Leaving the Cape Behind Again

The view from the path behind Coast Guard Beach at sunset Friday.

Old Coast Guard Station.

Dan on the bridge we love, which spans the marsh and meadow.

    

Don't look too close at these almost oldies.

Three nights/four days with Dan—in a motel near our (former) family house. We filled our hearts and souls with all the Cape we could fit. We rode the bike trail two days. Lapped up soft-serve vanilla with the best chocolate dip once (Hot Chocolate Sparrow). Early Bird Walk at Wellfleet Audubon. Sweet, tender lobster. Great Pond. Reading books. Naps.

Breathing deep. Feeling our age but also feeling the breeze. I see those two new parents biking over this bridge (pictured above) near sunset with a little red-haired girl on the tandem behind her Dad. Our knees weren’t stiff, and I was much slimmer, wearing a Gap khaki skort. Gray hair? No way. Later, I glimpse those same parents, tired but determined, with a younger, brunette girl who refuses to pose on the bridge for a photo except when making a face and wearing a red devil hairband. But her hair is streaked gold, proof of playful moments in the sun.

Oldness was not yet creeping in, or forgetfulness. And now we leave, but we shall return.

I’m posting this from the Amtrak waiting area in South Station, Boston. Beautiful train station. 

"Standing By Peaceful Waters"

This pretty little book was published in 1973. I picked it up and put it back a few times over the years in the Cape Cod gift shop--I can't remember if it was at the National Seashore Visitor Center or the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I've known their book inventories pretty well, with all that compounded vacation time to browse by peaceful waters. The colorful illustrated cover and the title called out to me, even if I never in my life make Beach Plum Jelly. I finally bought the soft cover one year and just rediscovered it on the bookshelves in my home office. 

With quiet time alone this week, I've been reading it. Wonderful work by Elizabeth Post Mirel (who had three young children at the time, including a baby) with graceful illustrations by Betty Fraser. I do want the kind of calm where I make a pocket of time to read Plum Crazy, because it evokes a place and a passion. Our long-time Cape Cod friends Rite and Bob picked beach plums. I don't know if I ever learned to recognize the fruit until now, but there may be some nearby here in Connecticut.

Sis flew to the Southwest (New Mexico) to travel with her Peace Corps friend and family and called on me to dog-sit her enchanting pup, Galena, for more than a week. I walk that girly at least three times a day, and never sleep past 8, because she doesn't.

I'm loving it. Sis still gets The New York Times paper edition delivered daily. I sat on the sofa drinking in the Sunday Styles section. I met my friend/magazine colleague Mary Kate, who lives nearby, for a lovely catch-up breakfast in Cos Cob (part of Greenwich). I went to Mass in Stamford, and then asked Google to find the nearest Whole Foods, so ended up in high-end Darien midday Sunday, where I felt like a fish out of moneyed water. Two striking blonde women (not together) wore little immaculate white pleated tennis skirts, in perfect contrast to their golden tans. They were coming from or going to the courts. Eyewear was on trend, as were baby carriers and the handsome young dads wearing them for weekend duty. Some branded local products (cacao pudding and whipped bath scrub) were tempting but both went the way of beautiful Ice Cream Tulip bulbs, named for their double ice-cream-cone like blooms, but over my budget. The children, for the most part, seemed well-mannered. The place was packed. Though the store was mostly stocked with the same products our Montclair Whole Foods carries, I felt an imbalance, shall we say, which I never feel in my diverse hometown.

Behold luscious Ice Cream Tulips. I want to add some to our spring garden. 

You can also find Strawberry Ice Cream Tulips (red) 

and Banana Ice Cream Tulips (yellow). 

If I revisit Darien Whole Foods, I will buy a bag of bulbs.

Galena and I have been marina-gazing here in Shippan Point, turning our faces to the birds flying over the harbor and crossing paths with baby deer and other dogs (Pluto, Milo, Bo, etc.). We went to a small beach and walked out on the fishing pier, which has evenly spaced holes in the railings to rest poles while prepping bait or waiting for a bite.

When we go out back on the short boardwalk path by tall feathery grass and a snow egret, Galena and I stop by the plaque that commemorates the trade between two chiefs of Onax Tribe No. 41, International Order of Red Men, and a white British captain in 1640 and memorialized for the city of Stamford in 1916. The original owners swapped this beauty for some coats, glasses, knives, kettles, wampum and a few other things. Read more about that here (excellent report by Chase Wright).

Harbors are calm, harbors are good, whether our paths are charted or uncharted. Which brings me to these beautiful lyrics from "Lake Marie," by John Prine, released in 1995:

We were standing

Standing by peaceful waters

Standing by peaceful waters.....

