Our Stay at The Wauwinet

This is going to be a long post and I have plenty of outfit posts coming up from the trip too. If you remember, Ashley and I went to Nantucket last year for a girls’ trip. Before our bags were even in the room, she received the most devastating news that Ryan, her husband, had been diagnosed with cancer after a routine tonsillectomy. (If you haven’t listened to their podcast about their love story and the journey they’ve gone on over the past year, I can’t recommend it enough.) 

Our girls’ trip was immediately put on hold and it became a scramble to get Ashley on the first flight off the island back to Florida to be with him. Ryan went through treatment over the past year and recently received the great news everyone was praying for. Not too long after that, I received an email from The Wauwinet asking if I wanted to stay in their newly designed Anchorage House for a few days this summer with a guest. I immediately thought of Ashley and using this as our “redemption tour.” After last year’s traumatizing trip, I wasn’t sure if she’d ever attempt another trip to Nantucket but I asked if she was up for it and she agreed!

I was holding my breath (and putting on a brave face for her on that teeny tiny airplane even though I thought I was going to pass out!), praying that it would go off without a hitch. And it did. In fact, it was even more magical than I could have dreamed and I’m just so glad we were able to create new and happy memories.

The Wauwinet is out past ‘Sconset and is extra special because you have both access to the Harbor and the ocean. We watched the sunset from the Harborside in the evening and spotted seals from the oceanside during the day. I loved that we had both at our fingertips– no need to choose. It’s also very secluded compared to other hotels making it a very romantic spot. (My best friend is going on a mini-moon after her wedding there in fact!) While it’s always fun to stay right in town, this is a great choice if you want to really and truly get away from the hustle and bustle of life.

We stayed in in the Anchorage House, a three bedroom free standing cottage across the street from the main hotel. I loved the privacy and luxury of having a house with space, while still being able to phone the concierge for help with making reservations or calling the restaurant for room service. This summer, The Wauwinet partnered with Serena & Lily to decorate the Anchorage House! The living room was basically my dream set up with everything navy and white and the front patio had to-die-for Serena & Lily chairs. Ash and I spent most of our time in the cottage curled up on the couch working, editing photos, and relaxing! And when we weren’t in the cottage, we were utilizing the BMW rental that comes with the cottage to zip around the island. (I’m no car person, but this might have been my favorite part. It was a BLAST.)

Basket Bag // Tote // Hat

Since The Wauwinet graciously hosted us, it was technically a work trip. Sometimes when I go on a trip as a blogger, I feel like I have to put on my “blogger hat” and just get all the content, all the time. Luckily, even though I did feel that pressure, it’s pretty easy to take a good photo on Nantucket. Or rather, impossible to take a bad one! And Ashley and I were totally on the same page in terms of taking photos and taking breaks. It made it so much more enjoyable. Obviously this is a blogger-specific problem, haha, but I feel like I have to address it at least slightly.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and the weather report didn’t look great for Thursday. So we decided to just go all out on getting photos Wednesday. It was probably a little over the top but it made for a much more relaxing Thursday!!

After checking in, we hopped in the BMW and headed into town. Since it’s still not quite peak season, we had no problem finding parking in the Stop & Shop parking lot. (Fun fact: I got my first and only parking ticket on Nantucket last summer 😭 ). We spent some time walking around, grabbing coffees at Handlebar Cafe, and shooting lots of photos.

I think it was as pretty and beautiful as Nantucket gets in June. Warm air. Bright blue skies. Grass as green as can be.

Because we knew the rain was coming, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather Wednesday and hit the beach. Was it the absolute warmest beach weather? Not quite (especially not for two Florida girls) but the sun was still pretty warm! We spotted a bunch of seals too which was fun. And kept me far away from the water considering it means there are sharks nearby!!

After beaching for a bit, we popped right over to our cottage to get ready for out dinner reservation at Topper’s. The hotel was aglow from the sunset. It was pretty quiet out on the lawn and it felt like pure magic. One of my favorite sunsets of all time. I had to take this panoramic and as great as I think it is (if I do say so myself), it barely does it justice.

Is this lawn not the cutest? It must have been a quiet night because there were only two other couples out there. They were lounging on the chairs bundled up in cozy sweaters and wraps, toasting with chilled wine. Quite idyllic.

On Thursday morning, we woke up to a torrential downpour. I kind of loved it though since I think a rainy day on Nantucket is better than a rainy day anywhere else. We had a leisurely breakfast on the patio of Topper’s with bottomless coffee. They pulled the plastic protection down around the patio and flicked the heaters on so it was extra cozy as the wind and rain howled outside.

This wasn’t the kind of rain that you can just put up an umbrella and still walk around, so we ventured back to the cottage and got back into our pajamas for a little hygge morning!!

Our matching pajamas

Even though we’re reading in these photos, we ended up watching the season premier of Younger. While we were in the airport the day before, we were wondering, “Wait a minute, when does Younger come back out???” And after a quick Google, we determined it was THAT NIGHT. We missed it that night because of dinner but ended up finding it on TV Land’s website and just propped up our laptop right on the coffee table.

Serena and Lily Chairs

Then we ordered room service and had lunch indoors as the weather just started to clear up. French fries might have been theme of the trip. We had so many!!

Old Earrings // Similar Sweater // Crossbody (c/o)

Back into the BMW we went. Seriously so much fun. Ash and I are both avid readers and we found out that the Nantucket Book Festival was kicking off that Thursday. I mean, is that serendipity or what? The Elin Hilderbrand lunch was over $100/ticket and so we sadly skipped that and went for the free talk from Nat Philbrick. Coincidentally, I had just started his book about Nantucket’s history so I was eager to hear him speak. I was blown away by how intelligent he was. And how great of a storyteller her was. I could have listened to him talk for hours!

We spent the rest of the afternoon winding our way through the cute streets of Town and then grabbing coffee before heading back to the hotel to work before dinner.

We went across the street to the main hotel for wine in this living room before heading back to order more room service! It was so nice to sit there with the fire roaring and just sitting back and relaxing and chatting!

Before we checked out of the hotel (and had to sadly give up the BMW!), Ash and I drove down to ‘Sconset to check out Sankaty Light. Again, could it be anymore picturesque?

After checking out and leaving our suitcases with the front desk, we took the inn’s jitney into town for lunch and (most importantly) my first taste of Juice Bar this summer. Ashley is dairy free and got to enjoy their vegan oreo ice cream!! It was a win/win for everyone.

Dress (c/o) // Crossbody (c/o) // Hat // Tote // Suitcase // Shoes

And then it was time to leave. I feel like we fit a lot in the three days! And, of course, I’m already counting down to my visit in July.

Thank you Thank you Thank you Wauwinet and Serena & Lily for hosting us!!!!