A Summer Guide to Nantucket - feat. Ashley McCormick

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Interview with Leslie Heaney – A Summer Guide to Nantucket featuring Ashley McCormick

Release Date: July 15, 2025

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Hosts and Guests

• Host: Leslie Heaney
• Guest: Ashley McCormick, founder of the lifestyle brand Asha

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Introduction to Ashley McCormick and Asha

Leslie Heaney welcomes Ashley McCormick, a lifelong summer resident of Nantucket and the founder of Asha, a versatile lifestyle brand. Ashley recently expanded her business by opening a new Asha store in Nantucket, marking a significant milestone in her 20-year entrepreneurial journey.

The Origin Story of Asha

Ashley shares the inspiring beginnings of Asha, highlighting her entrepreneurial spirit that started in college. Studying art history at Georgetown, Ashley’s passion for jewelry-making blossomed during her junior year abroad in Florence and Paris. A serendipitous meeting with the head of fine jewelry at Chanel led her to connect with a Parisian goldsmith, laying the foundation for her first jewelry pieces.

“I was making jewelry for fun and I met the head of fine jewelry for Chanel at a dinner party in Paris, serendipitously. And he connected me with a goldsmith in Paris.” – Ashley McCormick [04:00]

Despite starting small, Ashley’s dedication and willingness to seek help propelled Asha into being stocked by renowned stores like Henry Bendel and Saks shortly after her college graduation. Today, Asha has evolved into a comprehensive lifestyle brand encompassing jewelry, accessories, and apparel.

Opening Asha’s Nantucket Store

Ashley expresses her long-held dream of opening a store in Nantucket, a place dear to her heart since childhood. The new Asha store, located on Federal Street, embodies the brand’s ethos and aesthetic. Ashley describes the store as a “jewel box” and a “labor of love,” with the assistance of her mother in decorating the space.

“Opening Memorial Day weekend, and it's been incredible.” – Ashley McCormick [07:40]

This expansion signifies a full-circle moment for Ashley, blending her personal connection to the island with her professional aspirations.

Insider Tips: Getting to Nantucket

Ashley shares her preferred method of reaching Nantucket—driving to Hyannis Port and taking the ferry. Although flying is more convenient, especially for solo or quick trips, the ferry experience holds sentimental value for Ashley.

“I am old school and a lot of people will disagree with me, but I love to drive to Hyannis and take the ferry.” – Ashley McCormick [08:55]

Reservations for ferry cars are highly competitive and often sell out quickly, so advanced planning is essential.

Accommodation Recommendations

For visitors without local residences, Ashley recommends several charming inns and hotels:

• Great House Inn: Ideal for short trips, located near the Asha store.
• White Elephant: Offers a pool and standalone residences, perfect for those seeking more amenities.
• Faraway Hotel and Wahwinit Hotel: Known for their timeless and classic appeal.
• Summer House in Sconset: Features tiny, adorable cottages for a quaint stay experience.

Dining Delights: Must-Visit Restaurants

Ashley highlights Nantucket’s diverse culinary scene, recommending a mix of local favorites:

• Ventuno: Praised for having the best kitchen on the island and a lively back bar at night.

  “Ventuno sort of gets lively later in the night. So that's a super fun spot.” – Ashley McCormick [12:46]

• The Hub: A top choice for coffee enthusiasts.

• Something Natural & Fresh Provisions: Perfect for crafting picnic sandwiches from local produce.

• Ladies’ Crew & Sandbar: Ideal for relaxed lunches and family-friendly dinners, respectively.

• Nantucket Meat and Fish: Highly recommended for grilling and fresh seafood.

Beach Recommendations

Ashley shares her favorite beaches in Nantucket, emphasizing their unique qualities:

• Ladies’ Beach: Her top pick for its serene dunes and limited crowds.

  “I love the Dunes. It doesn’t get too busy.” – Ashley McCormick [18:40]

• Children’s Beach: Equipped with a playground and shallow waters, perfect for families with young children.

• Great Point: Allows vehicle access with a special sticker.

• Surfing at Cisco Beach: Features a surf school for enthusiasts.

Activities: Biking, Boating, and More

Nantucket is renowned for its bike-friendly environment, with numerous bike paths like Milestone Road and the Pulpis Bike Path offering scenic routes. Boat rentals and fishing charters, especially with reputable captains like Captain Corey, provide ample opportunities for water adventures. Additionally, Ashley mentions the availability of hiking trails for those interested in exploring the island’s natural beauty on foot.

Local Events and Festivals

Nantucket hosts a variety of engaging events throughout the summer:

• Nantucket by Design: Featuring panels with decorators like Caroline Gadir and keynote speaker Martha Stewart.
• Boston Pops Concerts: A staple annual event attracting music lovers.
• Wine Festival in May and Daffodil Weekend in April: Celebrate the island’s vibrant culture and natural beauty.

