November 26th, 2010 Picture.

Friday morning Ratty and I were getting an extremely early start on our trip to Nantucket.  I am pretty sure I've shared this story about 10 times, but we got the greatest deal off Rue La La at the end of the summer.  They had multiple fall weekends available at either the White Elephant Hotel or the Jarred Coffin House at really great prices.  We scooped up the weekend of Thanksgiving for $200 total - TOTAL!  That included 2 nights at a charming Inn right in the center of town, plus a voucher to the White Elephant Spa, a discount at the hotel's restaurant AND two free tickets to the Whaling Museum.  You could not beat this deal with a stick and I was beyond excited to check out my favorite place during the fall.  I've only ever been in the summer, one weekend being Figawi, which is sheer madness, so I was curious to see just how much the crowds thinned in the off season.

I picked Ratty up early, really early, like punishingly early and we were on the road by 7:30am.  Now, it was no secret that I was not feeling up to snuff, and I am pretty sure Ratty wanted to murder me.  I wasn't my normal, bubbly self, I was moaning and saying things like 'gah, why is the sun so bright, huh?  And this music, it's so loud!  What do people see in rappers anyway?  They should pull their pants up.'  Yes, apparently when I am hungover I rapidly age and become mouthy.  I stopped multiple times for coffee and food, drinking Ratty's entire McDonald's fountain coke and eating 4 greasy, yet so unbelievably awesome hash browns.

We didn't cut the ferry quite as close as the last time, I wasn't on the verge of tears, wanting to put over on the side of the road and throw myself into oncoming traffic, but we weren't exactly early either.  It was raining, which again goes to show you just how under the weather I was since I was complaining about the SUN, and we once again ran for the ferry.  We snatched up our tickets and boarded the boat with about 5 minutes to spare.  To add insult to injury, I forgot Dramamine, so I was feeling awful the entire boat ride.  Have you ever been tired, hungover AND seasick at the same exact time?  Let me tell you, it is not pretty.  I made a make shift bed and laid down to try and feel better.  I feel asleep for about a half hour and woke up feeling like a million bucks!  Ratty liked me much better after that.

We docked around 11:30am and we made our way to the Inn to drop our stuff off and walk around.  We couldn't check in until 3pm, so we stopped off and got lunch at the Rose and Crown.  It is your pretty typical dive-ish place, that serves burgers and shows ESPN on the big screen by day and by night turns into a crazy dance party and/or karaoke scene.  The walls are decorated with old store front signs, all from places that used to exist on Nantucket but have since closed.  

Rumor had it that Joe Biden was on Nantucket the same weekend as us.  Okay, it wasn't a rumor, it was a fact, as he spends every Thanksgiving on Nantucket.  So we kept our eyes peeled for Secret Service or a glimpse of the VP as we walked around town.  We caught sight of a fleet of SVU's lined up on one of the side streets, with DC plates, so we knew he was close.  The Eagle has landed.  Or Vice Eagle, rather.

As we were walking up Main Street, we noticed an unusually large crowd gathering in front of us.  Who could it be?!  Who is it?!  I think I know, so I got my camera ready...

 YES!  There he is, Mr. Vice President himself!  Looking quite dapper if I do say so myself.  Although his jeans kind of tapered at the bottom and he was wearing loafers.  Hm, I guess I'll let it slide for the VP.

There were masses of small children asking for photos, but you could tell that the poor guy just wanted to drink his coffee and get to wherever he was going.  We decided not to muscle our way in for a photo op and just admired him from afar.

At this point, had I know what was going to happen next, I would have moved further down the street to capture it on film.  Ratty shook the VP's hand.  He said 'Mr. Vice President, nice to meet you, sir.'  And that was that.  I wish I'd known, because it would have made for a really awesome picture.  Maybe next year....