SPOKEN: Many years ago along the Illinois-Wisconsin Border

There was this Indian tribe

They found two babies in the woods

White babies

One of them was named Elizabeth

She was the fairer of the two

While the smaller and more fragile one was named Marie

Having never seen white girls before

And living on the two lakes known as the Twin Lakes

They named the larger and more beautiful Lake, Lake Elizabeth

And thus the smaller lake that was hidden from the highway

Became known forever as Lake Marie...

Onward now...

Correction: When I wrote this post on the fourth floor of the Shops at Hudson Yards in NYC yesterday, I put the wrong date for the tribal trade. It was 1640, not 1612. The plaque commemorates the original July 1, 1640 sale by American Indian Chiefs Ponus and Wascussue to British Capt. Nathaniel Turner, an agent for the New Haven Colony.

Cleaning House 🧽 🧽 🚿 🚿 & False Alarm

Last day, rub, scrub, dust, sweep up any sand at the family house, built in 1979. Shake the throw rug outdoors. (Sis did).

But not until after the two-hour Early Bird Walk 8 a.m. at the Sanctuary. So great. Purple Martins, Baltimore Orioles, Snowy Egrets, osprey nest, terns, ducks, willets, turkey vultures, painted turtles, frogs, fiddler crabs, beautiful marshland and sea grass. A wonderful naturalist leading us, young, enthusiastic and deeply smart David. As if on cue, there were moments I saw as Oh look, binoculars up, everyone in unison! David set up his scope on a tripod so we could take a close peek. So cool. And we had a couple all the way from Austria in our group of 12. The fellow had flown to the U.S. with his scope and tripod.

Meg did so much cleaning! Vacuuming, doing the whole bathroom. She was like a white tornado whipping through. Her husband, Greg, put the white lace Victorian curtains from Cape May back in place. (Fun-loving doggy, Galena, pulled at them when we left her in the house for dinner Monday.) Meg and Greg parted by noon for Vermont. 

Sis and I are still at it, Windexing, unloading last dishwasher load, taking off our bedsheets, vacuuming more, packing up fridge, hauling out garbage and recycling to dispose of in Connecticut vs. going to the dump here and paying, overstuffing the car, packing up doggy bed, mini crate, her food and other necessities. One of us (I) may have childishly overpacked. I should probably change that.

Great news, we talked to Will and still time to come up to house at least once again this summer, he said.

Hooray!

Drinking in Cape Cod Beauty & Joy

We left at 9 a.m. for the Sharks & Seals walk and talk at Coast Guard Beach, led by park ranger Valerie. It was everything we hoped it would be, and free of charge, of course, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore event schedule.

It started raining, we saw seals bobbing in the waves, Valerie passed around a shark's tooth and showed us a seal's skull (its sharp teeth can hurt when it bites). 

We met a lovely couple from England in the group, Patience and Simon, and discussed the merits of good English teatime. (Piping hot boiling water to brew the tea.) They live near the coast, the place you see in "Wicked Little Letters," that great English dark mystery comedy film Figgy and I took in last month at the Clairidge. It stars Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan and others, a stellar cast.

Greg, Sis, me and Meggy on Coast Guard Beach after the Sharks & Seals walk.

We went out to breakfast and lattes at The Whisk in Orleans, a first for us, and good. Then stopped by Nauset (as opposed to Nauset Light) Beach, to look for more seals but didn't find them in the misty rain. Back home to rest and read, play Wordle. 

For dinner, we drove to Chatham and Sis treated us all to a splurge dinner at The Impudent Oyster, a popular, longstanding restaurant that my brother Will and Kelly love. It's the kind of place with excellent whipped potatoes, good wine, ample helpings of steak au poivre and halibut. I had bouillabaisse (BOO-yə-BESS, -⁠BAYSS), a traditional fish soup, with steamed Wellfleet oysters, mussels, scallops, clams, shrimp and lobster, and a slice of garlic toast on top to dunk in the rich fish broth. The dish came with a lobster bib and metal cracker. I had to open the big claw to coax the meat from the bright orange shell. The bread and butter for the table was not as divine (or warmed?) as I remember from rare visits 20+ years ago, but.....

The restaurant is right near my beloved Lilly Pulitzer store, a shrine to pretty fashion and accessories, where I bought beautiful summer shift dresses for both of our little girls back when. And around the corner from the adorable Candy Manor, a fixture with its signature pink awning and hand-dipped chocolates, but both shops were closed for the night. We stopped by the little white lighthouse, which never closes, its beam spinning in the fog.

