Sept. 28, 2011. Nantucket. 25 miles.

We decided yesterday that we would take the fast boat to Nantucket this morning--a one hour ride instead of the 2 hours it takes on the traditional ferry. After breakfast we packed our stuff into the truck, drove to the ferry dock and unloaded our bikes and overnight bags.

Dianne and I played a couple of games of Scrabble on the boat--Kathie was rather surprised that we were not on deck seeing the sights.... I guess she does not know us that well yet!

Upon arriving we walked our bikes and bags to the Inn that we had reserved. It was too early to check in so we stashed our bags under the stairs and toured Nantucket by bike. There are many bike paths here, with all bike routes very well marked. First we rode out to Siasconset (usually called 'Sconset) and had a very good lunch at the restaurant shown below.

There is a building code here--exterior changes to buildings must conform to the look of the island, that is, cedar shingles. Most have white trim, but we saw a few with other colors of trim. Below you can see the public rest room building in 'Sconset.

After lunch we rode out to Sankaty Head light house and spent some time there reading the history, taking in the view, and taking photos, of course. Bill stayed by the bikes while we explored.

We got back on the bike path, stopping again at the Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum, where we took a tour and watched a film. There is a long history of Nantucket residents rescuing sailors from shipwrecks and other misfortunes on the sea.

After the museum we headed back to our inn. It was hot and windy today, but fortunately the wind was from the east, so we had the headwind in the morning and a tailwind all the way home.

Kathie and Dianne went to the Whaling Museum , but Bill and I went to our room , took care of the bikes and took a shower. We met up again later and walked next door to go to dinner at "an 1840s Whaling Inn". The end of another wonderful day!