour under a beautiful blue sky is a treasured memory. These are just a few of the photographs we took while we were there.
Harbor cottages, available to let from the Harbor House Hotel, Harrison Ford holidayed here earlier in the year. A number of people in the public eye regularly visit Nantucket because they can live near normal lives while they are here. People will smile and say 'Hello', but not pester them for photographs and autographs. Harbor cottages and the wharf for the passenger ferry. Main Street - the cobbles are far larger and more uneven than they appear here, and act as an excellent speed deterent. The first sign drivers see when leaving the vehicle ferry is 'Slow down you're not off-island now'. More cobbled roads are being re-discovered all the time, under layers of tarmac, and are being restored. So many of the island roads are narrow and bordered by hedges that it gives rise to a styling feature known as 'Nantucket Pinstripes' - a myriad of fine scratches running the length of the vehicle. Brant Point light, just about my favourite image of Nantucket. Nantucket harbour and town from the church tower. Like the church, many of the bigger houses have observation platforms or rooms on the roof. Here the wives of sea-captains would look out every day to see if their husband's ship was returning. Ships could be at sea for months, even years, and many never returned at all. For good reason, they are called 'widow's walks' Nantucket's oldest house - the Jethro Coffin ('Coffin' being the family name) house. It was struck by lightning a few years ago and the roof and chimney carefully rebuilt. The original plans were available, but when the craftsman-bricklayer was sudying them he came to the conclusion that they were incorrect. After much discussion between the town's elders it was decided to build it to be how it was before, rather than like the plans. Some time later a document dating back to the original construction of the building was discovered stating that the original plans were incorrect, and describing how the chimney should be built - just like the 1990's bricklayer had done it! Damage from the storm the night before we arrived. Nantucket windmill, sails removed for protection from the storm. Jetty Beach, near Brant Point. One of three identical brick-built houses in Nantucket town. They were built for the three sons of one of the wealthy residents, and are the only brick-built houses on the island. Brick was extremely expensive to ship in when Nantucket was in its heyday, and today it is forbidden to build with them. More gracious piles, this is the home of the Island's preservation society. These properties, together with some others on the island, have the fittings on the front doors (knockers, handles and letter boxes) made from Sterling Silver. A few have them on the doors all year round, others replace them with less valuable items for the winter months. A ,sad moment. Looking back at the airport buildings as we prepared for take-off in the little plane back to Boston and then to New York and England. The island is a truly beautiful place steeped in history being the birthplace of deep-sea whaling. The ships got bigger and bigger beyond the size that the harbours could accommodate so whaling ended suddenly for Nantucket and the island declined rapidly as there was no other work. This meant that the island became frozen in time for many years with few 'modern' developments. It is a tribute to the islanders that the first historical society set up to protect the character of the islands was formed very nearly 100 years ago.

The result is not a holiday island full of museums and gift shops but a real living place with real living people.

Accommodation shopping eating out activities and transport

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket
But his daughter named Nan
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket Nantucket.

The above Limerick was discovered in 1924 and new verses have been added ever since. Can you come up with a new one?

Nantucket live cameras in the harbour Mainstreet Washington and Salem Streets.

Nantucket still camera in Main Street updated every 30 secs.

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