home again, home again, jiggity jig

We are back in NYC after a great trip away. Currently suffering from a bit of "real world" shock, but will be back in the game soon(ish)... I hope. How is it that being home less than 24 hours, our time away already seems like eons ago? That's a question I suspect I'll be grappling with all next week when I'm back to sitting behind a desk all day.

We spent our first official family vacation in Nantucket, a place I deduced would be baby-friendly and relaxing, which was the name of the game on this trip. Husband and I have taken some pretty amazing vacations in our day, thanks to (I'll just say it) my obsessive detailed trip planning skills. I should have been a travel agent. I think I have just as much fun planning what we'll do and anticipating the trip as much as being on it. Hmm... that's a problem we'll diagnose another day. Now that Baby S has made us a trio, planning 85 activities a day is not really realistic. Try maybe 1 or 2 if you're lucky. And that's okay. It just meant I had to adjust my thinking and find a destination that would meld a bit of new adventure for us while being mellow at the same time.

Nantucket fit the bill. Aside from lugging a big arse suitcase, taking the subway to JFK for our Jetblue flight was a breeze (Husband had Baby S in a Kelty carrier, so we were good to go). The flight is only 45 minutes, which is my kind of flying. Not my kind of flying? When the captain can't find the runway because the fog is so thick. Thankfully, he found the air strip on his second try. I would have hugged him on the way off the plane if I hadn't still been hyperventilating.

We rented a house at Nashaquisset, a sweet neighborhood just outside of "Town," filled with the prettiest little houses you've ever seen, immaculate yards and white picket fences. So perfect I thought I'd walked onto the set of "The Truman Show." I quickly got past that, however. Our house, despite being decorated by a little ol' lady with a keen eye for plaid, was really pretty perfect. It took a full day for Husband and I to get used to all our space, not to mention the king size bed (if you put a king size in our room in NYC, our floor would disappear). The rental office was good enough to lend us a pack-n-play for Baby S, and we rented a few other particulars for her (exersaucer, stroller, baby pool) from Petite Travelers, which worked our very well.

What can I say... Nantucket is beautiful. There is a raw beauty in its natural landscape, and Nantucket Town, filled with cobblestone streets, historic homes and pretty fantastic shopping, is about as quaint and cute as it gets.

Here are my quick recs/highlights:
Black Eyed Susan's (we ate breakfast there twice... delish)
The Downy Flake (homemade donuts, friendly "local" restaurant)
Nantucket Pharmacy (old fashioned lunch counter on Main St... we stopped in for milkshakes)
The Whaling Museum (I admit I missed most of this museum as Baby S was being cranky, but I did enjoy the gift shop :)
Children's Beach (the perfect spot for Baby S' first time in the sand)
Cisco Brewery (my pick: the Grey Lady)
'Sconset & Madaket "towns" (worth checking out for the gorgeous homes and the famed sunset on Madaket, which we unfortunately didn't get to see because of crummy evening weather on the day we rented a car... next time?)

We had access to a pool at Nashaquisset, so spent a couple days there as well. Actually, being that we were on the island right before the "high" season, we felt almost like we had the place to ourselves. I think it would have been a different experience if we'd had to fight crowds walking down Main Street, instead of taking it at a leisurely pace. Black Eyed Susan's might not have been quite as good if we'd had to wait in line to get in.

Nevertheless, Nantucket is a special place, there's no question about it. There were lots of 'firsts' for Baby S: first dip in the Atlantic and splash in a swimming pool, first museum visit & seeing bubbles blown. We'll always remember it (we have the first-time parent photos & videos to prove it, of course). While I wouldn't say we came home especially relaxed (having a baby does change a few things), being together - all day, every day - as a family was really pretty special. Having breakfast on our porch and sipping Prosecco in the afternoon wasn't bad, either.

Ahh, vacation. How I love thee. Now, must resist the urge to wear seersucker and Vineyard Vines when I go back to work on Tuesday...