32. Collect All the Nantucket Nectar Caps.

Keeping with the Nantucket theme, I thought I'd provide an update on my very random yet very interesting goal of collecting Nantucket Nectars caps.  Since starting my blog, I've been busy drinking bottle after bottle of Nantucket Nectars juice to continue to chip away at my cap collection.  I've bought juice when I didn't feel like it, drank it even when I was sure water would be better for my waist line, and hunted for a missing cap after clearing a table after lunch [it was sitting right on top of the trash, and you know what?  I took it.]  Since my last post, I've added 44 caps to my jar, with only 2 or 3 repeats.  Some facts I already knew, like that in 1692 Nantucket was sold for 30 pounds and 2 beaver hats, what a steal!  But there are many instances where I learned something new and useful, like that there are buses, but no fixed bus route on Nantucket.  I'm still not totally sure how that makes sense, but it's good to know!  I've YET to find my elusive Chicken Box cap [I don't even know if it's still in circulation] but I am never giving up hope.  Looks like I'll keep chugging away, literally.

Here are the caps I've added to my collection:

-The end of Broad Street by the Steamship Authority is know as 'the strip' on Nantucket.

-The island of Nantucket has three zip codes.

-There are two historical districts on Nantucket: the Old Historic and the Sconset.

-Shell Street in Siasconset is too narrow for cars and bikes.

-The Nantucket Island Fair features fierce competitions in knitting and needlepoint.

-The Old Mill on Nantucket was built in 1746 and still produces coarse-ground cornmeal.

-Nantucketers moving to the mainland in the 18th Century often disassembled their island homes and took them along off island.

-The teen classic movie, 'One Crazy Summer', takes place on Nantucket.

-The Nantucket flag is called a burgee, a distinctively-shaped flag normally used on ships.

-A native of Nantucket is called a Nantucketer.

-The 'Turkey Terrific' sandwich from Provisions on Nantucket has become an island tradition for lunch.

-Cranberries were first cultivated on nantucket in 1857.

-36% of Nantucket is protected from building development.

-The oldest home on Nantucket is the Jethro Coffin House, built in 1686.

-The island of Nantucket is approximately 14 miles long.

-There are no traffic lights on Nantucket.

-There are buses, but no fixed bus route on Nantucket.

-The highest point on Nantucket is Folger Hill.  It is 109 feet above sea level.

-Nantucket was initially incorporated not as an island, but as a town.

-Nantucket was the 3rd town in America to have a Historical District Commission.

-Nantucket's Opera House Cup began in 1973 and is among the greatest classic wooden boat regattas in the world.

-There are about 12,000 full-time residents of Nantucket.

-When looking for a place to live, or anything else on Nantucket, the bulletin board at the Hub might be your best bet.

-The first steamboat crossed Nantucket Sound to the island in 1818.

-Hundreds of whales live around the island of Nantucket.

-In 1692, Nantucket was purchased for 30 English pounds and two beaver hats.

-Nantucket is home to the Nantucket Film Festival, an annual event.

-Nantucket is not a part of Kentucky.

-Cars were not allowed on Nantucket until 1918.

-According to the 2000 Census, Nantucket was Massachusetts' fastest growing county.

-The oldest living Nantucket resident is given the Boston Post Cane, an award they hold until their passing.

-Islanders gathered in the Great Hall of the Atheneum for the first long distance call to the mainland on August 29, 1916.

-The total land area of Nantucket makes up about 0.6% of the total land area of Massachusetts.

-Nantucket is world-known for its sports fishing of stripers, bluefish, bonito and false albacore.

-Nantucket's first two public schools were established in 1827.

-Nantucket has one of the largest winter concentrations of oldsquaw, a type of diving duck.

-Nantucket Lighthouse baskets were first made on the island over 150 years ago.

-Commercial flights started for Nantucket in 1927.

-Nantucket's whaling dominance was part of the literary classic, 'Moby Dick'.

-Based on areas of similar size, Nantucket has the greatest variety of vegetation in the U.S.

