Brompton on Nantucket, Part I: The Ferry

Nantucket.  It's a wild place.

Sure, there are cars on the island...

... and shops and people in the main town ...

... and while you won't find a Walmart, Best Buy, or Marshall's, there is a Stop and Shop somewhere on-island, tucked away amid all those lovely unpainted shingled houses.  But having arrived on Nantucket by way of the two-hour open-sea crossing of the Steamship Authority ferry...

... I can't shake the thought that everything on this 45 square-mile island of dunes, moors, and windswept trees was brought here.  Bricks, cobblestones, cars, shutters, books, radiators, toasters ... they all made an ocean crossing at some point, maybe on an earlier trip of the same boat my Brompton and I took on this cool October morning.

If you don't live in New England, then Nantucket might be one of those exotic islands you've always heard of but can't quite place on a map.

But don't worry!  Even if you know Nantucket sits 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, when you're standing on the Hyannis ferry dock looking out into the harbor with your Brompton in one hand, a Brompton bag and bike helmet in the other, and a Steamship Authority ticket in your pocket ...

.... Nantucket feels more like a vague idea of a place than an actual place itself, existing somewhere unseen on the other side of the horizon.  Here on Cape Cod, "Nantucket" only makes itself known through the hard-working, sturdy instruments of civilization it sends out over the ocean...

... and into the skies, as small Cape Air propeller planes fly overhead, making their way to a quiet corner of Boston Logan Airport's Terminal C.

To truly experience Nantucket, you must have a little faith in faraway places.

On the morning of my own one-day Nantucket adventure, my Brompton and I arrived at the Steamship Authority's Hyannis terminal in a Zipcar at 8:00 a.m....

... and purchased round-trip passage on the Eagle at the ticket office.

There was a high-speed catamaran ferry option too, cutting the one-way trip down to an hour.  In fact, the speedy passenger-only Iyanough was leaving port just as I arrived.

But on all my trips to Nantucket, I've always chosen the large, lumbering, slow ferry.  I like having time to enjoy the ocean crossing, and you get to see all kinds of people on the big boat, with cars and huge trucks packed in the hold. Tourists, construction workers, truck drivers, and contractors all ride the slow ferry as they head to work or play on this historic Massachusetts island.

Here are two more photos of the Eagle as I watched it come into port after its first Nantucket-to-Hyannis journey of the morning:

Cars and trucks poured out of the boat like a magician pulling an impossible number of rabbits out of a hat. But as for my rented Zipcar, it would remain at rest in the Steamship Authority's parking lot until we reunited later that evening.  Traveling light with a folding bicycle, helmet, and bag, I had all I needed to explore Nantucket that day.

Walking out to the dock around 8:45 a.m., there weren't many people waiting to board for our 9:15 departure on this chilly Monday morning...

... but passengers driving vehicles would later join us on the ferry once they parked in the boat's hold and climbed up the interior staircases.

As I picked up my neatly folded Brompton, I was a little concerned the ferry's porter wouldn't let me carry it on board.  Bicycles normally require a special $7 bicycle ticket and must be stored downstairs with the cars and trucks. So I actually bought the $7 ticket as a gesture of good faith (kindness opens up all sorts of doors, cheapness does not).  As I showed the bicycle ticket to the porter at the foot of the entrance plank though, he said:

"Oh, you didn't need to buy that."  Pointing to the Brompton, he added, "You can just carry that on with you.  Have a good trip."

Nice!

I happily walked onto the ferry and climbed the stairs to the main passenger level.  Inside there was a cafe selling breakfast items, coffee and hot chocolate (both very popular on this chilly morning!), sandwiches, chips, soup, cookies, and candy.

 CNN was on the TV, loud enough to hear, but not blaring...

...and an area of comfortable airline-style chairs was in the bow.

Black-and-white historic Nantucket photos hung on the walls...

...and large booths lined the side and rear sections of the boat.

The ferry may not look luxurious, but that's what makes it so special.  With its formica-topped tables, sober decor, rumbling engines, and homey snack bar, the ferry is clean, comfortable, roomy, friendly, solid, and wonderfully, reassuringly utilitarian.  The Steamship Authority's Nantucket ferry is a tough Massachusetts workhorse, and I felt instantly at home. 

As the ferry slowly inched away from the dock, only a few passengers chose to face the cold winds of the outside decks.  But for those who did (like my Brompton and I, at least for the first 15 minutes or so) we were treated to the beautiful scenery of Hyannis harbor...

