Blustery Nantucket Weekend.

This past weekend, my friend Sam invited a group of us girls up to her family’s house on Nantucket. It was my first time visiting the island, which is a little bit embarrassing considering that I grew up on Cape Cod. I don’t know why we never went as kids, or when I was in college, but it just never happened!

We were up at 4am to be on the road at 4:45 and beat all of the traffic, arriving at the ferry station by 9am. The only problem? All of the ferries had been canceled. Oops. #JoaquinFail. We weren’t really sure what to do. We nearly ended up staying the night with my parents (luckily my own family lives about twenty minutes away from Hyannis) but settled on waiting it out at Baxter’s nearby. After a few Bloody Marys + lobster salad and clam chowder, we felt better… and the 2:45pm ferry was running!

The ride over to the island was turbulent, to say the least. I was very seasick but found that if I closed my eyes and put on headphones, I was just fine. Two hours later, we’d arrived and our friend (who had flown over) picked us up in the cute Jeep we rented.

On Friday night, we opted to stay in and cook. Rather, Sam cooked. Sam has enviable cooking (and hostessing talents), and just whipped up an incredible pork tenderloin with veggies + potatoes.

The next day, we were up and went into town to do a bit of exploring. The photos above are from Steps Beach, which is one of the prettiest beaches in Nantucket. (Pardon the clouds + wind, but imagine it on a bright sunny day!)

We went to Cru on the water for lunch and it was delicious. We split oysters, calamari, and smoked fish dip… and I had (yet another) lobster salad as my main course. Cru’s raw bar is top notch (the oyster list alone incredible) and several cocktails were involved. If you go, I highly recommend the Crucumber (a vodka, lemon, & cucumber concoction…) as it is so amazingly good!

How cool is this driftwood chandelier (inside Cru) Love.

For dinner, we went to American Seasons, which I was really excited about. It’s one of my mom’s all time favorite restaurants (which says a lot – my parents are restaurateurs and huge foodies) so I went in with high expectations. Everything we ate was absolutely delicious. I had leek soup and a braised beef cheek that was so tender I didn’t need my knife. I didn’t take any photos as it was dark (and I left my camera home), but it was definitely the highlight of our trip!

Sam’s cute house!

The next day, it was time to leave… but not before lunch at Brant Point Grill (inside the White Elephant Hotel). Holy. Moly. I had one of the most insane Bloody Marys ever. It had a bacon rim and was topped with 1/4 lb. lobster meat. Beyond. We may have overdone it (french fries, lobster mac & cheese) but it was worth every calorie.

And then it was time to leave! We managed to get out on the 5pm ferry and I spent the night with my parents… but it was such a fun little weekend away. I can’t wait to go back.