In which Massachusetts port town does Ishmael stay before going to Nantucket? He stays in New Bedford.
At the opening of Moby-Dick, Ishmael travels from Manhattan to New Bedford, Massachusetts, intending to continue to Nantucket and join a whaling voyage. He arrives on a Saturday night in December, after the packet boat to Nantucket has already sailed. With no further passage available until Monday, he must find lodging in New Bedford.
That delay leads him to the Spouter-Inn, where he is forced to share a bed with Queequeg, a Polynesian harpooner. Their initially alarming encounter becomes the beginning of one of the novel’s central friendships. The next day, they attend Father Mapple’s sermon and eventually travel together to Nantucket, where they sign aboard the Pequod.
A common mix-up comes from New Bedford’s importance in the novel. It was a major whaling center, and many whalers departed from there, but Ishmael specifically chooses a Nantucket ship and goes on to Nantucket before joining the Pequod.