Golf and Tennis and Lecture Series: There are several private and public places to play golf or tennis on Nantucket. Some are available to the public, and some require being invited. Miacomet Golf Course and Nantucket Tennis and Swim Club (both open to the public) are our favorites. Equipment can be rented or your own. You can walk the golf course, which offers 18 holes of links-type sandy play. The views are stunning from many holes.

If you've had enough fun in the sun, you'll be amazed at the variety of lecture topics and famous people who come to speak on Nantucket. On almost any day during the summer months, you can find interesting programs, including musical and theatrical performances. And the venues are interesting, too: old churches and meeting houses, restored homes from centuries ago.

Water Activities: Nantucket's beaches are justifiably renowned. First, they are available to everyone--no beach is restricted on Nantucket. Second, the whole island is a beach--360 degrees of sand around you. And third, they are some of the prettiest dunes in the world. Think of a beach photo with rosa ragosas and blowing grasses and maybe a dune fence, and it was probably taken on Nantucket, especially if it has a harbor or ferry boat or lighthouse in the background. That's why you'll see families having portrait photos taken so often on the beaches.

If you leave the beach for the water, you can fish (blue fish and swordfish are famous here), wind surf, kayak, sail (laser to 12 meter), water ski, or go whale watching. Or you can take the kids to the beach play areas at Children's Beach or Jetties Beach, and laze away the hours at a calm Nantucket Sound beach. Your teens will prefer the waves and snack bar at Surfside Beach on the Atlantic side of the island, where the action is hipper.

Culture, History, and Food: It is hard to over-state what Nantucket has to offer. The Whaling Museum, show-casing artifacts and educational displays about the island's whaling history is among the finest in the world. Scrimshaw and Melville artifacts are second to none. The Atheneum (library) hosted Frederick Douglas (Black Abolitionist) in one of his first speeches, and that's where Maria Mitchell (first female astronomer) worked. You can see the offices of the shipping company that owned the Boston Tea--before it was dumped into the Bay during a famous party.... Lucretia Mott, feminist who promoted women's suffrage, and Benjamin Franklin's mother, were born and lived here.

The restaurants are so numerous it would take more than a full summer to sample them all, and the quality is exceedingly high. Most take reservations. The only real problem is deciding which ones you'll go to! When you want to stay home, there are several wonderful seafood stores where you can purchase fresh fish and lobster.