A Nantucket Day Trip - Fall 2024

A trip to Nantucket has been high (really high) on my New England bucket list. I'm a New England Native in love with the area. I'm a Weekend Wanderer out to explore as much of the northeast as my schedule as a mom/wife/business owner allows.  I've been to Martha's Vineyard, and spent a lot of time on Block Island, but Nantucket was the last one left on my "New England Island Trifecta". Most ACK visitors spend at least the weekend to take advantage of the island and the time it takes to get there. The island is small relative to its Vineyard neighbor, which means lodging is limited and you can expect to book far in advance, and spend a lot to do it. 

Nantucket charm

I toyed around with the idea of visiting Nantucket on a day trip and when a work opportunity came my way, I decided to make it happen. It's a lot of travel for the day, but the small size of the island makes it doable in a day trip and not having to worry about lodging is a second win. 

The work portion of the trip would take about 30 minutes while the travel to get to Nantucket would be four hours between the drive and the ferry, each way. Nantucket is the farthest east of the islands and is the southeasternmost town in both Massachusetts and the New England. This meant that if I was going to Nantucket, I was going to make the day of it and do the highlight reel on a sunny September day. I was also going in the shoulder season, after Labor Day when the crowds die down but warm enough to enjoy the sunshine and time outside on the island and it felt like the perfect way to experience Massachusetts island. 

Before I get into the details let me say a few things. I thought Nantucket was going to be overrated, that the island was more trendy and a socialite destination more than anything else and wouldn't be worth the expense and time required to travel there, especially for the day. Let me tell you no one was more pleasantly surprised than me. It took a little bit but I got the hype of the island, the vibe of Nantucket, and I can understand how special of a place it is, and why people head to this beautiful New England island in every single season. 

Weekender's Guide to Charleston, South Carolina

Adam and I planned to spend our anniversary weekend up in the White Mountain of New Hampshire. I was excited to get away just the two of us in our camper, to go hike some of the bigger mountains without having to drag to kids along (literally). As our anniversary approached, the weather started to look like a complete washout for the weekend and we made the last minute decision to pivot. I quickly set out to Google Flights to see if I find an inexpensive deal out of our local airport (one terminal New Haven airport an easy 30 minutes from our house). We ended up paying $289 for both of us to fly round trip to Charleston, South Carolina and back. And the best part? We pulled into the airport at 5 and we were having dinner under the palm trees by 8pm. Parking and security is about a 2 minute process and flying from one small airport to another with very little driving on either end was a weekend warrior's dream.

***Charleston is typically serviced by a lot of these budget smaller airlines making it an EASY and AFFORDABLE destination