By Leslie Linsley

Author of “Nantucket Island Living” (Monicelli)

June 2023

On Sunday, while driving around the island, I listened to an NPR program bemoaning the lost art of Victorian picnics with elaborately set tables and over-the-top courses of food. Full staff required! Not your pb&j variety picnic by a long shot! I began to imagine a new spin on picnicking, Downton Abbey style – without the fuss. 

In the Hardware Department, I bumped into Ciara McAuley, Marine’s Digital Marketing expert who designs the monthly newsletter. I shared my idea for a lavish picnic, and she was all over it. “Have you seen the Sophisti paper plates and napkins that look like linen?” she bubbled. “Perfect for an upscale picnic!” And off I went to Housewares where I was blown away. The sturdy plates, two sizes, simulate fine chinaware with elegant floral patterns, like hydrangeas on soft blue, or in rose pink with ruffled edges of gold leaf. Totally affordable to throw away or rinse off after the picnic! Forget paper cups! The solid plastic champagne and margherita glasses look like real glass. Perfect for poolside picnics. Add a pack of 24 colorful “looks like real” reusable and dishwasher safe flatware, and a beautifully shaped salad bowl with tossing spoons cleverly set into the wooden top. Put everything into a blue and white striped, waterproof Scout tote or a Yeti cooler. Grab a few Yeti cups for cold drinks and you’ve aced it. 

 An absolute MUST - the lightweight, On the Go flat top Blackstone grill has wheels for easy transport to any site. A bigger portable option, Weber’s propane 3 burner fold-up grill. A picnic at sunset on Madaket Beach anyone? Stay ‘til the end of the show and keep warm with The Ridge, an adorable little, portable fire pit by Blue Sky. The coolest (or warmest) invention ever!

Hint: June is Father’s Day month.

The following are some fun quotes about picnics you can share with your guests:

1.     Nothing is better than a picnic. 

2.     Unless you are at a picnic, life is no picnic. 

3.     You bring your own weather to a picnic.

4.     Life is a picnic on a precipice – W.H. Auden

5.     A picnic is a state of mind and can be made anywhere.

6.     Tea to the English is really a picnic outdoors.

7.     When all else fails, a picnic will cheer you up.

8.     If you have a picnic on a public site, placing a tuba in the middle of the table will insure privacy all around you. 

9.     Meghan Markle says, “I’m big on day dates. If you go for a walk, have a picnic lunch with a glass of wine, it doesn’t get better than that.

10.  And from Kate Winslet, “ I’m happiest in the whole world going on a picnic with my kids, partner or big family gatherings. Then I know I’m doing good.”

11.  He’s a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.

12.  A picnic is more than eating a meal. It is a pleasurable state of mind. 

So do it up right and have a Happy Picnic Day!