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The Friday night progressive cocktail party was great, especially hosting three generations of Hogans on the boat.

The weather forecast Saturday called for some beach time and the on the best beaches on earth lie just south of Great Light on the northeast coast of Nantucket.

The Great Point Jeep Adventure

It’s a picnic on the beach and it begins with a stop at Claudette’s in Siasconet for a couple of their incredible sandwiches.

It’s hard to figure out exactly what makes their sandwiches so good, but three things stand out.

1. The Secret Sauce – Mustard, Mayo, and Horseradish
2. The Whole Wheat Bread
3. The Roast Beef – Great flavor and sliced so thin it’s easy to bite and chew.

It’s about an hour from the Boat Basin after the stop at Claudettes and securing a permit.

We first rented a jeep and made the day trip to Great Point in 2019. Back then we rented through Affordable Rentals. It worked well, but by 2022, they had jacked up their prices and imposed a 2-day minimum rental period.

In 2024 we rented through the Turo app. Turo is a program that allows you to rent directly from the vehicle owner and have them deliver the car to you. It works great, it’s cheaper, and easier to use.

The Oversand Vehicle (OSV) Permit

I also learned in 2024, that unless your rental has the Oversand Vehicle (OSV) Permit, you will not be allowed to drive into the Wildlife Refuge.

You can read the customer reviews for each Turo rental on their app and on Nantucket, there are plenty of comments about permits. But on Nantucket, most renters are concerned about Beach Permits, not Oversand Vehicle’s.

With Turo, you can’t actually text the vehicle owner until you’ve booked the rental. When I was able to, my rental owner assured me he had the correct pass.

To this day, I’m not sure if he did or did not.

I do know that the first agent I spoke to told be he did not!

Eventually, a young woman took over, called the jeep owner and eventually gave me a pass to enter the refuge.

Then you must let the air out of your tires until they reach 15 lbs. (there is a station on the way out to refill the air in your tires).

Driving a jeep with low air pressure tires is rather odd, almost like surfing. I did get stuck early on, but I was still in 2-Wheel Hi. Once I switched to 4-Wheel Low, I was fine.

The ride to the light house and beach is stunning…

We sat, enjoyed our Claudette sandwiches, and talked for several hours…

The ride back went smoothly. The way you return a Turo is to simply park it, take a few photos, and check out on the app.

Finding a parking spot in downtown Nantucket is a challenge, but eventually Mrs. Horne stood in front of the Stop and Shop and asked customers if they were about to leave the parking lot.

By now, Nantucket had turned to Maui with 80° temperatures and a balmy sea breeze.

The Gas Light

We tried out our third new restaurant on Nantucket on Saturday night. I have seen The Gas Light frequently available for online reservations, but passed it by as more of a live music bar than a restaurant.

Dave and Renee tried it out earlier in the week and gave it a strong “thumbs up,” so we did too.

Be advised that it has no sign in front!

The entry is marked by a Gas Light. The hostess told us most people wander back and forth looking for it before venturing in.

There is very attractive bar with nice windows opening to the street.

It clearly is a live music venue, but for some strange reason, the music doesn’t start until 10:30 at night.

Besides the heavy emphasis on late night live music, I also found the menu odd for a serious dinner restaurant.

In addition to the standard menu, we were also offered three Specials…

Peter began with a signature cocktail.

We sampled dishes from all corners of the menu…

Everything was wonderful with great flavors and distinctive Asian tones. The Thai Basil Beef was mouth-watering, but a tad too spicy.

The Gaslight has probably moved to the #1 restaurant on Nantucket on our list.

Sunday Departure

I had notified the Boat Basin that we might stay until Monday, but there was a storm forecast for Sunday night and I didn’t want to take a chance that it would linger into Monday.

Besides, we had just enjoyed the best six days in June we’d ever seen on Nantucket – why press our luck?

The harbor looked like glass as we cleared Brandt Point.

It was an incredibly clear morning. In fact, it was so clear that we could see Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard as soon as we cleared the breakwater.

Monday morning arrived with Buzzards Bay socked in with fog.

I definitely made the right call…

Next Up: Festival Weekend on OB