There are two ways to get to Sconset. One is the Milestone Road, which is the only state-maintained road on Nantucket. It’s seven miles long, relatively straight and flat, and fairly uneventful except for the stone markers at every mile （and at Pi, 3.14 miles from town）。 As you get out toward mile marker five, you’ll have a nice vista so reminiscent of the African savanna that certain artistic pranksters built life-size elephants and lions that make appearances from time to time; look out for them as you drive or bicycle past. The other way to get to Sconset is on the long and winding Polpis Road. Polpis takes you past stone walls and wooden fences, a dramatic over-water view at the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum, the turnoffs for the Wauwinet and Quidnet, and then past Sesachacha Pond, where you’ll glimpse Sankaty Head Lighthouse in the distance before cruising past Sankaty Head golf course. The Polpis Road is nine miles long. Both Polpis Road and Milestone have bike paths, and the very fit and enthusiastic choose to do the “loop.” You can also bike out to Sconset one way, then put your bike on the front of the Wave, Nantucket’s public transportation, and get a ride home!
I made it to Sconset, now what do I do?
Sconset is famous for its colony of summer cottages, many of them tiny （like the one in my novel Barefoot）， many of them old （some of the oldest houses on the island are in Sconset, including a house called Auld Lang Syne, part of which was constructed around 1675!）， and many of them, for a limited time at the end of June and beginning of July, draped in cottage roses. There is no experience on Nantucket that is more storybook than wandering the quiet streets of Sconset when the roses are in bloom. I go every year—and every year, I am left breathless.
Along Baxter Road is Sconset’s bluff walk, a path on the cliff above the Atlantic. You can walk out Baxter Road all the way to Sankaty Head Lighthouse, which looks like a peppermint stick.
You can also meander down Ocean Avenue to the Summer House, a hotel with a pool that fronts the ocean. There’s a footbridge where you’ll see a large sundial on the side of a private home. The bridge will lead you to the Sconset Rotary, where you’ll find Claudette’s sandwich shop （outstanding turkey salad）， a package store, a tiny post office with irregular hours, the Sconset Café （home of the chocolate volcano cake）， and finally, the Sconset Market. The market is the beating heart of town—it has not only groceries but ice cream and freshly baked baguettes every day!
Along New Street in Sconset are the Sconset Casino, the Sconset Chapel, and the Chanticleer. This little stretch shouldn’t be missed. The Sconset Casino is now a tennis club, but it’s also an event space used for weddings and benefits and it occasionally hosts movies in the summer. It was once used as a summer stage for the Broadway actors of the 1920s who chose to vacation on Nantucket. It’s a building that evokes the days of old Nantucket.
Siasconset Union Chapel is an ecumenical chapel, used for services in the summer. （I was married in this church once upon a time…） The Sconset Chapel evokes a peaceful simplicity, and all of the kneelers were needlepointed by parishioners. One unusual feature is the Columbarium in the memorial gardens, where the ashes of Sconset residents （and only Sconset residents） are tucked into a tasteful wall.
The Chanticleer will be mentioned in the restaurant section, but even if you’re not planning on eating there, you should be sure to snap a picture of the front garden with its iconic carousel horse.
In a Category by Itself: Cisco Brewers
Dubbed by Men’s Health magazine “the happiest place on earth,” Cisco is, in modern parlance, a “whole thing.” There are three barns, one housing a beer bar, one a wine bar, and one a spirits bar, all serving Cisco products, including their popular Whale’s Tale Ale, Gripah, Triple Eight vodka, and my go-to, the sparkling cranberry pinot gris. However—and I do not say this lightly—alcohol is the least important thing about the place. This is a center of joy. There are food trucks—167 Raw for raw bar and guacamole, Nantucket Poke for bowls and tartare, and Nantucket Lobster Trap for swordfish sliders and lobster rolls. There is often live music. There are dogs and children and people relaxing at open-air picnic tables alongside the gardens that provide the produce and herbs for the mixed drinks. It is the ultimate après-beach scene, a must for any Sunday Funday, and just generally a destination you should not miss. For teetotalers, there are hand-crafted sodas as well. Cisco has proved so popular that satellite locations have popped up in places like Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Stamford, Connecticut. Website: Ciscobrewers.com; Instagram: @ciscobrewers.