What I Did Over Summer Vacation

Tues. afternoon, Uncle Tim's Bridge in Wellfleet.
 Jumpsuit, Lilly Pulitzer for Target.
Rainbow Loom bracelets by Nikki.

It was just three days and two nights on the Cape this week, but it was so much fun! We zipped up for a short trip because my brother Will was arriving today. [We're going again later this summer.]

Punchy and I went with our friends Anne and her daughter Nikki and even though I was down and out with a cold and NyQuil hangover til 1 p.m. one of those days, I rallied for the beach. Listen to all we sand-packed into that time, but not in a stressful way. My friend Anne is very easygoing. She even makes the house cleaning before departure not feel dreadful. She quietly sweeps and packs and moves it all along. Amazing.

• Hot Chocolate Sparrow! Our first stop; goes without saying. I had an Iced Mocha Sparrow. I remember the first time I ever had one; H. and I were taking one last dip in Great Pond with little Figgy one Sunday eve before trekking home to NJ after a week's vacation. It was almost 8 p.m.! He went for coffees and got me an Iced Mocha Sparrow. The rest is history. We got home after 1 a.m.  I think I had to be at work in NYC the next day.
• Great Pond! We parked at Jemima Pond and walked over. The girls swam; I rested a bit. They made jamwiches on paper plates on the bench by the bike rack, with Pepperidge Farm Harvest Wheat Crackers and Stonewall Kitchen Seedless Black Raspberry Jam, both purchased at Sam's Deli on Brackett Road.
• Mac's in Wellfleet! Ate around sunset at the picnic tables there. So. Lovely. I had a special linguine with bluefish and puttanesca sauce. Sounds a little out there, but it was tasty. Punch had fried clam strip plate, which was piled high and $10 cheaper than the fried whole-belly clam plate. She and Nik had Caesar salads, too, and bottles of orange-mango juice. Girls played down by the water.
• Coast Guard Beach. Lately it takes H. to prod me into the ocean, but Nikki and I went in and loved it. Oh, the unspoiled, pure Cape Cod National Seashore. No place else like it. However, the purple shark flag was flying from the lifeguard chair. It doesn't mean there were sharks, but that there can be. We did see a seal, and sharks like seals. Other Coast Guard jewels: Punchy and Nik played in the sand with two sweet German girls from Connecticut, and Anne, Nik, Punch and I drank in the view at the overlook by the Coast Guard Station and gazing out toward the marsh from the edge of the parking lot.
• Chatham. Yes, we even made it to the Candy Manor for a few treats [kid stuff for Punch and Nikki, dark chocolate covered orange peel for me] and to In the Pink, a Lilly Pulitzer store I love. I've gone so often over the years that I feel like I know the sales associate well. Didn't buy anything, though. We have to pay for H.'s teeth. Saw a nice consignment shop that had great rings, even one with real garnet for $33, but again--the teeth. Intend to go back to that shop again.
• The Scary Game. That's what the girls call it. H. and I used to play chase with little Figgy in the Cape Cod house, because you can run in a circle in and out of the kitchen; we three laughed so hard. Now, Anne and I play The Scary Game with the girls. We count to 20 and someone hides and then we find them. There are a lot of closets and spots to hide and we all shriek and laugh!!!!

The Wicked Oyster. 

• Wow, as usual: breakfast! But I had lobster! [We ordered just before breakfast ends at noon.] It was a big heap of tender, sweet meat, served with poached eggs over corn pudding; $16. Delicious, though the Hollandaise was a bit rich. I'm not complaining. The girls love the hash there; seems so old Cape Cod to have hash. And, as we typically do after breakfast at the Oyster, a walk over Uncle Tim's Bridge. Even Sug can join us on that--they have Mutt Mitts to keep the ground clean. 
  

It was short but sweet. My TCOY list was pretty brief but maybe not, since I got such a bad cold. I had to rest for some time, and rest is TCOY. I barely read, except when unable to sleep one night from 3:14 to 4:22 a.m., and I liked when Punchy read to me.

Sending love, and a postcard from the Cape.