After Two Great Weeks We Left Cape Cod

We sadness, we left Cape Cod to drive to Cooperstown.  We had a wonderful time on the Cape and cannot wait to go back.  There is no doubt that we will be back.  One highlight was Provincetown.  A lovely town, on the water, of course.  It is where the pilgrims first landed and they had a great museum (see pictures).  It was a particular thrill, since my great (nine times) grand-father was one of the passengers on the Mayflower (Samuel Fuller).  He was only 12 at the time.  And no trip to Provincetown would be complete without lobster sliders and gelato.  We decided that Cape Cod actually sells as much ice cream as Italy.  There is a local, home-made ice cream store about every two miles.  And, I have never seen so many home-made candy stores either!!!

Cape Cod

We spent our first week in a fantastic Bed and Breakfast--the English Garden in Dennis Port (not to be confused with Dennis, East Dennis, West Dennis or South Dennis).  Cape Codders are true to their English roots--almost every village has one or more counterparts (i.e. the above, as well as East Sandwich and West Sandwich; Falmouth, North Falmouth, West Falmouth and East Falmouth; Harwich, East Harwich and Harwich Port; Yarmouth, West Yarmouth, South Yarmouth and Yarmouth Port; etc.)  Trust me, there are lots more examples.  Just look at Cape Cod on google maps.  So-o-o-o-o, when you say where you live, you must be very specific!

Names aside, we have absolutely fallen in love with Cape Cod.  It is everything we had always thought it would be:  wonderful people, lovely houses and cottages, endless beaches and great sea food.  We have already consulted a rental agency about renting here every year--for at least a couple of months.  From everyone we have talked to, the best time would be mid-August to mid-October. 

After a week at the B&B, we moved into a two bedroom cottage--a short distance from the B&B and also right by the beach.  When we walked in, we did a double-take--it is so much like our place in Big Bear.  It even has the same paneling.  It has everything, including wifi, cable, a DVD player with lots of good movies and a washer/dryer.  Upon arrival, we put away our stuff and drove to the Trader Joe's to buy our week's worth of groceries.  There is also a nice deck and gas barbeque--so we could grill.  It has been so nice having home cooked meals.  We will be here until Friday--when we go to Cooperstown.  Above are some pictures taken around Cape Cod.

We Have Started Our Walkabout

On September 2 (just hours before Penny and her Mom took off for Ireland) we finally got the last of our stuff into the two storage units.  We spent most of the summer culling through everything and then packing the remainder.  We had a new "rule of thumb" for retaining items.  Years from now, when David and Charlie were going through everything, would they look at said item and say:  "Oh, I am so glad they saved this," or "What the hell could they have been thinking saving this!!"  If it was the former, it went into storage.  If it was the latter, it went to the Salvation Army.  Let's just say that we will have a HUGE tax write-off this year.

The Walkabout actually started with Penny and Bruce going their separate ways.  Penny took her Mom on a trip to Ireland and Switzerland and Bruce spent the time with Debbie and Gary Gravier (cousins) in Sacramento and with Priscilla and Jon Schmidt (Penny's sister and husband) in Medford.  Bruce picked up Penny and Mom on their return on September 19.  We drove Mom back to Oregon and then came back to San Francisco to take the redeye to Boston on September 22.  Upon arrival in Boston, we took a cab to "our fair city" (for all you Car Talk fans), where we rented a car and immediately drove to Cape Cod.