... while the ferry did its 180-degree turnaround.

The top deck was pretty empty, something you would never see on a warm summer day...

...but I loved climbing up there and watching the last bit of sandy Cape Cod land pass by...

... as the Eagle pointed its bow toward Nantucket and headed out to sea.

Morning Bike Ride with the Brompton

One of the best things about a Brompton is being able to add a little adventure to your typical morning bike ride.

For instance, I've always loved the fact that I live in a port city.  So why not include a boat trip to my Saturday ride?

My morning began by riding my Brompton to my local T stop, folding it up, and taking the subway to JFK Station.

I would have liked to have ridden the train it all the way downtown, but the T was doing track work and shuttle-busing from JFK Station onwards.  But no worries!  I could have brought my Brompton on the bus, but instead I simply unfolded it and rode on the bike lanes through South Boston...

  

...the rest of the way to the seaport district.

...the Nantucket lightship looked beautiful across the water in the East Boston docks.

Making my way on a path opposite Rowes Wharf...

... over the pedestrian-only old Northern Avenue bridge...

... and along the bike lanes of Atlantic Avenue ...

... I arrived at Long Wharf, ready to take took a short ferry ride to Charlestown.

Charlestown is a historic Boston neighborhood on a peninsula in the northern end of Boston Harbor.  It's always been a bit isolated for cyclists, cut off from the rest of the city by railroad tracks, highways, and creaky old bridges.  It's a whole different place now though, with the construction of the beautiful Paul Revere Park and bike lanes that link Charlestown to Cambridge and downtown Boston.  

But the best way to get there is still by boat.  So the T runs a small ferry that's popular with residents and tourists alike, chugging back-and-forth between Long Wharf and the Charlestown Navy Yard every 10 minutes.

The Brompton and I easily climbed aboard, paid the $3.25 fare at the little snack bar, and ascended the steps...

...to take a seat on the upper deck.

You can see the colorful "Codzilla" thrill ride boat on the left.  The wharf was busy with sightseeing ships coming into port...

...as well as the Provincetown high-speed ferry heading out to sea.  Across the water, the control tower of Logan Airport keeps watch over its own harbor-of-the-skies.

This being the first Charlestown ferry of the morning, there were only a few other people on board as we steamed away from our moorings...

...and out into the harbor.

We passed by a group of people making their way cross-harbor on the water taxi...

...and we sailed alongside great views of the Old North Church:

We waved to the people on this beautiful sailboat...

...and passed the Boston Coast Guard station...

...while the U.S.S. Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown grew closer and closer.

Finally we docked in a quiet wharf in Charlestown's historic old Navy Shipyard.

The yard is now the home to the U.S.S. Constitution, the WWII-era destroyer U.S.S. Cassin Young, and a museum. The USS Constitution is oldest still-commissioned warship in the world, and it just headed out on its tugboat-driven annual spin around the harbor the day before my ride.

Walking my bike alongside the buildings of the Navy yard, you can see a spire of the Zakim Bunker Hill cable-stayed bridge rise in the distance:

From there I continued my morning ride along the new bike lanes in Charlestown.

Before long, it was time to turn back and catch the next ferry homewards.  Here you can see it on the right, coming into the dock. 

While waiting for the ferry to arrive, a woman standing nearby approached me and said, "Excuse me, but I have to ask you about your bicycle.  We watched you ride right up here and then fold it into a little package. That's amazing!  We're just tourists, so we've never seen anything like that before."  I thanked her, answered her questions about the bike, and at her request, let her take a picture.  The Brompton sure gets a lot of attention.  But I'm not a shy person when it comes to talking about bicycles, so I'm enjoying it!

Back on the ferry, the Brompton's Cobalt Blue looked pretty stunning on the sunny top deck:

We once again passed by the Old North Church, this time with a great view of the Zakim Bridge towers in the distance.  It sure is fun being a tourist in your own city for a morning!

Coming into Long Wharf, a large crowd was waiting to board various boats, eager to enjoy the unseasonably warm New England fall day.  Whale watches, ferries, and harbor cruises all leave from historic Long Wharf these days.

Disembarking the ferry, the Brompton and I said goodbye to "Rita"...

...and then rode back to JFK station to take the T home.

And so ended my Brompton-style morning bike ride!