writecation: nantucket

i have always wanted to go to nantucket. ever since i picked up a copy of castaways by elin hilderbrand years ago. since then, i learned the streets, the points of reference like restaurants and lighthouses, beaches everything. my mom indulged me on a little writing trip/bucket list adventure...and it was amazing. because i took so many pictures, I am going to do another post just on elin hilderbrand's novel locations :) 

here we goooooooo....

on the ferry from hyannis port to nantucket

writing on the ferry...work never stops yo

i felt like i was going off to college or something...walking from the ferry to our inn (didn't expect the cobblestone roads coming up and the non-existent sidewalks)

the inn: the centerboard inn (on the corner of center & chester)

our sweet inn: the centerboard inn. i highly recommend this place!

it might be old on the outside, but holy smokes, the inside is beautiful!

a lot of writing and coffee consuming and eating baked goods went down in here. by the end of the week, all the residents of the inn knew what i was doing:) "you're still down here?" most of them said at one time or other..."YEP."

our innkeeper barbara made these...like i said...lots of time here. 

you better believe i bought a mug by the end of the trip. 

the weather was unbelievable

our cute little front porch

our bike trip to cisco beach, bartlett's farm, and the brewery (some pictures will show up in other post):  

i swear i'm 29.

my mom is a sneaky photographer...but a good one

one of my favorite things about this island was what survived in the climate: you have sand, then trees, then crops over here, etc. so interesting!

we weren't tourists or anything

the coolest part of the trip (up until that point mind you)

editing on the ocean! on NANTUCKET!!!!!

artsy?

my literary child.

my mom is the best

some people can sleep anywhere, i can write everywhere

by the time we got back, i was tire of posing, my hair was a mess, but my mom said we needed the little red dinghy picture. we did. she was right.



she stopped to smell a rose...

my mom literally stopped to smell this rose when the caretaker came outside and commented on just how many people did that. when he said "you're obviously from the south", she said she couldn't quite place his accent...so she told him to tell her about the house so she could hear more of it: it was benjamin franklin's grandmother's wedding gift.

amazing! my mom asked about that little fence thing up near the chimney (Widow's Walk for when men were at war )...

and then, out of the blue, he asked if we wanted to come up and see it. i won't lie, i thought...we might die today if this guy is a bad seed:) but we didn't. and it was worth it! can you see the ocean!! 

from up top

the church on center street from the Widow's Walk

 more adventures/writing: 

this is the oldest house in nantucket, struck by lightning TWICE:) 

you don't know my first novel yet...but my main character's name is lily. and this little house is our inn's sister: the regatta. 

do you know ross philips? he plays tom long on hart of dixie. anyway, ross and my husband mason worked together in santa monica a few years ago, and since then, we have all been friends. another reason i came to nantucket was on ross's say so. his mum (english) lyn used to run the centerboard, but now she moved across the street to the regatta! she was so sweet and charming, and i could talk to her for hours just to listen to her voice.

writing in the lobby.

i found what people usually think i'm saying when i say my name. either that or ashley, ashland, actually...whatever.

another beach on the other side of the island. 

it was real. i can't even begin to explain. (oh, and no filter either)

our red dinghy friend

i could work here every day.

this is their movie theater. so cool. only problem? they change the two offerings every day and they were at very random times. (it was the offseason)

on our last day, we just went exploring where we hadn't yet...we found this harbor.

shoutout to my lovely friend/blogger chelsea o'leary, who said i should put down my pen and enjoy the trip. this boat was meant for me :) 

no caption needed

probably one of my favorite pictures i took.

how cute is this logo?

the "flight" home: 

let me set the stage here. it's saturday, november 1st, 2014. we are ready to catch our cab to the ferry because unlike the rest of the entire week, it's raining today. mom and i hear a knock on our door. it's barbara, the innkeeper. we think she's going to tell us our cab is here. nope. "the ferries are cancelled. all of them, for the rest of the day. here are the airline companies. they are still flying. you should go ahead and call though and book a flight if you want to get off the island before monday. the weather's only supposed to get worse." ohhhh no. but oook. the earliest flight available was at 2:45, and it was only 8:45am. but we booked it anyway, and decided to get ourselves on over to the airport just in case two slots opened up. we got there at 9:30. they said there were two spots on the 9:40. normally, this wouldn't work because it would take at least fifteen to walk through security and all the way to the gate. not in nantucket. we had like eight minutes to spare. so we get out onto the tarmac and line up for our flight...

mind you, my mom is only 5 4''

mom and i are in the last row..and the pilot is up on the left.


remember, the ferries were cancelled because the wind was so bad. and like idiots, we got in a freaking toy plane.

don't let my mom's smile fool you...it was not a fun forty-five minutes. and i'm totally downplaying it.

the nantucket airport.

heavenly sight. 

boston was never so beautiful until that moment

 we still had two flights to go after that, but we were fine with that. just to have our feet on the ground was a blessing. it was a bumpy flight, and turbulence in a plane that small, feels like you're going down every single time.

oh, and we found out later, they stopped flights after ours. too much wind. it was probably the best thing that my mom and i didn't have more than 8 minutes to think through the idea of getting on that cessna. who knows,we might still be on nantucket :)

all in all...travel adventures included...it was an amazing experience.