Then 30 minutes to drive back home on winding Route 28, past water views, charming houses with white picket fences and hydrangeas, two historic windmills.

It is never boring here. There is always something to see, hear, do, read or eat. Breezes. Birds calling. The Cape Cod Times (now $3 at the Superette in Eastham!). Fudge in square metal pans. Donuts people line up for. Shellfish. Cocktails. Souvenir sweatshirts, some quite soft and pretty. And people who live and work here, workers, teachers, contractors and women who stand behind counters in candy shops and banks. Summer help, college kids serving swirled frozen custard cones, rolling them in chocolate or rainbow sprinkles. The handsome, helpful young man at the bike shop who has been there 10 years.

Well, tomorrow we clean and lock up the house, but before that we rise at 7 a.m. to get ready for the Early Bird Walk at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, 8 to 10 a.m. Seems like things are going okay at home, and that is great progress compared to other years. I am much more relaxed being away with Dan at home. Fingers crossed, prayers in my heart.

I would like to write more but I want to rest.

More photos here. Good night.

Chatham Light, overlooking Chatham Bars Beach.

Sis at Nauset Beach.

Caped Wonders

We did a lot today, but this is dinner at Mac's in Wellfleet with Meg and Greg, 6:17 p.m.

I used to pack up my laptop and sit in my car in the dark, alone, in front of Ben & Jerry's or Dunkin' Donuts in North Eastham, near the Post Office, to get an internet signal and write a blog post every night on the Cape. Now I know how to set up a personal hotspot in the low-tech house using my iPhone and my MacBook. I can stay home and write.  

But I'm older now, and a good night's sleep is not just a requirement, but a treasured luxury. So I won't do long blog posts late at night when I should be dozing and dreaming.

We have kept busy, four of us in the house, all adults. It's really fun. For example, today:

• Beach and lighthouse gazing. Up early, drive to Nauset Light Beach on the National Seashore about 8:30 (before it officially opens in the morning, at least now, and a ranger checks you in at the booth, and you pay or show your pass) so that we can bring in Sis's puppy, Galena. In beach season, dogs can only go before or after closing (to lifeguard-protected areas).
• Back for breakfast. Greg made eggs and whole-grain toast, I had high-protein Bob's Red Mill oatmeal with berries. And lots of good hot coffee was poured. Meggy brought some java from Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea Co. in Waterbury. We sat around the table and talked and laughed, and planned what we really want to do before we head home Friday morning. Our lists included outdoor showers (Sis and me), birdwatching (all of us nature nerds), Nauset Beach to see seals, bike path, etc.
• Showers. I love how quickly you dry off in that fresh air outside.
• North Eastham Post Office. My mother loved it and so do I. I mailed something to my brother Will and will mail a postcard from there, too, probably to Figgy in her apartment. If those P.O. walls could talk...think of the decades and decades, the homemade fudge and Girl Scout Cookies sent to Vietnam, maybe? IDK. To soldiers in World War II? The care packages in padded envelopes that my friend and I mailed to our girls at Frost Valley YMCA camp. When Punchy was a baby, I sent out invitations to Dan's surprise 50th bday party from the North Eastham P.O. 
• Idle Times Bike Shop. We checked the rental prices ($30 from 9 a.m. one day until 5 p.m. the next day). I hope weather and time cooperate tomorrow.
• Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary! Ah yes, back to my favorite spot on earth. I think we were padding along the soft sand trails from about 1:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Green Heron, baby Baltimore Orioles in nest, giant green frogs in pond, birdsong, fiddler crabs, and memories of scrubby orange foxes, a muskrat, Snowy Egrets and tiny Fowler's Toads seen with my family when Dan and I and our girls (especially Figgy in tow), were much younger. The breeze, that beautiful breeze. Also, quick sweep of the gift shop to check the edit. No dogs allowed at the Audubon, because they would disturb the delicate sanctuary balance. So Sis didn't join us today but she will tomorrow (sans Galena) at Coast Guard Beach for Seals & Sharks walk and Friday for Early Bird Walk 8 to 10 a.m. at the Sanctuary.
• Mac's on the Pier in Wellfleet. Known for its fried whole belly clams and Wellfleet oysters and scallops, we beelined there because Greg likes to get fried clams once each Cape Cod trip. (So does Dan, generally, but he is home working and supervising Punchy who has school, God bless him.) Meggy had a lobster roll and I had famous Wellfleet oysters, lightly breaded and fried, not heavily battered. Plump, tender and sweet.
• Check in with Figgy and Punch. The former took the latter and her friend out for sushi in Montclair. That was nice. I asked Fig to check in tonight, because Dan was hired to write 60-Sec Novels at a party near Times Square, NYC. It's 11:27 p.m. and I hope he is back home by now.
• Hot Chocolate Sparrow. I planned my one ice cream/main treat of the trip--an ice cream cone dipped in the hot melted chocolate the Sparrow only offers in the summer months. I haven't gotten coffee there yet, but I def plan to by the car ride home, if Sis doesn't mind stopping. Peeked through the glass window to see a young woman tempering chocolate. Enjoyed seeing chocolate seashells, dogs, mice, cats, cell phones, most everything.
• Sunset at Great Pond with Sis and Galena. So beautiful. The sky looks almost bruised with colors but no, not bruised, just streaked with rainbow sherbet strokes over placid water. So pretty.