-On March 7th, 1970, a total solar eclipse on Nantucket last 2 minutes and 6 seconds.  The temperature dropped 10 degrees.

-In 1968, a new steeple was lowered by helicopter onto The Congregational Church on Nantucket.

Hope you all find them as interesting as I do!

Number 32. Find Out How Many Nantucket Nectars Caps There Are and Collect Them All.

So, for those unaware, I am obsessed with Nantucket.  I dream of moving there someday, or at least summering in my beach front cottage.  I've been drinking Nantucket Nectars purely because of the associaion with the island, and for the fact that they have Nantucket facts under each cap.  For years I was saying how I should save them, put them in a pretty glass jar and set them on a shelf in my bookcase, but I never did.  I finally decided that I needed to start my collection.  I had random caps in my desk drawer, a few at the bottom of my bag, and a few at my mom's house.  I wrangled them all up and put them a clear vase on the floor next to my reading chair (re: FEMA chair).

I've also googled and researched to see how many caps there are and if there is a working list of circulating ones so I could scratch them off the list as I found them.  No such luck....yet.  I am going to keep looking.  I do know that as of right now 750 caps have existed, but at any given time there are only 100 or so facts in production.  I currently have 23 caps, so in theory, I have 77 to go. I'll keep going as long as I find new ones.  I really want to find the one about the Chicken Box, they have it framed on the wall of their bar.  'The Life is Good is the Signature Drink at The Chicken Box'.  The Life is Good is a drink with vodka, red bull and a bunch of other things, served over ice in a pint glass.  That is like my holy grail of caps.  Sighhh I really hope I find it someday, otherwise I may be tempted to steal the framed one off the Chicken Box wall.  Here's a list of the caps I've found.

-Nantucket is a favorite destination of the home restoration show 'This Old House.'

-The Indian tribe native to Nantucket were the Wampanoags.

-The streets of Nantucket weren't named until 1797.

-Nantucket was initially incorporated not as an island but as a town.

-Nantucket has over 82 miles of beaches.

-Nantucketers are famed for their 'gams', a term for their colorful social conversations.

-Dionis Beach in northern Nantucket was named for Dionis Coffin, an early settler of the island.

-The first Daffodil Weekend ever held on Nantucket was in April, 1974.  (Weird fact: I got this cap legit the Monday after the 2010 Daffodil Weekend.)

-Nantucket's Opera House Cup began in 1973 and is among the greatest classic wooden boat regattas in the world.

-There are 44 steps at Steps Beach on Nantucket.

-Nantucket is world-known for its sports fishing of stripers, bluefish, bonito and false albacore.

-By 1900, there were no more Quakers, a once dominant group on Nantucket.

-Harvesting cranberries replaced whaling as Nantucket's major industry in the 1920s.

-Peter Foulger was the interpreter for the 1st settlers of Nantucket and the grandfather of Ben Franklin.

-Using tax-free liquor as an incentive, NH's governor tried to convince Nantucket to join the Granite State is 1977.

-Nantucket does not have any fast-food franchises.

-Nantucketers moving to the mainland in the 18th Century often disassembled their island homes and took them along off island.

-Cisco Brewery's Triple 8 party on Nantucket is always at 8pm on 8/8.

-Wandering around Nantucket is commonly called 'rantum scooting' by the natives.

-Harvesting scallops is a family tradition each fall on Nantucket.

-At one time, Nantucket had seven streets named Atlantic Avenue.

And the two most recent ones I got are very similar:

-On 1/1/2000 the first sunrise in the United states was at Siasconset on Nantucket.

-Many say that the best sunsets on Nantucket can be seen on Madaket Beach.

So, that's my collection right now.  Here is a picture of the jar on my bookcase.  Point of reference, that picture in the background was taken on the porch of my mom's house.  It is me with my niece Cassie, yes the same one who just had her first communion.  She can't be more than 2 in this picture, and we are sitting side by side, with her copying my crossed legs looking up at me.  It's one of the greatest pictures ever.

And here is my typing facts work station: