Reverse Stroll

Whimsical Outfits, Avoiding the Madness, Deer Island, Great Granola

The sun rose at 6:50 this morning and will set at 4:11 this afternoon.

The next four days will see a flurry of activity across the island as businesses make the most of this last opportunity to harvest some cash before winter sets in. For over 50 years the Christmas Stroll has defined the personality of Nantucket during the first week in December. Some islanders embrace it. Others stay far away from the madness of downtown until the last boat leaves Sunday.

Beginning today people begin to arrive wearing silly hats and red and green Christmas-themed outfits looking for a bit of holiday fun. The silliness of it all is often accompanied with conspicuous public consumption of alcohol. Red solo cups are a standard accessory as strollers wander over the cobblestones.

You need to be an islander of a certain age to remember a December without the presence of Christmas Stroll. But it wasn’t always that way. Before 1970, when the Cape Cod Mall opened in Hyannis, islanders shopped locally or through catalogs. Sears – remember them? – once had a store on Main Street, where the Maury People real estate office is today.

But after the mall opened in Hyannis, islanders eagerly began their annual Christmas shopping pilgrimage across the pond, embracing the opportunity to get off island with a purpose, to save a few dollars and peruse a much greater selection of gifts.

Back then Air New England and Gull Air offered cheap same day promotional fares – under $20 round trips to Hyannis – effectively air shuttles back and forth to the Hyannis. The only boat that ran between Nantucket and the mainland in the winter was the Steamship Authority slow boat. The fast ferry hadn’t been imagined yet. Everyone flew.

Back then, Nantucket was not the affluent community it is today. Islanders didn’t travel much or take vacations. A trip to Hyannis, especially if it was an overnight, was a big deal. Going to Hyannis was an opportunity to get fast food at McDonald’s or Burger King, to go to a Chinese restaurant and also see a movie. Nantucket’s movie theatre closed after Labor Day.

Shopping on the mainland was fun. Both the mall and greater Hyannis had stores and restaurants Nantucket didn’t have. The mall had a German beer hall, the Wursthaus, which was actually a pretty nice restaurant with good food and beer that wasn’t Budweiser. Often you’d see Nantucket men at the bar there, waiting while their wives shopped.
Friendly’s was a hit with families with kids who wanted burgers, frappes and ice cream sundaes. The food court concept in malls hadn’t been developed yet.

The allure of mainland shopping was so great that island businesses, which had always depended on a shot of revenue during Christmas from locals, were suffering. So, the Chamber of Commerce, came up with the idea of a Christmas Stroll, keeping stores open after 5 pm, with each store offering up sweet treats and libations to entice shoppers inside. It was a hit with locals, who began inviting their off-island friends.
The early Strolls showcased the best of Nantucket hospitality and friendliness that a small town can offer, with minimal marketing hoopla.

The Stroll, designed to keep islanders’ Christmas shopping dollars at home, was originally held on a Friday night. As the even became more popular, the Stroll moved to Saturday. The mix of stores eventually changed, from mom and pop artisan shops to high-end shops owned by off-islanders whose luxury merchandise aimed to appeal to wealthy visitors and summer residents.

There are many who love the Stroll, and merchants and restaurants now depend upon it. But it is not for everyone. The weeks that bracket the Stroll, Thanksgiving, and the week after with the high school’s December Delight hold more appeal for locals.

Not surprisingly, islanders are back to shopping elsewhere, online in the digital marketplace or on the mainland. This weekend, I’ll be among them. It’s the reverse Stroll, an attempt to flee the island to avoid the mayhem here and to immerse ourselves in the anonymity of the mainland.

I’ll be taking my granddaughters up to the Boston Ballet to see the Nutcracker, while also sneaking in some Christmas shopping, for stocking stuffers mostly. And I think there’s some food from Chinatown in my future.

Don’t Go into the Woods

Back home, shotgun season for deer has been underway for a week. Deer are everywhere. Our back fields have been full of them, and the opening photo for this column shows a buck we spied on our property on Thanksgiving.
It seems to me that we see far fewer hunters in camo these days. I think there are two reasons for this.

One, Nantucket has become a very expensive place for hunters to visit. We used to see hunters at the end of the day in the Tap Room and other restaurants, still in their orange hunting gear. Not so much anymore. Mostly you’ll see them grabbing a sandwich from the deli at Stop & Shop.

Two, the island has become so built up that the open spaces which used to exist and which were prime hunting grounds, have become built up. There are fewer places in the open where one can hunt and many more places for deer to hide in landscaped yards out of town. Today’s newspaper noted that this year’s deer take is way down compared to that of years past.

The Land Bank and Nantucket Conservation Foundation have opened up some of their bigger properties to hunting to help cull the deer herd. Deer population is now estimated at 10,000, with some state officials quoting 2500 deer as a healthy sustainable population for Nantucket. This is not sustainable.

If you do go out in nature, stay away from hunting grounds and wear an orange hat and vest.

A Gift for You

It has been just over a year since I’ve begun this Substack column, in which I channel some of the flavor of my former Here and There column that ran in the old I&M. I am grateful to all of you, my growing audience, for supporting me and giving me a voice to write about the island I love, where I was raised, and which is my home.

This month, I also mark another trip around the sun, another birthday marked on the calendar of life. As a sort of reverse birthday gift, which is maybe the way it ought to be, I want to share with you a recipe that is both delicious and which makes a great gift for far-away friends because it mails well.

There is nothing that compares to the taste of homemade granola. Commercial brands you pick up at the grocery store, aren’t nearly as good as fresh granola. The added benefit of making your own granola is that you can customize it to your own tastes with your favorite dried fruits and nuts. Stop and Shop has a good selection of both.

The following recipe couldn’t be easier, and is adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois, published by St. Martins Press.

Marianne’s Granola

1/2 cup good wildflower honey
¼ cup good maple syrup
1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. good quality ground cinnamon, like Vietnamese cinnamon available online at King Arthur’s.
¼-½ teaspoon salt, depending on your affinity for salt
4 cups Old-Fashioned Quaker Rolled Oats
1 cup coarsely broken pecans
1 cup sliced almonds
¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup sesame seeds
½ cup golden raisins
1 cup dried fruit of your choice: cherries, cranberries, chopped dried apricots, blueberries, or whatever you like. Personally, I like apricots and blueberries when I can find them.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a high-sided cookie sheet or lasagna pan, lining it with parchment paper and covering it with nonstick spray or oil. You can also use a large silicone mat.

2. Place the oats, nuts and seeds in a large bowl and toss together. Do not add the dried fruits. Those are added after baking.

3. Mix honey, maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt in a large measuring cup.

4. Pour the liquid mixture over the oats and mix well with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until everything is coated with the sticky honey mixture.

5. Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until the granola is golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on your oven and the depth of the granola.in the pan.

6. Once the pan is out of the oven, let it cool for about 20 minutes (it may still be warn which is ok) and transfer to a big bowl and stir in the dried fruit. When the granola is completely cool, package it into airtight containers. I like to use Mason jars for storing and gifting. Store in a cool, dry place.