Shopping and Art Galleries

Ashley recommends several local shops and galleries that capture Nantucket’s charm:

• Murray’s Togglery: Known for Nantucket Reds.
• Nantucket Looms: Offers exquisite mohair and cashmere blankets.
• Alice Walk: A beloved clothing store on Federal Street.
• Sylvia’s Antiques: Features vintage and new Lightship baskets.
• Whaling Museum and Life Saving Museum: Educational spots offering deep dives into Nantucket’s maritime history.

“The Whaling Museum is definitely at the top of the list for a rainy day.” – Ashley McCormick [24:21]

Future Plans for Asha

Looking ahead, Ashley discusses plans for further expanding Asha with potential new store locations beyond Greenwich, where Asha is currently based. She aims to balance her role as a mother with her entrepreneurial endeavors, continuing to enhance the brand’s lifestyle offerings and client experiences.

“I think just continuing to do what we’re doing and sort of expanding on that lifestyle brand.” – Ashley McCormick [32:14]

Closing Thoughts

Leslie expresses enthusiasm for Ashley’s insights and the newly opened Asha store, encouraging listeners to explore Nantucket with fresh recommendations. Ashley hopes her shared experiences resonate with listeners, inviting them to discover their own favorite spots on the island.

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Notable Quotes:

• “Asha is a nickname that my Cuban grandparents gave me when I was little because Ashley does not roll off the tongue in Spanish.” – Ashley McCormick [04:00]
• “You gotta try, you gotta ask the question, ask for the order and you'll see what happens.” – Ashley McCormick [07:03]
• “The Whaling Museum is definitely at the top of the list for a rainy day.” – Ashley McCormick [24:21]

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Upcoming Episode: Tune in next Friday for a summer series episode on Newport, Rhode Island, featuring photographer and author Nick Mealy.

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Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please rate or review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform.

Transcript

[Leslie Heaney]

Foreign. Hey everybody, this is Leslie and you're listening to the interview with Leslie Heaney. It is July 14th. I've had a great summer so far, I must say. I'm turning into a human bottle and perhaps a brick of cheese. But other than that, it's been a lot of fun and I've really enjoyed this summer series and talking to people about all their favorite secret spots in different summer communities. Today, or we're releasing really tomorrow, but you're listening. Today we are featuring one of the world's favorite islands, Nantucket. And to walk us through all of her favorite spots is Ashley McCormick. She's the founder of the lifestyle brand Asha. And Ashley is a lifelong summer resident of Nantucket. She also just opened a new Asha store there. And Ashley and I talk about all of her favorite spots, favorite restaurants, places for lunch, her coffee place, great outings and activities to do with kids, where she likes to stay, her favorite beach. She did realize after she shared it that she's a little hesitant about that because she doesn't want her beach to get too crowded. But it's already out there. The genie's out of the bottle. So she talks about what her favorite beach is. And Ashley's also a panelist this week for Nantucket Design Week. So if you're on Nantucket right now or you're planning a visit this week, be sure to buy tickets. It sounds like a great series of events and speakers. I think Martha Stewart's their keynote speaker. So that's sure to be an exciting event happening on Nantucket this week. My conversation with Ashley made me want to drive to Hyannis Port and jump on the next ferry. So hopefully after listening, you all may be right there with me. I'm so excited about this week's sponsor, the 10 Mile Distillery. 10 Mile is an American single malt distillery based in the Hudson Valley about 90 miles north of New York. And it is the maker of the award winning Little Rest Whiskey made through a slow distillation process with all New York State grains by master distiller Shane Fraser from Scotland. And when I say award winning, I mean it's earned a 95 out at the whiskey competition in San Francisco and a 96 at the New York International Spirits Competition. This is delicious. If you do not believe me about how delicious this is, the good news for you is that if you're in the New York area, you can go visit this incredible and beautiful distillery yourself. It's set among the most beautiful apple orchard with beautiful views of the mountains behind Stop by for a leisurely tour or tasting or even enjoy nice, really crafted cocktail. They also have gin and vodka available. They also have this incredibly delicious Thai restaurant that is in residence there from Thursday through Sunday. To learn more about the distillery, you can visit them@tenmile distillery.com theinterview. All orders will receive 10% off if you put a promo code the interview at checkout. So go to www.tenmiledistillery.com theinterview to get that discount, that 10% off. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. So here's Ashley McCormick. Ashley, it's so nice to see you to, you know, to formally, officially meet you. I'm so grateful to you for coming on the POD to talk about Nantucket.

[Ashley McCormick]

So nice to meet you. Thank you for having me.