Thinking of Dad a lot up here, and Figgy, Dan and Punch, and our close friends and their three kids. Memories of coyotes, night fires on the beach, stars, ranger-led walks, my mother and the three weeks we spent here that first summer in 1980. (She died in May 1981.) I see my parents and their hopes and dreams all through the house. Their generosity, their gift. Will and Kelly say they are selling the house pronto. I can't yet fully face that and mourn. The Cape is in me, and I will be back, either off-season in hotels, when rates dip, or Airbnbs, etc. 

Good night. 

Hello from Cape Cod

Provincetown exploring today. 

I’m lying in bed, 9:30 p.m., ready to sleep, windows up, fresh air. TTY tomorrow. Wrote post on this mini iPhone screen and lost it. Xo Pls excuse typos.

Capers: A Note from North Eastham

Good morning from Cape Cod.

It is 10:38 a.m. on Monday and Dan and I plan to leave the house by noon. Already ran the dishwasher, folded the red plaid blankets, put the insulated Lilly Pulitzer cooler bag in the freezer so it's ready for our fridge unpack and the journey back to NJ.

I want to do a chart HERE vs. THERE but don't have time to format it since we have a lot more scuttling around to do--spritzing and spraying, sweeping and vacuuming.

The chart would have illustrated HERE joys like renting bikes from Idle Times Bike Shop in Eastham and THERE worries like Skipper refusing to get up for school while Figgy is holding down the fort. Or other stresses. Skip didn't want to come with us, and her school summer program runs through tomorrow anyway, and Figgy is working.

Dan and I have been gone four nights. 

• We biked (about six miles one way) on the bike path to the Hot Chocolate Sparrow. We were superhot under those helmets when we arrived. We each had our one ice cream of the trip. I got sugar-free coffee flavor with the Sparrow's exceptional chocolate dip--that melty dark coating that hardens on contact--only available in the summer. Dan got a soft-serve vanilla cone with the dip darkening the swirls and swoops.
• I did the 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Early Bird Walk program at the Audubon Friday morning. L.O.V.E.D. it. Ospreys, snowy egrets, purple martin, heron, turkeys, little shore birds. Also bullfrogs, green frogs ("like Kermit," a Boston walker said), and fiddler crabs. Great group of people and young leader.
• We had our bike rentals for 24 hours ($30 each). Yesterday we pedaled to Nauset Light Beach. Dan ran into the sea (61 degrees water temp).
• Dinner last night at Mac's on the Wellfleet Pier with our friends from NJ, who are here for the week. Yum. Bluefish, steamed local vegs, rice, (fried oyster plates for our friends and a jumbo lobster roll for Dan), then more talk back at our friends' cute rental house.

Today, we plan to go to the Audubon for another nature walk before joining the cars on Route 6 West for the 6- or 7-hour trek home. But first, we have to lock up the house.

Postcard to Self

Cap't Cass Seafood, Rock Harbor, Orleans. It closed during the pandemic; a new owner is remodeling it. Can't wait to get another clam roll. Photo by Meggy. Check capecodchronicle.com for "New Owner Eyes Spring Reopening For Cap’t Cass Restaurant."

The view from Salt Pond Visitor Center terrace. A tonic.

With Meggy at the Audubon.

Ornithologist James at the 8:30 a.m. bird banding program.

Highland Light, Truro. Photo by Meg.

Dear Present and Future Alice,

You had a great time this week. You drove to the Cape with Sis in her Connecticut car. As the promised land came closer, you looked for cranberry bogs to the right, on Route 6 East. Each mile driven was another measure away from drama and fear over teen struggles. You filled your lungs, unclenched your heart and breathed. Dan was good to hold down the fort for five days; school was in session.

Meg and Greg came from Vermont. You all took so many walks. You had two dinners at home (Meg made jambalaya and Sis, chicken with lemon, shallots and kale) and ate two dinners out. You enjoyed calm companionship and conversation.

