Nantucket
National Historic Landmark District · Nantucket, Massachusetts
An island thirty miles out into the Atlantic from Cape Cod, further offshore than anywhere else in the eastern United States, which was the whaling capital of the world in the early nineteenth century and is now one of the most expensive places in America. The whole island is a National Historic Landmark District — roughly eight hundred buildings predate 1850, more than anywhere else in the country — and a strict code keeps everything grey-shingled and unlettered. Moby-Dick begins with a man going to Nantucket to find a ship.
Nantucket Island, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 02554, United States
An inhabited island, always open, reachable only by ferry or small plane from Hyannis and a few seasonal ports. The Steamship Authority is the only car route and summer vehicle reservations sell out months ahead. Beaches are lifeguarded roughly late June to Labor Day only. Most businesses reduce or close from late autumn to spring, with a reduced ferry schedule.