East Coast trip to Nantucket and Boston

Last week I took a quick trip to the East Coast to visit Boston for my 10 year college reunion (I have no idea where those 10 yrs went!!). Some girlfriends and I squeezed in a trip to Nantucket before Boston making this trip a serious whirlwind (plus I added on a night in NYC at the end of the trip just for good measure). I tallied it up and by the end of the 5 day trip there were 2 trains, 1 ferry, 2 plane rides and 1 car ride- it was literally planes, trains and automobiles but it was amazing and totally worth the exhaustion. Here is the round-up from the trip. We flew into Boston on the red-eye, rented a car, drove down through the Cape and hopped on a ferry headed to Nantucket. We were only in Nantucket for the night but we managed to pack everything in, plus it is a small island.

We stayed at the Regatta Inn which was wonderful  - I definitely recommend if you are ever looking for a place to stay in Nantucket. The innkeeper is a fantastic resource and it has been recently renovated. Our first day there we explored the main town and  had lots to eat and drink because apparently lots of wine and food is the cure for red-eye induced jet lag (maybe..?) After our first bottle of rose we were feeling great. We had lunch at Town and dinner at American Seasons. We checked out this adorable shop called Space and they have a collection of these amazing whales. I think I may need a whale in my house now, whale decor is what you would expect to find in Oakland, right? More whales... We stumbled upon Pete's Fresh Fish Prints and it was an amazing find. He practices gyotaku the Japanese form of creating prints on rice paper where he literally takes a piece of paper with ink on it and presses it against a real fish to get these images. It is old school taxidermy. He had some stunning images of fish and lobsters. I snagged a small print for our house. After a day of shopping and sightseeing, we caught a stunning sunset out at Galley Beach. It was a perfect fall day with barely any clouds in the sky. Makes me miss East Coast life. On our second day in Nantucket we rented bikes and rode around the island. What was supposed to be a leisurely ride turned into a somewhat grueling 18 mile ride but it was worth it for views like this:

We stopped in Siasconset to walk around and check out this quaint part of the island. This is one of the cottages in Siasconset that I would like to buy. In my dreams I can afford it. You all are welcome to visit me there. This the other cottage I fell in love with in. I will take either - I am not picky. After our quick  jaunt to Nantucket, we met up with lots of old friends in Boston. We had an amazing dinner at Ribelle in Brookline then spent the next day wandering the city. On my one and only full day in Boston we did a lot of walking - the best way to see a city in my opinion. If you are familiar with Boston we walked from Brookline all the way to the North End and back. Needless to say I was tired but there were so many amazing stops along the way. No trip to Boston would be complete without a stop into Mike's Pastry for their famous cannoli. One night while walking near campus after dinner, I saw this sign. I wasn't panicked until I saw that sign. Now I am panicked. When did I become a grown-up? I will spare you the pictures from our actual reunion but it was an amazing weekend filled with lots of friends, good food and great places. It was so strange to be back at college after 10 years - it felt like so much had changed but yet so little had changed. Totally bizarre. It was a wonderful reunion and I can't wait for our next one.