You put your feet in the sea, let the water swirl around. You stood tall. Your gaze held steady on the horizon. You picked up a rock tumbled by the waves and a broken clam shell, souvenirs. Broken shells are better because they are real, like imperfect life. Jagged maybe, but still beautiful.

The pink and white salt spray roses smelled sweet. How resilient they are, how plucky. Blooming by the rugged sea, thriving by saltwater, churning and rough. Honeysuckle perfumed the air on the paths. You saw old touchstones from childhood. Coast Guard Beach. Salt Pond Visitor Center, with that hidden, unchanged museum. Scrimshaw and a whaling captain's top hat, recordings of Wampanoag stories, an empty wooden cradle, a primitive bicycle. Memories of Cape Codders gone by.

Now, home. You can't pour from an empty cup, the young DBT therapist, E., said this morning before starting a telehealth appointment with Punch. You had mentioned your time away, and E. had approved.

The bathroom mirror. You looked in the bathroom mirror up there on the Cape, where you have sought the truth and judged your beauty since age 19, when the house was new. Then, no makeup. Now, mandatory concealer and brow pencil. Mascara. Then, longer hair. Now, shorter, and colored. Skin crinkles. It's okay. It's all okay. The secret to beauty is accepting yourself.

You saw yourself there as a young mother and wife, with Dan and Figgy. All the things you did with them. Your short white nightgown with thin straps and scattered flowers, you turning the faucet, adding the bubbles, filling the tub for Fig so she could drift to sleep clean and fresh. Then Punch as a restless baby, never tired. Dad, of course. Friends and their children.

Already, less than 24 hours back home, the stress meter is up. Problems don't vanish. You're not saying that out of self-pity, or for sympathy, only out of self-truth. But you do not have to amp up the stress.

Remember your cup. Remember to fill it. 

Love, Alice, age 62

Selfie.

Ranger-led lecture on lobsters.

Meggy, dear friend and roommate from Douglass College, with her camera.

Sis looks good in that hat!

Cape Cod CliffsNotes

Sis on my bridge behind Coast Guard Beach.

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary--I have been the proud holder of a family membership for years.

The four of us--Sis, Meg, Greg and I--have covered a lot of ground since arriving Monday afternoon. Vermonters Meg and Greg don't know the Cape like we do. It's been fun showing them around, and revisiting these soothing sites ourselves.

• Coast Guard Beach (always and forever, though the entry path is new).
• The bridge over the marsh on the path behind Coast Guard--my favorite spot (scents of honeysuckle and beach roses along the way).
• Marconi Beach (tail end of sunset and then night sky).
• Nauset Light Beach (seals dipping in blue sea).
• Race Point Beach, Provincetown (edge of earth).
• Highland Lighthouse, Truro (Dad and I drove there with young Figgy when the light was carefully moved back to prevent eventual toppling into the sea).
• Provincetown proper (Black Dog shop, T-shirts, French bakery, street artist).
• Stop & Shop (the toaster vanished in our brother Will's last household sweep, so we bought a new one).
• Hot Chocolate Sparrow (just a quick look).
• Uncle Tim's Bridge, Wellfleet.
• Mac's on the Pier, Wellfleet (Greg's fried clam plate looked and smelled so good, but my grilled local sea scallops with rice and steamed vegs was also delicious).
• Cable Road, long walk to Nauset Light and back (stop at The Three Sisters Lighthouses along the way).
• Audubon, Audubon, Audubon, tying for favorite spot with bridge over marsh, above (Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary--whale bones, sandy paths, sea lavender, bird blind, fiddler crabs and their sandy hideaways).
• Village Green General Store, Brackett Road, North Eastham (milk, water, Ritz Fresh Stacks, Cabot cheese cuts).
• Shell gas station on Route 6 West.

I know that's a listicle, but...I am very grateful to be away on break, to breathe deep, laugh, get perspective. To distance myself from some drama and fear. To hear and see the ocean waves, to take off my shoes and walk on the uneven sand, uneven as life's path can be...to chat and laugh over breakfast and dinner, catch up, remember. To put on sandals and sunscreen. To realize, with a nod and a prayer, that Sis, my older sister, has some different memories than mine, even of family lighthouse and beach visits, stores and restaurants from girlhood. 

Everywhere we go up here, I remember being there with Dan, Figgy, Skippy, Sis, Don, Sugar, Buttercup, and our dear friends from Montclair. I hear their voices, I see their smiles. I remember our kids as babies, middle schoolers, older teens. I remember Dad and Mom and Aunt Edith, Rite and Bob and former neighbors Dot, Peggy and Joe.