[Leslie Heaney]

So before we get into all of your favorite places there, I thought it'd be really interesting for listeners to kind of hear more about your story and Asha, your, you know, your incredible brand they've created. It's not just jewelry, but clothing and all sorts of things. So I thought we could kind of, you know, kick it off with that and then, and then do a deep dive into one of our favorite islands.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah. Well, thank you for that kind intro. So I have been doing this for 20 years now, which is wild. I started in college. I was an art history major at Georgetown. I was always sort of entrepreneurial, dating back to even like my middle school and high school days. But in college, studying art history and actually studying abroad. For my junior year, I was in Florence and Paris, which was kind of like being in living museums that whole year. I really got started with Asha. And Asha, by the way, is a nickname that my Cuban grandparents gave me when I was little because Ashley does not roll off the tongue in Spanish. So that's where that comes from. But anyway, I was making jewelry for fun and I met the head of fine jewelry for Chanel at a dinner party in Paris, serendipitously. And he connected me with a goldsmith in Paris. So in between my classes at nassaubonne, I was making jewelry, my first pieces. And that's really where it all began.

[Leslie Heaney]

I mean, I was so struck when I read that because I know what I was doing my senior year in college. And I was so impressed that you, you know, you, you were sort of inspired right, by your surroundings from what I had read and really took the initiative to just get started. I think at, at such a young age is incredibly impressive.

[Ashley McCormick]

Thank you. I, I mean, I really was just doing something I loved and fell into it and kept pursuing it. And I think naivete was sort of my best friend at that age because I just, just kind of like kept going and kept trying. And by the time I graduated, I had opened some accounts with different stores like Henry Bendel and Saks and Calypso back in the day. Yeah, I had a little business that was up and running and I just decided to keep going. And you know, here we are 20 years later, which is wild. And I in a way feel like I'm almost just starting because we've kind of reached this moment where we're, where we're a lifestyle brand, different categories because I started with jewelry and then, you know, have gotten into accessories and apparel now. So it's super exciting and opening stores.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah, I know, it's really exciting. And I, you know, it's funny, I love what you just said about naivete because it is true. Like I think people. I went and I spoke at a friend's college class and I said to the college students, you know, people want to help and mentor young people in their careers. And so meeting that, you know, the head of jewelry at Chanel and him connecting you is just such a great, that's just such a great story and such a great example of that.

[Ashley McCormick]

Well, I tell people all the time, like really ask for help. You never know, you know, where it will lead. And for me, I asked for the help. And this man was so generous and kind and he connected me with someone and you know, that was the beginning of my story.

[Leslie Heaney]

So great. Our 13 year old was at a barbecue. He's obsessed with cryptocurrency. And I guess there was someone there who's like some cryptocurrency, I don't know, expert or magnet or something. And they're emailing now and I said to him, I said, you never know where these things will lead.

[Ashley McCormick]

You gotta try, you gotta ask the question, ask for the order and you'll see what happens.

[Leslie Heaney]

So you are, as you mentioned, you've expanded into sort of a lifestyle brand now. Right. And you're opening stores and we're talking Nantucket today. And you've opened a store in Nantucket?

[Ashley McCormick]

Yes, it's a dream. Nantucket is such a special island for me. I grew up going there since I was a baby. So to open a store there is really this full circle moment for me. And we're on Federal street and we have a little jewel box of a store. It was years in the making and finally found the right spot and went for it. And we opened Memorial Day weekend, and it's been incredible.

[Leslie Heaney]

Oh, that's so. So you have been that this has been sort of part of your or a goal or a dream of yours to have a store there?

[Ashley McCormick]

Definitely. Definitely. I mean, I have a great client base there. I've done trunk shows for years. The ultimate goal was to be able to represent all the collections in one beautiful space. That really speaks to the collection and the ethos of the brand. Yeah, it was exciting to be able to find this spot on Federal street. And it's on the corner, and we have beautiful light. And my mom helped me decorate the store, so it really was a labor of love.

[Leslie Heaney]

Oh, that is so awesome. That's super exciting and really gratifying, particularly because you have this long family relationship with. With the island.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

We have a house in Monomoy growing up, so it was. It's just always been a place that is so near and dear to my heart. And now we bring our children to the island, so it's just the best.

[Leslie Heaney]

All right, let's talk. Well, since we're going to do. Do the Nantucket Deep Dive, I think probably people who are thinking about going, the first thing they might want to know from you and sort of like an insider. Insider tip or hacks is like, what's the fastest or easiest way or your most preferred way of getting there?

[Ashley McCormick]

Of getting there. Yeah. Well, I am old school and a lot of people will disagree with me, but I love to drive to Hyannis and take the ferry. We did that growing up, and it's, like, ceremonial for me. So I think a lot of people might hear that and roll their eyes because obviously it's so easy to fly. It's much easier to fly, but it really depends. Next week, I'm going to the island for Nantucket by Design. I'm in Greenwich right now, so I will fly from Westchester. That's such an easy flight. But, you know, if we're gearing up for a week with the whole family, we'll. We'll drive. We load our cars, we take the ferry and. And that's. That's that. That's how we got here.