After walking around town for a while to come down from our celebrity sighting high, we went back to the Inn to check in and freshen up.  We both laid down for a while, I'm not at all sure what about Nantucket makes us nap so much, maybe it's the salt air, laid back lifestyle, or the excitement and energy we burn while on vacation, but I've never napped nearly as much in real life as I have on Nantucket.

We got up, got ready and made it down the street JUST in time to see the Annual Christmas Tree lighting in front of Town Hall.  There were so many people lining the street, sipping on hot chocolate, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The chorus from Nantucket High School performed on the steps of City Hall, singing lots of Christmas carols, complete with matching Santa Hats.

After a dramatic count down, the massive tree was lit, and everyone cheered.  Can you believe that the tree lighting ceremony started at 5pm?!  It was pitch black outside!  Gah, I definitely don't miss that part of winter!

Next Ratty and I decided to walk around and see what places were open for dinner.  We assumed that most of the restaurants right in town would be packed with people attending the lighting, so we wandered down to the wharfs to see what might be open during the off season.

And absolutely nothing was open.  All our haunts from the summer, Slip 14, the Ropewalk, boarded up with signs saying 'See You Next Season!'  It was like a literal ghost town, with no other souls in sight.

Here's Ratty taking a picture of The Ropewalk, so nostalgic. 

There weren't even any boats docked!  The absolute complete opposite of when we were there in July.  And you know what, I didn't totally hate it.  It was a different, much calmer vibe, very relaxing, as oppose to the crazy busy hustle and bustle of the summer.  Both have their pluses and minuses, but I have to say I like all seasons on Nantucket.  It's hard not to love everything about it, deserted or not.

We decided to grab a drink and dinner at a little tavern called The Brotherhood of Thieves, which I'd never been to before.  The tavern part is in the basement of the restaurant, and it's dark and cozy, with dark wooden benches, exposed brick walls, and a wood burning stove.  I have no idea why I'd never even see this place before, because it quickly became one of my favorite spots on the island.

It was pretty busy when we grabbed a drink at the bar, but by the time we were ready to sit down for dinner, the crowd had thinned out.  It was a Friday night around 10pm and we were probably one of 6 people still left in the bar.  Again, a far cry from our trip in July.

For dinner I opted for the Lobster Tacos, which were really an appetizer, but I'm not really a rule follower anyway.  They were teeny and yummy, filled with fresh lobster meat, salsa, guacamole and a spicy cream.  I could have eaten 2 more orders of them, but obviously I restrained myself.

For dessert we split the bread pudding, which didn't live up to the butterscotch bread pudding from Eastern Standard - the bread pudding that I hold all other bread puddings to.  It would have been really yummy if it wasn't filled with apples.  I don't like big chunks of apple, only paper thin slices, like communion.  Which is exactly what I used to say to my mom when I was little, 'Mom, can you cut my apples really thin, like communion?'  Where did I come up with these things?!

Although I wasn't the biggest fan of the bread pudding, Ratty sure liked it!

Like I mentioned, we were pretty much the only people in the bar, besides another small table and the piano player.  He came in as we were finishing dinner and absolutely blew our socks off.  He would ask us to suggest songs, and he would just start playing them, learning as he went.  He knew the words to almost every single song we requested, and for the ones he didn't, he made me and Ratty sing them.  It was pretty awesome, it was like our own private concert.

{A shot of a very empty, yet still very awesome bar.}

After he finished his 1 hour set, we started chatting and we swapped email addresses.  He knew we loved Nantucket, and told us to contact him if we were ever looking to rent a house or apartment for a week, he had lots of connections on the island.

After doing a quick Google search, thinking he was a realtor, I found out he's actually a Grammy winning composer from LA!  He wrote scores for movies, commercials and TV shows, eventually giving up the LA life and moving to Nantucket.  Isn't that insane?!  No wonder he could pick up and play any song we requested, hi he's an Emmy AND Grammy winner!

We wrapped up at Brotherhood and called it a night, it was only our first day on Nantucket and we had lots more to see and do, so we needed our rest!