I see graces on this sandy peninsula. Dan is managing home base with Skippy and didn't mind me going away for five days/four nights. 

I'm eager to do a little work now and then crack a book and read. Reading is mandatory to round out a Cape vacation.

Then, Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

A Dreamer and Her Big Santa-Size Sack of Books for Road Trips

Vintage magazines and recipe booklets are so enchanting--especially the holiday-themed ones. This Farm Journal is from 1966; my neighbor’s Mom saved it.

When I go on my New England overnight road trips--here to Cape Cod, or to visit our family in Maine, Meg and Greg in Vermont or Sis in Connecticut--I bring so many books. (I also brought several on the August 16 girls’ trip to Florida with Figgy, Florida Orange and Skipper, since we were driving there and back.)

It’s as if I think I can catch up on what I want to do in my life--read more--while I am away from home responsibilities for an overnight or longer. And when you drive--without any real baggage limitations or extra fees--it is easy to throw in another and another book.

Besides, I can’t predict if I will be in the mood to read about Cape Cod, page through a novel or learn more ways to tie a scarf.

It’s 10 p.m., and I changed into my red plaid flannel PJ bottoms and soft cotton top from The Salty Crown in Orleans. I would like to blog about Cape Cod now, but if I do, I won’t have read any of the pages in any of the books that I brought this time. 

We head home tomorrow. I’m choosing to read after tallying this list of books I brought. Eccentric to tote such a portable library? Maybe. Yes.

1. Cape Cod, Henry David Thoreau
2. 6 in a Ford, A Tale of a Nation-Wide Tour by a Family from Maine, Marion C. Holmes, gift from Dan found at old book shed in Maine
3. Trending into Maine, Kenneth Roberts, ditto
4. How to Tie a Scarf, 33 Styles
5. A softcover 12-Step book
6. A hardcover 12-Step book
7. A 12-Step dictionary to better understand the words
8. Own It: The Secret to Life, Diane von Furstenberg
9. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, Ruth Franklin, gift from Sis
10. Brave Enough, Cheryl Strayed, gift from Figgy
11. What Would Jackie Do?, Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway, gift from my neighbor
12. Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration
13. The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett, Kate’s copy lent to me (book group)
14. Girl Scouts Handbook, W.J. Hoxie, gift from Sis
15. Java Head, Joseph Hergesheimer, copyright 1946, chosen at little free library cabinet at Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters in Brewster today (IDK what the book is about yet but it’s a pretty vintage edition)
16. Race and the Cosmos, Barbara A. Holmes, from the same library box--I thought it might interest Dan
17. Waterproof guide: Tidepools of the North Atlantic
18. Waterproof guide: The Ultimate Guide to Shells of the New England Coast and Beach Life
19. The Care and Keeping of Friends
20. Drew, holiday issue of the magazine from Drew Barrymore, bought at CVS in Montclair

And oh! My neighbor Beth was just going through her mom’s belongings and knows I love cookbooks, recipe brochures etc. So this time, I slipped these cute old reads into my Lilly laptop case. Their vintage typefaces and photos!!!

• Recipes for Happy Holidays and Goodies for Giving
• Recipes with the Marshmallow Fluff Touch
• Betty Crocker’s Cakes Kids Love for Birthdays, Holidays, Any Day
• Martha Holme’s Holiday Recipes, from the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, 122 S. Michigan Avenue
• Farm Journal’s Christmas Book, copyright 1966

Thank you to Beth and her mom!

Good night.

Sunrise in Sandwich

Above: My college roommate Meggy brought her husband, Greg, and her tripod from Vermont. I’m so glad she thought of rising to see the sunrise. 

Other things we/I did today:

• Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters with Meggy. I had world’s best latte. Yum, so good. I had been to the Snowy Owl in Brewster, but the one here in Sandwich is bigger and better.
• Breakfast in Dan’l Webster Inn with Meg, Greg, Skipper. The latter had hash, which she learned to order up here on the Cape from her friend Nikki, who learned it from our friend Elly. This hash was made with prime rib!
• Beautiful walk with M, G and S on the boardwalk over the water and around the historic homes. Loved it. Over one hour. Unplugged, fresh. Deep breaths, fill soul.
• After I dropped Skippy off in Yarmouth to see her year-round Cape friend, and Meg and Greg broke away to see their friends who moved up here, I drove to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I stopped on the way at Mac’s Seafood Shack in Eastham and got kale salad and 1/4 pound of delicious steamed lobster with a little cup of melted butter. I asked where it was caught. It’s from Provincetown, the young man behind the counter said, in between shucking clams. Can’t get more local than that. It was indeed tender and sweet.
• Short walk at Wellfleet Bay. Quiet, calming, beautiful vista.
• Drove to Chatham to see “Spencer,” about Princess Diana. Heavy issues, no pun intended, but excellent. The food and fashion views and the thread of mystery, fascinating. The music, too. A real period piece.
• Came back and sat by fire in the inn lobby. Talked a long time to Ralph and Nancy, who were groundbreaking physicists and world travelers but now older and more limited. They had just eaten dinner in the tavern (prime rib for him, fresh tuna for her).
• Had long chat with Sis on phone.
• Tried to get on daily Zoom support group but couldn’t get into West Coast 9:30 p.m. meetings so figured that was a sign to take night off. Morning group tomorrow.
• Ready to rest!