[Leslie Heaney]

And you have to make a reservation. Right. For the car piece, which.

[Ashley McCormick]

Oh, yes, you have to do that far in advance way and sells out. Yeah. You've got to mark your calendar for, you know, when those reservations open up. But sometimes we'll leave cars and just take the ferry. You know, it depends. It's a whole variety of, like, what you can what ferry reservation you can get. And there aren't many boats that take the cars across. And it's. It's limited. Everything's limited.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah. And I also think, in my experience that the plane game is not always. Because you can get fogged in very often. True.

[Ashley McCormick]

And on a very foggy. On a plane where there was so much fog, you could not see up from down from anywhere where you were. And it was. I kind of said, I'm never doing this again. But, I mean, there are so many ways. There's the C Street ferry that you can take from, I believe, New Bedford. I was going to say New Bedford.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah. New Bedford has one right, too, which is a little bit closer and less. Maybe a little less traffic than getting to Hyannis Port, depending on where you're driving from.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah. So there's a variety of ways to get to the island, but like I said, my sort of favorite is to drive to Hyannis and take the ferry.

[Leslie Heaney]

I love it. Okay, so you. You're on island now. You are not. Let's say you don't. You're not staying with a friend or you don't have a home there. What are some of your favorite places to stay?

[Ashley McCormick]

So great in house? I've been staying at a lot. I love it. It's kind of a dark, cozy little inn. It's right by the store. So I will stay there a lot when I'm doing little, you know, short, quick trips. The White Elephant is great. The Faraway is cute. The Wahwinnit is beautiful, timeless, classic. A little bit farther away. Just depends, you know, what kind of Nantucket experience you're looking for.

[Leslie Heaney]

Right. If you want to be kind of in town or having more of a. What kind of resort experience where there's a pool and things like that. Like, you'd want to figure out what you're. What you're looking for and then isn't. Is it the summer house in Madikat? Is. Does that have rooms? Is that a place?

[Ashley McCormick]

Summer house in Sconsa has tiny little cottages. I've never seen them. They're really tiny, but they're adorable.

[Leslie Heaney]

Well, a friend of mine got married. A very close friend of mine got married there years ago, and that's where we. Oh, we maybe we stayed in an inn, remember, that they had. And I didn't know if, you know, if that's a. Still a fun place to sort of be, but that is.

[Ashley McCormick]

I love. I love going there for dinner. I love the summer house for dinner. I have not stayed at the summer house, but I'm sure it's lovely.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay. So you've got your in town spots and the White Elephant is kind of the.

[Ashley McCormick]

That's a great spot.

[Leslie Heaney]

That's sort of. Yeah. And that's kind of right there in town too. But it also has maybe some more amenities. Like it has a restaurant than some of the smaller restaurant.

[Ashley McCormick]

It's got a pool. It also has the residences, which are sort of like standalone rooms. Yeah. So White Elephant is a great choice too.

[Leslie Heaney]

All right, so you're staying there or wherever you're staying and you looking for a place? I want to talk restaurants with you and I know there's so many options. Yeah. Maybe like starting with like classics that you couldn't. You wouldn't want to miss. Like if it was your first time coming to Nantucket or you had a great friend that was coming and said, where do I have to go? Or where is a classic place in Nantucket to go? What would be your recommendation?

[Ashley McCormick]

So my favorite is Ventuno. Love Ventuno. I think it has the best kitchen on the island. The back bar sort of gets lively later in the night. So that's a super fun spot. I love crew, which used to be the rope walk back in the day. That's so beautiful for. I love having a glass of rose at the bar there. Looking out at the harbor, all the boats. American Seasons is another amazing restaurant we love. What else? Gosh, there are so many.

[Leslie Heaney]

What about like the breakfast spot? You're get. You're getting up. You want to go get like a greasy spoon breakfast or like a really.

[Ashley McCormick]

Good breakfast island Kitchen is good. Lemon press is good. I'm always at the Hub. You'll find me at the Hub, getting my, my coffee in the morning. I'm actually not a huge breakfast person, but I'm a big coffee.

[Leslie Heaney]

Coffee person. Is the hub, like the place to go on the. On the coffee front for me.

[Ashley McCormick]

For me, it's the place to go for coffee. Yes.

[Leslie Heaney]

And then lunch spots. I love that sandwich, like the sandwich place. Something natural, I think is really fun, right?

[Ashley McCormick]

Something natural is classic. Fresh is really good. I love fresh provisions. Is amazing. We love to go to Bartlett's Farm and kind of get tomatoes and lettuce and cold cuts and Portuguese bread. Something natural and make our own sandwiches and kind of make a picnic and go to ladies crew. Again, is fun for lunch.

