Nantucket: Cobblestones, Cisco Brewers & Moors

The Steamship Authority's high-speed ferry from Hyannis takes 1 hour to Nantucket; the traditional ferry takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. The high-speed ferry is the standard choice for day visitors; the slow ferry is preferred by those bringing bicycles. The approach to Nantucket through the harbor entrance, with the town's grey-shingled waterfront visible above the Great Point marshes, is one of the best maritime arrivals in the US.

The cobblestone waterfront district runs from Straight Wharf to Old South Wharf — a compact area of original 18th and 19th-century commercial buildings housing restaurants, galleries, and the Nantucket Whaling Museum. The museum occupies the 1847 candle factory, with a 46-foot sperm whale skeleton suspended from the roof and the actual tryworks that rendered whale oil in a 19th-century Pacific voyage.

A Nantucket restaurant on India Street, serving New American cuisine with serious wine and cocktail programs in a room that attracts the island's year-round residents as much as the summer visitors. The oyster selection rotates between Nantucket Harbor farms and the off-island suppliers; the charcuterie is made in-house.

The 767-acre Sanford Farm conservation property preserves the open moorland that covers the island's interior — a landscape of heath, kettle ponds, and blueberry barrens that the Wampanoag named 'Nantucket' ('the faraway land') for its visual character. The 6-mile Sanford Farm trail system reaches Ram Pasture on the south shore; the ocean view from the Ram Pasture bluff faces the open Atlantic with no land between Nantucket and Spain.

A campus of three craft producers in the Cisco area of Nantucket's agricultural interior: Cisco Brewers (producing ales and wheat beers since 1995), Nantucket Vineyard (estate wines from 12 acres of Marquette and Cayuga grapes), and Triple Eight Distillery (vodka, rum, and whiskey using Nantucket grain and water). The outdoor beer garden operates year-round; the combined campus is the most visited non-beach destination on the island.

The eastern end of Nantucket — called 'Sconset by locals — is a colony of rose-covered fishing shacks that evolved into summer cottages in the 18th century and have been designated a historic district since 1972. The Sankaty Head Lighthouse (1849) at the bluff's edge is the most powerful light on the New England coast; the 'Sconset Bluff Walk follows the erosion edge above the Atlantic for half a mile.

A 'Sconset institution since 1974, operating from the original Siasconset Market building, with a menu of made-to-order sandwiches and house-made soups. The lobster salad sandwich — on house-baked bread, with Nantucket butter lettuce — is the island's best sandwich outside the Straight Wharf lobster roll.

A 16-mile round-trip accessible only by four-wheel-drive or a 4-mile walk from Wauwinet — the barrier spit at Nantucket's northern tip, with the 1818 Great Point Lighthouse at the tip. The refuge encompasses one of the most significant seabird nesting areas in the Northeast; the rip at Great Point's tip is one of the most productive striped bass fishing spots on the East Coast. Access requires a 4WD vehicle with a beach driving permit (available from the Trustees of Reservations) or a guided tour — Great Point is not reachable on foot without an 8-mile round-trip beach walk.

A Saturday and Sunday outdoor market on the Nantucket Wharf, running from mid-June through mid-October, with 50 vendors selling Nantucket-grown produce, handmade crafts, baked goods, and prepared foods. The Saturday market is the larger; the Sunday is quieter and more local in character.

A waterfront restaurant on the Hyannis Inner Harbor, serving Cape Cod seafood in an open-air setting above the ferry dock. The chowder is made from the morning's catch; the lobster roll is the full-belly Cape Cod style — a split-top bun with warm butter-dressed claw and knuckle meat.