“Stranger, if you would visit one of the most pleasant and delightful watering places in the world, seat yourself in the cars, be landed in Lynn, take passage in one of the stages that leave almost hourly, and when deposited in Nahant – take your Guide’s word for it – you will bless you stars, and thank him…

Here, isolated from the noise, and heat, and bustle of the city, you may wander by the hour on the rocks, and watch the liquid chisel of the sea at its unwearied task upon the blue and slaty substance of the crags. Atom by atom they yield to muscular swing of the billows, worn and polished by their frothy edges – the toughest creation conquered by the softest, and the noise of this constant sculpture is the music of the world.

The rocks are torn into such varieties of form, and the beaches are so hard and smooth, that all the beauty of wave motion and the whole gamut of ocean eloquence are offered here to the eye and ear. All the loveliness and majesty of the ocean are displayed around the jagged and savage-browed cliffs of Nahant.

This narrow promontory, which runs out from Lynn Beach, is crowned with charming gardens, cottages, and villas, and rests like an emerald in its sparkling and fretted framework of brilliants. While the rocks present every variety of color, the cliffs are pierced by fissures, caverns, and grottoes so numerous that the visitor stands in awe; and the shell-crowned beaches of shining, silvery sand are so smooth and hard that they take no impress of the steed’s hoof or the rolling wheel.

Nearby is the Steamboat Wharf, where the trim Nelly Baker lies. It were impossible to describe all objects worthy of notice, but having named the most prominent, we will retire to the Nahant House. This is probably the largest hotel in America; the carpeted floors cover an area of nearly four acres; nine miles of wire are required to connect the balls with the annunciator; and the whole of this immense establishment is lighted with gas manufactured on the premises. Upon the first floor are the drawing rooms, reception parlors, offices, reading room, dining hall, and private dining parlors.

Sailing parties and chowder picnics are furnished with first class yachts, thoroughly manned. And when tired with the day’s sport, we return, sweet music from the Germania band soon drives dull care away, or we may seek enjoyment in the concerts, hops, and theatricals that follow each other in gay succession.

The Menu on August 28, 1856

After enjoying the sights and sounds of Nahant and retiring to The Nahant Hotel, you might want to avail yourself of the dining room services where, according to the menu, the following rules apply:

Gentlemen having friends to dine, will please give notice at the office. Meals sent to rooms will be charged extra. Children occupying seats at the table will be charged full price. Dinner for children and nurses from 1 – 1 ½. Breakfast from 6 ½ to 10 o’clock, Tea, 6 ½ to 9 o’clock, Supper, 9 to 12 o’clock.

Items on the dinner menu would include: Soup – Vermicelli or Fish Chowder; Fish – Boiled Codfish or Baked Haddock; Boiled – Turkey and Oysters or Leg Mutton with Caper Sauce; Cold dishes – Lobster, Ham, Tongue, Pressed Corned Beef; with side dishes – Boiled Rice, Currie of Lamb, Timbal of Macaroni, Chickens a la Tartare, Calf’s head with Turtle Sauce, Lobster Baked on Shell, and much more. You could order roasted Beef, Lamb, Ham. Turkey, Chickens, or Ducks followed by Bird’s Nest Pudding (Laura Ingalls Wilder’s recipe perhaps), Whortlebery and Custard Pies, Charlotte Russe, and Kisses Confectionary. For dessert you could have raisins, pecan nuts, almonds, apples, pears, watermelons, English walnuts, or orange ice cream.

To complement all of the above, the menu offers a plethora of wines – Madeira, Port, Burgundy, Champagne, Claret, Sauterne, as well as Brandy, Liqueurs, and Porter and Ales. I should think one would need help removing themselves from the dining room after all of this, or simply roll out the door. Fortunately, there would be much to enjoy during an evening stroll around the Hotel property on East Point as you gaze upon a sunset or the evening stars making their entrance in the night sky. Whatever your desire in the summers of the 1850s, Nahant was the place to be….and still is.