[Leslie Heaney]

And ladies is a beach just for people, right?

[Ashley McCormick]

Ladies is a beach.

[Leslie Heaney]

No, no, we're definitely. We're going to do a deep dive.

[Ashley McCormick]

On the beach ladies is my favorite. That's my favorite beach. The Galley is really great for lunch also, obviously, you know, for dinner and cocktails at sunset.

[Leslie Heaney]

You mentioned the summer house for. I think for cocktails. Oh, for dinner. Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

What about Toppers at Wawinit is beautiful. And having cocktails on the lawn there is quite an experience.

[Leslie Heaney]

There was some place that I went a few years ago that was kind of in the sand on the beach and it was kind of casual. Sandbar, maybe it was sandbar. Is that good? It wasn't. I don't know. It was. The food wasn't sort of great. But we had younger. We had kids with us or kids.

[Ashley McCormick]

Sandbar is awesome.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

Actually amazing.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

Really good food. Yeah. So that's kind of like a little bit more down and dirty. I mean, you could kind of like be on the beach and go in for lunch. You can even go for dinner. I think they close at like 7, so it's kind of like an early dinner with kids.

[Leslie Heaney]

That's what I think we did was like early dinner with kids and they kind of ran on den. But I thought it was a cool, you know, listen for. You'll do anything when you have young kids to kind of have them. Definitely you can have a cocktail, but still easy.

[Ashley McCormick]

They have picnic table. They have live music. That's a. That's a great option when you're with kids.

[Leslie Heaney]

Any other cocktail spots that you. That you feel like are fun, like the boat thing. Sister ship.

[Ashley McCormick]

Sister ship is great.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

Far away hotel. So I mentioned galley crew. Ventuno.

[Leslie Heaney]

And then speaking of cocktails, but putting a little twist on it, no pun intended. There's. What's the place? You're going to know it. It's where all. The Chicken Box is A chicken box. The Chicken Box where there's like. Is that. It's like there's a stage and there's like. Right. Live music.

[Ashley McCormick]

And they had an era ago when I was at the Chicken Box. But fun to hear that you were there for 50th.

[Leslie Heaney]

I think it was like a sort of a retro moment there.

[Ashley McCormick]

Maybe not suddenly like college kids are going to Kitchen Box.

[Leslie Heaney]

Don't they have live music there for like.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, they have live music.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah.

[Ashley McCormick]

Oh, Cisco Brewery is another fun one. Oh, Cisco Brewery music.

[Leslie Heaney]

And then you mentioned that Bartlett's Farm. Are there any farmers markets or farm stands or things that like that or. That's kind of the go to place for things.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, there are some little farm stands. But for. For me, like, Bartlett's is kind of the place to go.

[Leslie Heaney]

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[Ashley McCormick]

Ladies is sort of like by Cisco by Bartlett's Farm. So you take Hummock Pond Road to get there.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay. And any other faves on the like what is it about ladies that you love the most?

[Ashley McCormick]

For me it's just my favorite. I love the Dunes. It doesn't get too busy. So don't tell. I hope not too many of you busy.

[Leslie Heaney]

Maybe that's that is. You know I was interviewing this other friend about about this summer series and she was giving her antiquing spots and she's like oh geez, I don't know if I want.

[Ashley McCormick]

I know like don't tell too many people like reveal.

[Leslie Heaney]

You know the ladies reveal.

[Ashley McCormick]

For me driving to ladies like the path. I actually had A little painting done of that beach path. And I mentioned earlier when we were chatting before we started that Claiborne Swanson Frank is a great friend in common.

[Leslie Heaney]

To you as well.

[Ashley McCormick]

She has shot campaigns for us and we have shot on that path to ladies beach. It's just so special to me. But I love kind of the lead up to getting to the beach there and like I said the dunes and just everything about it. I love it. Not too busy and then let's see what other beaches.

[Leslie Heaney]

But what about for beaches when you go? Because it is kind of a. You have to plan, right. You're not journey.

[Ashley McCormick]

It's a journey, right? Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

There's air out of the tires. There's also. Do you need the beach passes? Am I getting this right?

[Ashley McCormick]

In certain cars or certain beaches you do ladies, you're not driving onto the beach but there are beaches like Great point which is that's where you're going to let the air out of your tires.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

And get the sticker. No deer is another drive your car on. Like that's the beach where I went as a teenager all the time. So yeah. So you don't need that, that sticker for all the beaches. But I'm sure there's like a, you know, you can search it, search it.

[Leslie Heaney]

All online and like and find what.

[Ashley McCormick]

Beaches you know require where you can drive on and require the sticker.

