The 3rd annual Nantucket Restaurant Week will commence on September 29, 2008. The week begins with the Opening Gala, a fundraiser to benefit the Nantucket Culinary Arts Foundation. The Gala, featuring many of the islands chefs cooking table side, is Sunday, September 28th, from 6 pm –8 pm at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Throughout the week, many of the island’s most popular restaurants will be offering 3 course dinner menus priced at either $25 or $45, depending on the restaurant. Some of the participating restaurants for 2008 include: 21 Federal,  A.K. Diamonds, American Seasons, Boarding House, Brant Point Grille, The Chanticleer, Queequegs, and The Atlantic Café.  

There is still time to book your vacation rental for this enjoyable and delectable week on Nantucket. For more information on events and participating restaurants, please visit http://www.nantucketrestaurantweek.com.

Although summer on Nantucket is coming to an end, try not to be too sad. Even though most people seek vacation rentals during the prime months of June, July, and August, more vacationers seem to be catching on to the notion that the fall months on Nantucket, particularly, September, October, and November, are just as coveted as those sweet summer months.

With September beginning and the summer coming to a close, Nantucket is gearing up for yet another eventful season. The first event of a busy fall on the island is the Nantucket Arts Council’s 16th Annual Fall Arts Festival, which runs from Friday, August 29th until Sunday, September 7th.  Highlights of this year’s festival are not limited to just paintings and sketches, but all mediums, including performing arts.  Things to do during this year’s festival: check out the Field and Farm Exhibit at the Hayloft at Bartlett’s Farm, take in a performance of “Moon Over Buffalo” by the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, listen to Superhoney at the Chicken Box, stroll through the Nantucket Farmers’ and Artisans Market at the Nantucket New School, view a screening of Cary Hazelgrove’s “An Island Life” at The Starlight Café, and wander into the various galleries that are scattered around downtown.

You can download and print the complete schedule of this year’s events from the Nantucket Arts Council’s website at http://www.nantucketartscouncil.org.

The 2007 Nantucket Stroll landed on a windy, but sunny weekend with a large number of visitors and residents celebrating the beginning of the Holiday Season together.

The Steamship Authority reported an overall passenger count increase of 4.2 percent over last year for the weekend, beginning Thursday and ending Sunday. Hy-line numbers had not yet been reported to the SSA.

Cape Air also saw an increase of around 5 percent over last year’s totals, with an estimated 500 travelers coming to Nantucket on Friday alone.

The weather for the weekend was winter-like, but non inclement as it was in 2003 when the number of visitors was way down, Bakalar said.

“A lot of people make reservations in advance so they will come over if the weather is bad, as long as the boats and planes are running,” said Bakalar. “The bad weather really impacts the day-trippers. This year the weather was good, so I don’t think that had any effect.”

Bakalar said the Chamber complies a list of exactly how many people traveled to the island for each Stroll, but those numbers were not yet available. Bakalar did say that in years past, the number usually falls between 7,600 and 8,500 people.

“It goes up and down, but usually stays in that range,” Bakalar said.

The popular downtown restaurant The Brotherhood of Thieves saw about a 10 percent increase over last year’s sales, which manager Don Kolp attributed to crisp, cold weather forcing shoppers inside for a warm drink.