If you enjoyed the first post from my trip to Nantucket, hopefully you’ll enjoy this one too! Since this was a fairly short trip, just three days, the second day was our only full day.
We planned to take a tour of the island, but first we needed something to eat. We went to Provisions to get something quick. The location was near where the tour bus would be picking us up. Also, I had read some good things about the place. I had a breakfast sandwich without the bacon and some coffee.
My mom had the turkey terrific sandwich. We both enjoyed our food. Note that the turkey sandwich was super overstuffed and was basically Thanksgiving. It was huge!!
The tour was really fun and we learned so much about Nantucket! Here’s some trivia for you. Do you know where the red star logo for Macy’s came from?
Until this tour, I always thought of New York when I thought of Macy’s, but it actually began in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Rowland Hussey Macy was born on Nantucket and was a whaler in his youth, when he had a red star tattooed on his hand. The rest is history!
After our tour, we walked around. One of the places mentioned on the tour was Aunt Leah’s Fudge. We were told that you can sample their many varieties of fudge for free. So when we saw it, we decided to go in. It was some of the most amazing fudge that I’ve ever had. You can order online too.
The place is really tiny and there were always a ton of people in there sampling the flavors. So it’s cramped and you want to get out, but the fudge is so good you want to keep tasting everything! Quite the dilemma! We ended up getting some fudge to take home. They sell food besides fudge as well. 
I got some Nantucket Beach Plum Jelly, that I haven’t had a chance to try yet. Also I still have some Nantucket Cranberry Tea to try. According to the package, it’s made especially for Aunt Leah’s Fudge, so I don’t think you can get this tea anywhere else. I’ll have to pair these two and blog about it at some point.
We saw many little shops and stores, but there is one store that was my favorite called Isobel & Cleo. The colorful scene above is how it looks to the left of the entrance to their store.
Oh, first I should mention that like many of the other little specialty shops, this place smelled amazing. They must all have similar scented candles burning. The smell is so warm and inviting that you don’t want to leave!
When we walked into Isobel & Cleo, also found on Etsy, we saw a young woman at the front counter knitting colorful chunky yarn with huge knitting needles. She said they had several other people on the premises doing knitting as well. Talk about handmade! You can see them making the merchandise! Below is a description from their website.
isobel and cleo began with a desire to perpetuate the endangered ideas of true elegance and long lasting luxury in bespoke hand made garments. We wish to preserve the intimacy, tradition, and quality that is the essence of a hand knitted garment. We use the finest luxury yarns from Scotland, England, Japan, Australia, Italy, and the US.
She finished the piece as we were there. It might have been a hat. I loved everything about this store!
As you can imagine, handmade luxury commands a high price far beyond my reach, so it reignited my desire to start knitting. I say this every fall, but maybe by the end of winter, I will have knitted something that really like and can use. We’ll see.
Isobel & Cleo also carries candy, oils and all sorts of other little pretty things. It’s a fun place to look around even if you can’t buy anything.
After walking around, we went back to our hotel and decided what we would do for dinner. My mother wanted some fried clams and found what we thought would be a good place. I can’t remember the name of it, but we had the hotel driver bring us.
When we arrived, we seemed to be at the end of an alley on the water. It was dark and nobody was around. I asked him to stay for a bit as I went in to look around. It was basically a seafood shack and retail store, but was not a restaurant as it was advertised. They had minimal outdoor seating on a small porch. Since it was dark, not a scenic view and was getting cold, we decided not to stay. I’m so glad our driver didn’t leave us there!
We asked if he knew of another place nearby with good seafood. He said that he had worked at The Nantucket Lobster Trap. A place owned by his friend’s father. So he dropped us off and in we went.
It had the feel of an old pub with lots of wood everywhere. The feeling of a place for men returning from the sea to go and have beer and watch TV. That was not the feeling we were looking for and we started to regret our decision. But our waitress was really nice and we just wanted to relax and eat. So we stayed. And I’m glad we did.
The Nantucket Lobster Trap does not have the ambiance that I prefer, but the food and service more than make up for it. I highly recommend this place! The bread basket was underwhelming in comparison to Brant Point Grill. But the seafood was outstanding! Delicious and very large portions! Man sized portions I would say.
The clam chowder might have been the best I’ve ever had. My mom had the fried clams that she wanted and she loved them! I had some too and was quite pleased. We had some other things as well, but I don’t remember everything right now. Also, we had dessert, which was another pleasant surprise. As I think about our time there, we kept getting more pleasantly surprised with each thing that was brought out. That is a good meal.
So that’s the end of our trip. It was a good time and we’ll both have plenty of wonderful memories for years to come!
Back in January, I wrote a post about a Corita Kent art exhibit in Pittsburgh. Those of us in the Boston area know her work from the bright colors on the gas tank by the expressway. But her art extends far beyond that.
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