[Leslie Heaney]

So the other thing about Nantucket in my experience which is very limited compared to yours obviously but bikes, there's a lot of bike paths, bike riding. Right. I feel like you can and I think you can probably rent bikes, right. If you want or mix the hotels. Yeah, absolutely.

[Ashley McCormick]

So you can rent bikes right as you get off the ferry steamship. There's a ton of bike shops right there. You can bike anywhere and everywhere on Nantucket pretty much. There are bike paths all over. Take the Milestone road. You can bike to Sconset or the Pulpis bike path is really beautiful. So yeah, it's definitely very bike friendly. Kids, adults, every age you're on bikes. Our kids are on bikes the whole time.

[Leslie Heaney]

And are there like hikes or walks that you love doing?

[Ashley McCormick]

Honestly like myself don't do too many hikes on Nantucket but I have friends that love to do that. Kind of like near off of a cliff road. There are definitely some hiking trails that you can take but I'm generally like on a bike or at the beach or at ladies.

[Leslie Heaney]

You're at ladies. We've just exposed you as a ladies lover.

[Ashley McCormick]

Ladies.

[Leslie Heaney]

So we mentioned sandbar but there's also for people that have young kids, there's Children's Beach. Right?

[Ashley McCormick]

Children's beach, yeah. And that has a playground. So that's for, like, really little kids. Right. So my little list, Serena is two right now. So we're like, at Children's beach a lot. They've got a playground with swings and very shallow water that you can, you know, easily kind of bring a baby by.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think there's like. Is there a coffee shop where there's a place like, right next to it.

[Ashley McCormick]

Right. There's a little spot where you can order some food and drinks.

[Leslie Heaney]

What about things like ice cream? Like, is there the kids. The kids conversation reminded me of that. Is there like a favorite ice cream?

[Ashley McCormick]

If you talk to our kids, there's one place and one place only, and that's the juice bar.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

So that's where we go. It's also ceremonial. You have to have get to the island and have your first juice bar within the first 24 or 48 hours, for sure.

[Leslie Heaney]

Oh, that's awesome. Now remind me, isn't there a. So I want to talk stores too, obviously. Asha's. Yeah, one of your favorite stores. But other stores that are your favorites. And I think you reminded me of it when we're talking about ice cream. But isn't there like a old hardware store or like, that has like, not hardware store, but more like the pharmacy.

[Ashley McCormick]

The pharmacy.

[Leslie Heaney]

Pharmacy, yes, exactly. That's what I'm thinking of.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, you can order like an ice cream or a milkshake there. It's totally old school. And my favorite shops are honestly, like the old, tried and true, like Murray's Togglery, where you can get your Nantucket reds. Love the pharmacy. Love the looms. Nantucket Looms. They make these gorgeous mohair and cashmere blankets that are just absolutely beautiful. We have them in our home in Connecticut. Alice Walk is our neighborhood. Right on Federal Street.

[Leslie Heaney]

Is Alice Walk a clothing store or a clothing.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, clothing.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

And then Sylvia's Antiques is. Is amazing for lightship baskets. They have vintage ones. They have new ones. That's one of my favorite spots, too.

[Leslie Heaney]

And then any sort of other, you know, art galleries or sort of favorite spots that you love to visit that would be fun for people to kind of browse.

[Ashley McCormick]

There are little art gallery sort of all around. I love the Whaling Museum.

[Leslie Heaney]

Such a great place to go on.

[Ashley McCormick]

Like a Gray lady day when it's gray and rainy. Gray lady, as they call it, call her the light saving museum is Also another great place to take kids. I mean, honestly, anyone of any age.

[Leslie Heaney]

I'm sorry. Ashley said the life. Life saving.

[Ashley McCormick]

The Life Saving museum on the Pulpis Road is beautiful. The location itself is gorgeous, and you can bike there. And then also, you know, the inside of the museum is.

[Leslie Heaney]

So what does it have. When you say life saving, is it sort of.

[Ashley McCormick]

It really kind of goes into the history of lighthouses and, like, the rescue boats.

[Leslie Heaney]

That's what I was thinking.

[Ashley McCormick]

The history of.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah, of that. Well, it kind of makes sense because of the history of Nantucket as a whaling.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, well, the history of Nantucket itself, you know, with the whaling history is just so fascinating. And the Whaling Museum, to me is just one of the coolest places. And you can learn all about, you know, the captains, you know, voyaging out to go whaling. And I always tell friends, take your kids, because there's this sort of fascinating, horrifying part of the history where they would take a young child out to sea on these whaling expeditions because that young child could actually fit in the mouth of the sperm whale to access the oil, you know, that they were harvesting.

[Leslie Heaney]

Are you serious?

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

Was that sort of like a kamikaze mission? Did the child get out?