Cape Cod Wish List--and My Teen Stocking Stuffers Story

No school tomorrow and Friday--the annual early November four-day weekend in Jersey for the teachers’ convention.

Ever since Figgy was little, I’ve loved stealing away to Cape Cod on this weekend for one last deep breath of ocean air, bird watching, wind, iced coffee, windmills and more before winter sets in. I liked taking the girl out of Montclair, out of normal life, out of suburbia and onto that beautiful Cape. Connecting with her on a deeper level, in nature. I hoped that the magical old place would fill her soul, and I tried to do it as often as was practical, whether Dan could join us or not. (This weekend, he has to work at two parties in NYC; #60SecondNovelist. The post-Covid party circuit is heating up.)

I think Cape Cod was a great gift to Figgy. I often recall the time Dan and I were walking near Great Island in Wellfleet with Fig, in her blue flowered fleece coat, and we saw a ravaged dead seal. She stood and stood, studying it on the way onto and off that sandy path. I turn this memory over carefully and with love, like a seashell I brought back from her childhood.

I pray for the Cape Cod gift for Skippy, too. She kicks up her heels about not wanting to walk at the Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary, but I usually win. Toads, turtles, egrets, fiddler crabs and more, depending on the season. But above all, quiet. Unplugged from our devices, if only for an hour.

This time, my Douglass College roommate and dear friend, Meg, and her husband, Greg, are driving from Stowe, Vermont to the Cape, too! (Their close Stowe friend, the pastor at their church, was reassigned to the Cape a few years ago and Meg and Greg will stay with him and his wife Friday and Saturday.) I can’t wait. Meg found the Dan’l Webster Inn, historic lodging in Sandwich. Rates are much lower off-season and the Harvest the Savings Package includes 20 percent off Sunday through Thursday nights, plus food and spa product vouchers. I’m also trying to get a writing assignment. We’ll see, to quote my Brooklyn friends Kim and F. 

Did I say I can’t wait?

It’s not just the destination, but also the journey, of course. The leaving behind thick traffic on Route 95 North; passing through Providence, Rhode Island; navigating the narrower Route 6 East. 

Here is what I hope to do. (I know Skippy can’t wait to spend time with her long-time pal, M., so some of this I will do alone when Meg and Greg break away.)

• Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to walk on those silent pine needle-paved paths at least twice.
• Hot Chocolate Sparrow for iced coffee twice.
• Mac’s Seafood Market in Eastham at least once to browse the grocery edit and maybe get steamed lobster and melted butter? (Avoiding white flour whenever possible, so skip the lobster roll.)
• Sandwich! Dan and I have been around there before, taking Figgy and our friends to see the super cool herring run over spring breaks. But I have not explored the whole village and it should be great! Meg speaks of an inlet and lighthouse. I read about a tea store/tea shop. Browsing is always fun.
• Eastham Superette, for old time’s sake; I remember it since age 4 I think.
• Reading, self-pampering, possibly a modest spa treatment like pedicure if possible.
• I also plan to attend an OA meeting every day on Zoom, from Thursday morning before departure through Sunday morning.

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On another topic, here is my Teen Stocking Stuffers Story. Skippy wants that Harry Potter Snitch Hot Chocolate Bomb, a last-minute edition to my list, and I plan to order soon...

https://www.rd.com/list/stocking-stuffers-for-teens/

Movie Under the Night Sky

Visit Wellfleet Cinemas for an old-fashioned drive-in movie 🎥 🍿 on the Cape. But the cost per carload used to be better. Tonight, it was $15 each for Skippy and me to see Disney’s "Jungle Cruise."  I love Emily Blunt and The Rock, but really, the movie was only okay. It was more about the memory of being at that same drive-in as the excited little sister in a family of six during the 1960s on Cape Cod. 

Good night.

Chickens in the Sea

The ocean temp at Nauset Light Beach--my favorite beach since girlhood--was 62 degrees.

