SAVE the LOGOS

When we decided to come up to Nantucket for the summer, we had very little experience with what shopping for necessities was like up here. I did not have a car of my own on previous trips so if I could not walk there, I did not go there unless I was in the car as a passenger. In preparation for this trip we bought lots of things and brought others from our home as if we were going to Outer Mongolia. We even justified bringing things we were sure they had here because they would cost so much.

If I had to do it again I would take fewer things and buy them here. They have several great grocery stores. Right downtown there is the Grand Union. They have everything you would need in a supermarket and it is a 5 minute walk from our house. The usual stuff like utensils and pots and pans are there too. People who have no car and live near town can get there easily. The staff is helpful and the food is fresh. The bigger grocery store is a 5 minute drive. It is called Stop and Shop. It is about as big as a Sam's Club but sells things in smaller packages... you don't have to buy a truckload of toilet paper, for example, as you might at a BJ's or Sam's. There is an appliance/hardware/furniture/garden store close to the Stop and Shop called Marine Center. They have everything you need and the prices are higher than at home but not so high as to make buying painful. We got a new microwave (paid for by our landlord) for $80 that would be $70 at BestBuy.

We like a glass of wine with our home-cooked meals. Next to the Stop and Shop, a bottle of Kendall Jackson chardonnay sells for $16. You could buy this in Publix in Florida for $11. I bought a bottle on Main Street downtown at Murray's Liquors for $25 when we came here car-less last year and had no choice as to where to shop. They don't sell alcohol in grocery stores. Of course it might justifiably sell for more on Main Street because of high rent, but it was still waaaay too expensive. I won't shop there again unless I am about to go into DTs. Murray owns lots of businesses. I do like their other stores, the Toggery for example, but again, they are not giving anything away.

You see a lot of folks walking around in Nantucket red clothing. It is a faded light brick red color. It is their signature color here on the island, the way black on black on black is in New York or New College, or GOTHam City. It is pleasing and authentic. The insiders wear it but never with a logo, even a small one, unless it is of your private yacht club. Subtlety rules. No HILLFIGER across your chest in 6 inch letters here....just a little teensy-weensy sailboat and a few letters on the left upper chest or the front of your well worn hat. You also save $5 if you get the shirt without the logo at Murray's Toggery, for example. If you want to look like a tourist, wear something that has a logo big enough to read without reading glasses.

Cars on Nantucket are another subtlety. We have one of only a few Mercedes SUVs on the island. Everyone else has a JEEP Liberty or Wrangler, preferably the entry level one with the plastic fenders and the older the better. It is not just about the likelihood of getting dinged in the narrow streets, it is a New England thing, and to a more extreme level a Nantucket thing. Underdressing, under-adorning, and generally trying to not compete in any fashionable way are very important. Sameness is as important as it is in middle school. Everyone has the same color house, Whales are everywhere, and the only color to decorate the interior of your home with is Delft Blue. And don't forget the starfish. Starfish are as ubiquitous for home decor as "pelicans standing on 3 pilings wrapped with a rope" paintings are in a condo in Sarasota. I will write more on this in a later post.