[Ashley McCormick]

I mean, it's wild that that actually happened and that it's part of their history. But it's fascinating nonetheless, you know, the whole history of the captains and the whaling and all of that, for me, I think it's so interesting, and I think kids love it, too. So the Whaling Museum is definitely at the top of the list for a rainy day.

[Leslie Heaney]

Oh, for sure. And so you reminded me to ask about this as we're talking about whaling and stuff, but boats and boating, do people go out on boats a lot? Is there a place to rent boats or fishing, anything like that?

[Ashley McCormick]

Definitely. So my husband is a big fisherman and my stepson, and they love to do charters with Captain Corey. Write that down. Captain Corey, he's one of the best.

[Leslie Heaney]

I have to tell you, I feel like I've heard of Captain Corey, and.

[Ashley McCormick]

I don't know why you might have. He's great. So they'll go out of Matica and do fishing charters and then you can charter boats. We actually are chartering, or we did for our photo shoot and are chartering again for a little cocktail cruise endeavor, which is a beautiful vintage sailboat. But there's. There are definitely, like, many ways to get out on the water, and it's. I highly recommend it.

[Leslie Heaney]

There's also some surfing In Nantucket too. Right? Are there some beaches?

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, there's a. There's surf school. A lot of surfing on Cisco Beach.

[Leslie Heaney]

Right. You know, and one of my very best and oldest friends and my godson is on Nantucket right now. So I'm watching him on Instagram and he's bird watching. He's a bit into birdwatching and they have a whole. And apparently that's I guess, something to do.

[Ashley McCormick]

I didn't know about the bird watching, but hey, Tom's great.

[Leslie Heaney]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm like, does he have binoculars? He's bird watching. Bird watching. So I know the Nantucket Film Festival, I think was earlier this summer or there was some event around it with the 50th anniversary of JAWS. This is again, I'm getting all my information from Instagram, so I think, I think that's correct. And is that something that happens every year and any other like, interesting. Some fun summer events that you.

[Ashley McCormick]

Film festival I believe happens every year by Design is coming up. That's next week and I'll be there for that for the first time. So I'm super excited. We're actually. Miranda is co hosting a little cocktail party in our new store.

[Leslie Heaney]

That's awesome.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah, we're. We're sponsoring or co sponsoring a panel moderated by Veranda with some amazing decorators like Caroline Gadir. Martha Stewart is a keynote speaker. So a lot of exciting things around Nantucket by Design. Boston Pops is a big, you know, annual event on the island. And I mean there's scroll best to savor.

[Leslie Heaney]

Ashley, isn't there a wine thing like in May or something? Or a wine weekend? Am I getting this?

[Ashley McCormick]

There's a wine festival in May. There's Daffy Weekend in April. There are so many fun, fun events.

[Leslie Heaney]

So what is, what is Daffy Weekend?

[Ashley McCormick]

Daffy is sort of the kickoff to the season. It's Daffodil weekend.

[Leslie Heaney]

Oh, daffodil. Okay.

[Ashley McCormick]

They call it Daffy. Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

And you know, when we were talking about walks, I just think is so beautiful about Nantucket and we talked about its history, of whaling history. Are these old houses like these beautiful houses just in the downtown area?

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

Of Nantucket sort of doing those, walking those cobblestone streets. Are there any streets that you think are kind of must see or have sort of special. These are things. Yeah.

[Ashley McCormick]

Well, Main street, you know, some of those gorgeous federal style houses that belong to some of the captains. Those are quite beautiful and stunning. And you know, you can take the side streets like Orange street and Milk street and those are charming houses. I mean honestly, you can just get lost and just walk around and be surprised at the beauty around every corner.

[Leslie Heaney]

I know. It is so beautiful. It really is so beautiful.

[Ashley McCormick]

So the concept you mentioned, walking, walk and walking around Sconcet and seeing all of those tiny cottages, you know, that date back to the 1800s. My, my dad actually used to summer in some of those tiny cottages in the 50s.

[Leslie Heaney]

I just saw Peter Pennoyer who has been on the podcast was posting, he's out in Nantucket maybe it was last week and he was featuring some of those old fishermen cottages and just talking about the history of them. And I guess they were used as kind of shelter shelters for the fishermen out in Sconset who would go just in the fall and the spring just to kind of the weather turned. But now they've obviously become houses and people have added to them and it was interesting. He gave a little, A little backgrounder on that that they were originally fascinating.

[Ashley McCormick]

And they're just so charming and a lot of them are rose covered. They're just beautiful to behold and tiny. You can't even believe people like really stay in them or live in them because the ceiling height must be, I don't know, six feet or you know, they're tiny.

[Leslie Heaney]

It is sort of like a Frodo.

[Ashley McCormick]

Higher than six feet but they're tiny.

