The Bailey Planet : Nantucket, Massachusetts

The kids had never been to Nantucket - although Todd and I had before, separately. I went once for work (what a job!) and Todd went back in his younger, single days. So we decided to do a day trip to Nantucket!

We booked ahead and bought tickets on the Steamship Authority (infinitely cheaper than the Hyline) for a round trip to Nantucket, leaving around 11 am and returning on the 8:15 pm boat. This was before we knew that Grant was going to be doing his evening oral immunotherapy treatments. Oops. But thankfully we were able to change the return trip to an earlier one in Hyannis before we boarded the boat. Parking was a hot mess as there was none available in the Steamship Authority lots, but we expected that (after all, it IS summer), built in time and found a pay parking lot. $20 for the day is fine with me if it means we don't miss the boat!

It was a pretty bumpy ride out to Nantucket as there was a small craft advisory for choppy waters. It didn't bother any of us though - and we were greeted with some sunshine as we pulled into the harbor!

First stop? The Rose and Crown for some lunch!

Todd and Natalie (yes, Natalie) both got the lobster roll, while I got one of the best fish sandwiches I've ever had. Bread matters, people!

And of COURSE, Natalie absolutely loved the lobster roll - naturally the most expensive thing on the menu! At least she ate it all!

After lunch, we decided to walk to Brant Point lighthouse. The hydrangeas are in full bloom right now out on the Cape and Islands!

The hydrangeas grow so well out there because there is less fluctuation in the air temp over the course of a year due to the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean.

We stopped under the trees at White Elephant Village because we were having a TERRIBLE time with Walgreens Alliance Rx and Todd had to stop to take the third of several phone calls he would have with them. On the Friday afternoon prior to our trip, he was on the phone with them for THREE HOURS because they didn't seem to understand that Grant's immunotherapy pills could be mailed to us. They thought he hadn't had his initial treatment in the hospital yet, but he had. And then they said that his doctor had to call Alliance Rx to let them know that he had already had the initial treatment. Which she did. Twice. And we spoke to someone else on Friday evening who said the doctor had called but she hadn't told them whether he had tolerated the treatment. (Yes she did, they didn't write that part down.)

So even after we seemed to have resolved the problem Friday evening, and the woman on the phone took down our vacation home address, there were still more issues. So the kids just had a seat on the grass. And Natalie suddenly had a headache, but I didn't have any medicine on me, so we had to hike all the way across town to get some Tylenol, and all the while, I'm trying to get ahold of Grant's immunotherapy doctor (who is fabulous, by the way!)

Finally, even though he was still on the phone with Alliance Rx, Todd said we should just walk down to the lighthouse so we weren't wasting so much time. I snapped this pic of the pretty flowers along the way!

And I saw this super cool car outside of the White Elephant!

I just loved this house, which is down the street from Brant Point lighthouse. When you think of a quintessential Nantucket home, this is exactly what I imagine! This is only worth about $17 million.

"Pretend like you're excited to see the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the US!" (Superlative, check!)

While the kids and I went down to the lighthouse, Todd was STILL on the phone with Alliance Rx! The doctor's office had called me back, and Todd, not willing to accept any communication issues took my phone and held it up to his own phone so that the nurse from the doctor's office could speak directly to Alliance Rx between our two phones! Of course, we did this right there in front of the Coast Guard station, and all of the Coast Guard boys came out to see if we were okay!

Behind Todd is one of the Nantucket Harbor Range Lights that sits on the Coast Guard property.

The kids immediately ran down to the beach near the lighthouse.

This picture of Grant was SO funny! Also, check out that massive boat in the background on the right! The side of the boat said it was the Annastar - a $40 million yacht. Nantucket is so money.

Every picture of him looks like he's flying because he never stops moving!

Arrrrgh matey! I believe this is the tall ship Lynx, which is a boat that hold educational programs about the "maritime challenges of the War of 1812."

Natalie, please do not break your brother's back here in Nantucket.

Back not broken, arms outstretched.

Natalie is out looking for shells and Grant is STILL running around!

The current lighthouse structure at Brant Point is the 10th lighthouse building that they have had here out on the point. Several burned down (not surprising!), rotted or were blown down.

This area is also the US Coast Guard Station here - although the official "post" is down the street a bit.

Here we are looking at the beaches to the northwest from Brant Point.

Come on guys, give me ONE more picture with the lighthouse.

Finally, Daddy rejoined us after his marathon phone call with Alliance Rx.

Steamship Authority, coming in hot! This is the same boat we took!

Todd, let me take a picture of you with the pretty lighthouse so you can forget all of that Alliance Rx nonsense!

Not sure if you can see it or not, but above the door (no, way above the door) it says, "Originally 1746 Established." There's been a lighthouse in this vicinity since 1746, making it the oldest continually operating (although different structure) lighthouse in America! Whoo hoo!

This is actually the previous Brant Point lighthouse, which is about a block or so away from the current lighthouse. This one was built in 1856 and still sits on the Coast Guard property.

You guys haven't seen THIS in a while! Manhole covers of Nantucket! America, we MUST get on the ball about making prettier manhole covers!

Todd really wanted to go to the Nantucket Whaling Museum (because how often will you go to a whaling museum!?) so we stopped in to see Fudgie the Whale. Todd named him that. Why? Because he didn't actually have a name! The lady at the front desk said she named him Fred and I appreciated that but she said, "You can name him whatever you want!" Apparently they once had a contest to name him, but they never actually announced a winner.

The Whaling museum is very interactive and you will not be bored! There's a huge exhibit about the candle factory and how they used the oil from whales to make candles. In 1847, the spermaceti candle factory had been located here. Behind me here (which I couldn't fit into a whole picture) was the only original whale oil lever press left in the entire world!

Fudgie the Whale is a 46 foot sperm whale skeleton that was found beached on New Year's Day 1998. The boat below it is only 28 feet long, showing you how dangerous it was to be in the whaling business here. Whales are bigger than the boats!

The Bailey's love fishing for worms, apparently.

At the Whaling Museum, you can go to the roof and check out the views of the harbor.

Ok, he's silly ha ha. They had nice chairs and tables up here, but hey, how about some beverage service here?

I spy Brant Point and the lighthouse from the top of the Whaling Museum.

If you're on top of the Whaling Museum and look to the south, you can see right down Water Street in downtown Nantucket. Many people were waiting in line for ice cream in the bottom left corner!

Fresnel lenses are BEAUTIFUL and this one is a second order lens from 1849. It had a range of 24 nautical miles!

We left the Whaling Museum and headed down Water Street toward Main Street. This is where the road turns to brick and cobblestone.

New Zealand is only 15,800 miles from here! Actually, this is a geographically incorrect compass and it bothers me a bit. I'm struggling with the fact that they believe Iceland is northwest of here. And that London, Paris and Moscow are southeast of here. And that they think the Cape Verde Islands are more northeast than Berlin. Who made this?