Monthly Archives: August 2009

Along the Jersey shore, there are probably 1,000 seagulls per mile of beach. These are the loud “laughing gulls” which screech and fight each other for food. They have stolen food right out of a sandwich I’m holding.

In Nantucket, the system is different. There is about one gull per quarter mile, and these gulls are herring gulls, larger, statelier, and not nearly as low class. They are somewhat aristocratic and have a large, protected rookery on part of the island.

And so it came to pass that a gull who patrols our stretch of the beach showed up to share a roast beef sandwich another guest had offered me, since her boat ride didn’t show up due to fog. I was dutifully tossing the gull some bread, which he casually caught or walked over to retrieve. Suddenly, he turned and trotted down to the surf. In one of those rare moments when I was looking the right way at the right time, I watched in wonder as he tugged a four-inch, silver fish from the water. He held it crosswise in his beak, and had to toss it up a few times, as if making a pizza, to get it on the right axis to be swallowed, whole.

With his gullet engorged, he walked back into the surf and drank what looked like a quart of seawater. Sated, he peered at me as if, “You just don’t know how to eat.”

We had a nice, waterside meal in Straight Wharf last night, which was hopping busy. Unbelievably, they have a lettuce salad that I had to have once I saw it delivered to the next table, and it was amazing. A nice bass followed (I was tempted to toss it in the air and swallow it whole), accompanied by a glass of house pinot noir, which the captain pours for you to taste out on the deck, a very nice gesture.

We bought dog treats at our favorite pet store here, an annual tradition (Koufax could care less, Buddy will eat the bag they’re in). We drove back in the kind of heavy fog that high beams make worse, lonely roads with vegetation encroaching, not an iota of natural light, top down, 80 degrees. God, this is living! Since the lovely Maria insists on observing the speed limit (and can see the speedometer from the passenger seat, in an inexplicable design flaw in the car) I drive it in manual to make it interesting.

The day turned out to be outstanding, and now today, Friday, is supposed to be nice, as well. We have lucked out on the weather again, though we have a late ferry tomorrow and there may be thunder storms from Hurricane Bill (naming storms after men is one of the stupidest of all the stupid politically correct insults).

It’s sunny with a mild breeze that should keep the bugs at bay. Back at you later.

Mitch was off last night, but I still managed my martini and continued to meet fascinating people at the bar here, one of the few places where I’m an extrovert. We then drove out to The Galley, watched Diane von Furstenberg arrive and the sun depart. (The sun has been setting in front of humans for thousands of years on a rather regular basis, but we still flock to see it.) The food was great, fluke muniere, and I actually had one of those specialty drinks that I quickly forgot but remember a cucumber resting in the bottom of the martini glass.

The restaurant was packed, including people seated out on the sand. It’s the kind of place where most people are dressed quite well, the waiters wear ties, and the service is impeccable. They employ four hostesses just to keep people moving! Parking is, well, somewhat innovative.

It’s still warm enough to drive back with the top down along sinuous roads under the stars.

I walked down to the dock in the fog this morning, from my deck over the lawn, and you should see those photos here someplace. I love to roam around at sunrise, with the robins racing along the lawn snagging worms ahead of me.

I’ve completed all of my writing for the month (September 1 deadlines) and Thrive! has only three more chapters to be edited, and then I’m putting it into production.

There are clouds and rain in the forecast, we’re hoping they hold off until late afternoon.

6:30 am, before I begin to write, the morning fog at the Wauwinet:

Dinner at The Pearl consisted of outstanding soft shell crab in black pepper sauce and very rare tuna. We had Conundrum, one of my favorite “casual” white wines. Then I actually had an espresso martini for dessert. Once we returned, a Montecristo #2 with an 1875 Madeira provided by Mitch (and Reese’s peanut butter cups, I’m sorry, I’m a heathen) out on the deck under the stars.

We have a full breakfast when we go over to the ocean side, so that we can both stay there all day AND skip lunch. I did share a pretzel with my gull friend, whose picture will appear here both watching me from a dune and flying by one of the houses along the beach that’s probably worth about $5 million.

I’m reading three novels: One Second After, South of Broad, and The Last Ember. I’ve already polished off the first, good beach read, but predictable and sometimes embarrassingly written. (The educated, worldly protagonists, for example, say “Should of….” and “Would of….” instead of “Should have…” and “Would have….” That’s what happens when you have editors who were using Cliff Notes to get by in school.)

Tonight we’ll watch the sunset at The Galley.

I returned a few business calls from the beach and sent a few return emails via my iPhone. People are aghast that I’m responding from the waterside at Nantucket. What better place?

Had my martini with blue-cheese-stuffed olives at the bar last night, with
Mitch doing honors once again. (You can see Mitch in the August, 2008
postings of Nantucket Journal here on the blog.)

We had the chef’s eight-course tasting menu at Topper’s which, even with
half-portions, was huge. The sommelier, whom I’ve trusted for many years,
discussed a price, as is our habit, and then his task is to delight me. He
chose a fantastic 1999 Shafer Cab, so outstanding that the lovely,
non-drinking Maria decided to drink, that’s how good it was. (And that’s how
I wound up with half my usual imbibing!)

I wrote out on the deck from 6:30 to 7:30 or so this morning, sipping coffee
and watching a flock of cormorants fly in formation over the lawn. After
breakfast al fresco on the restaurant’s deck, we headed across the dunes.

Once again the beach was mostly deserted. Tonight we’ll fire up the car and
head into town for The Pearl.

My newest book, Thrive!, is complete and I’m editing the chapters, something
I don’t normally do, but I’m planning something special for this book.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

The ferry docked, we drove in first gear through the traffic snarl over cobblestone streets, then on to normal roads, and then into fourth and through the countryside. (Two gears more in case needed, unlikely on winding single lanes. I’ve never hit sixth gear in Nantucket, ever.) We spent the afternoon on the lawn overlooking the bay after being graciously welcomed by this great staff at the Wauwinet, who provided some gifts for our grandchildren. Tonight we’re on to Topper’s, named after a dog, and with one of the great wine lists anywhere, a few yards from our suite.

Lunch: An insanely wonderful Kobe beef and pulled short rib burger delivered chair-side with a vodka tonic.

Leaving Hyannis:

A passing non-auto ferry:

The cormorants roosting in Nantucket:

The usual yachts:

Gatsby has arrived, the green light can be seen.