[Leslie Heaney]

Some Frodo Baggins houses out there for sure. So we talked about the Chicken Box which might be retro. That might be like saying you're going to Dorian's in New York. But what any other kind of fun places for like a drink after dinner or like is there any bar people go to later or any kind of nightlife situation?

[Ashley McCormick]

So I'm probably the worst person to ask about like late night spots. But like I said, Ventuno Back bar is probably like one of our favorite places to go. There is a place, and I'm forgetting the name where they have like live music and it's kind of super lively at night in town. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

[Leslie Heaney]

Isn't there a place. Is it shaped like a train car? Again, this must be. This might be like a door.

[Ashley McCormick]

I mean that's a fun spot. Oh, but you know, also Street Wharf is fun.

[Leslie Heaney]

Okay. Like down downtown.

[Ashley McCormick]

Yeah.

[Leslie Heaney]

Anything else that like is your favorite thing about Nantucket or like a little secret thing or a place or. Or a berry picking or a. Anything that's sort of. That we didn't cover. That's one of when you Go every summer that you kind of look forward to doing? Yeah.

[Ashley McCormick]

Gosh, I feel like I cover kind of most of my favorites, but I just, in general, love how you can wake up on Nantucket and kind of be in a sweatshirt. It can be crisp in the morning, and then by afternoon, you've got that, like, sunlight, and you're biking to. While I'm biking to ladies, we're probably driving to ladies, you know, with our sandwiches from Fresh or from Bartlett's and dipping in that freezing cold ocean and then, you know, drying off in that. In that humid heat and then, you know, getting home, showering and, like, either getting ready to barbecue at home if we're, you know, in a house. Oh, Nantucket Meat and Fish is. Is awesome. That's a great place if you're, you know, in a house or renting a house and you're grilling at night. Nantucket Meat and fish is incredible.

[Leslie Heaney]

Any other markets for shopping? I'm glad you brought that up, because I didn't ask about that.

[Ashley McCormick]

Barlett's and Nantucket Meat Fish are our favorites, for sure.

[Leslie Heaney]

So you've opened this store in Nantucket. Tell us, what's next for Asha. What do we have on the horizon? It's so exciting how you're expanding into all of these new areas and categories, and everything you're doing is just so beautiful and chic. And tell me, what are you thinking about? What's your next?

[Ashley McCormick]

What's next? So we're based in Greenwich. We opened our store in Palm beach last September and then just opened Nantucket, and we're experiencing just this tremendous, exciting growth. So I think, you know, maybe searching for other locations to. To open other stores. I'm sort of constantly trying to balance motherhood with. With work and that whole balance, but I think just continuing to do what we're doing and sort of expanding on that lifestyle brand and creating that experience for clients where they can sort of step into one of our spaces and really understand the brand and the brand values and just bringing the aesthetic to life.

[Leslie Heaney]

Well, I can't wait to see what you do next. I can't wait. I'm hoping I can get a Nantucket visit in this summer. I try to every year because it is one of my favorite places on earth. But as you've learned from this conversation, it sounds like I go to the same old haunts. So I'm so glad I've got some new same recommendations from you, and I can't wait to see the new store and just really grateful to you. For time, I'm sure. I mean, what's not to love? Now that I'm up in Millbrook, I'm going to see if I can go down to the Greenwich store. I was going to go see some friends there for lunch, but I'd love to do that too. And just thank you so much, Ashley. It was so nice to meet you. So thank you. Leslie, Glad that you were on the pod and I'm excited for our listeners to learn about all of your favorite places and spots in Nantucket.

[Ashley McCormick]

Everybody has their own version of what they love about Nantucket, so I hope that this resonates with some of your listeners out there.

[Leslie Heaney]

I'm sure it will and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much Ashley.

[Ashley McCormick]

Thank you. Have a happy summer.

[Leslie Heaney]

That brings us to the end of this episode of the interview. Big, big thank you again to Ashley McCormick for joining. I really enjoyed talking to Ashley and learning about how Asha got started started. Also really enjoyed hearing about all of her favorite secret special spots on the island of Nantucket. Big thank you too to our sponsor, 10 Mile Distillery. 10 Mile has award winning whiskey and other delicious spirits. Be sure to check them out their website 10mile distillery.com and don't forget if you put the promo code the Interview in at checkout, you'll get 10% off. Also a shout out to our additional sponsor Cozy Earth who has the most luxurious temperature controlling sheets and pajamas and all kinds of apparel. Actually, be sure to check out their website cozyearth.com interview listeners get 40% off if they use the promo code the Interview at checkout. So be sure to take advantage of that. And thank you all listeners for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode about Nantucket. If you did, please rate or review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be releasing another episode of our summer series this Friday on Newport, Rhode island with the photographer and author Nick Mealy. So be sure to tune in for the Newport episode this Friday. And until Friday, this is Leslie and thanks so much for joining the interview.