It felt BRACING cold at first but once Skippy and I were in, we didn’t want to get out. Placid. We weren’t too far from a seal’s large, dark head, so after a while, I got out. Sharks like seals. (Skip had already retreated to the towel to “tan.”)

We biked there and back, over a rising hill on Cable Road.

I spent a lot of the afternoon and evening around Brewster, because Skippy’s close friend lives there (all year).

And my friend from Montclair drove up today.

Good night.

A Little Bit of Cape Cod in My Life

• We left Montclair about 11:30, by the time we packed many bags, Skipper watered our neighbors’ garden and we filled the gas tank. ⛽️ 
• We stopped in Old Saybrook, Connecticut for drinks and things to go with the turkey sandwiches we made.
• We hit bad rain in Massachusetts but not on the Cape proper.
• We stopped at Mac’s Seafood Market in North Eastham for dinner. Skip had the fried clam plate--we shared yummy kale salad. I had steamed, chilled lobster claw meat (one claw) with melted butter (lobster also shared--stingily--w Skip) and potato salad. Splurge.
• We drove to Nauset Light Beach 🏖 around 7 and stood in the parking lot above the sea. Many black seals and the accompanying warning for swimmers about Great White Sharks 🦈, which feed on the aforementioned.
• We unpacked the car, filled up the fridge with milk, veggies, chicken and yogurt, etc. and put fresh sheets on the beds. This is Camp Cape Cod, I joked to Skip, remembering how both she and Fig arrived at sleepaway camp as young girls and made up their beds. With the pandemic and for other reasons, Skippy hasn’t been back to sleepaway camp for maybe three years.
• Watched a movie. Off to sleep. Clammy weather. Gratitude.

Good nite. 🚙 🌊 🧳 👛 

Remembering Mom on My Journey

My parents on their New England honeymoon in 1951.  I love what they are wearing, and love seeing them in their late twenties.

Here is the story link:

https://alicegarbarinihurley.medium.com/recovery-story-36-queen-annes-lace-on-old-cape-cod-a63879866b9f

Whisked Away

I love my siblings. So if you happen to know my brother Will--who lives in NYC and doesn't read my blog--I guess please don't tell him that I didn't ask to stay in our family house that he and Kelly now own on the Cape.

It's just--they are very neat in their city apartment, and at the house. As you know, because I've written about it many times, when we leave the house on the Cape, we are expected to follow a whole list of cleaning steps. The older I get, and the more stressful my everyday life has gotten, the less willing I am to have that looming on the last day of vacation. It takes a whole day, by the time we haul out all the laundry and sheets (no washer and dryer there); clean the fridge (and I do mean clean it, not just empty it); sort all recyclables and haul to the dump with the trash; clean the bathroom, etc. etc.

My brother frowns on us hiring a cleaning service upon exit.

So when I zip up to the Cape for two or three nights, I'm not willing to take on that housework commitment. What's nice about going off-season is that room rates dip....and staying in an inn, hotel or Airbnb, I can just pack up my things and leave. That is so different and very restful.

Here's what I DID NOT have to do yesterday:

• Swab down fridge drawers with cleaning spray and paper towels.
• Pack up all of the groceries we bring back home, everything from ketchup to milk to eggs.
• Mop kitchen floor.
• Vacuum rugs.
• Clean window wells, which collect dirt up there.
• Dust wood furniture.
• Sweep up sand.
• Shake out throw rug.
• Urge Dan to get to the dump before it closes. (What would we do if we missed that? Too much trash and paper/glass/plastic to haul home to NJ. We would not have enough room in the car for ourselves, our luggage and our dog, Sugar.)
• Pack a zillion bags of things I brought up with me, including some cooking ingredients (such as pure vanilla extract); kitchen equipment (such as a cheese grater); clothing; beach towels and beach bags; several sunscreens, for variety;  journals; magazines; work folders; candles; beauty products; nature guides; magazines; stack of books; accessories; and CPAP machine.
• Gather from several rooms what I collected that trip on the Cape--stones, shells, pine cones, a jar of Cape Cod sea salt, a bag of coffee beans from the Hot Chocolate Sparrow--and maybe a speckled pink whale mug and a soft pink Eastham sweatshirt.
• Make sure all windows are locked, shades pulled halfway down (I'm serious).
• Mow lawn.
• Check refinished wood floors to be sure we cleaned up every spill and Sugar pee accident.

Have a good day.

Such Luxury of Time

I'm so happy my friend Anne and I took this girls' trip. I qualify this Anne as my friend because, well, IDK, but my Mom spelled her name Anne and Figgy's real name is Anne.

We spent about $125 each per night ($245 each, total), counting taxes and fees, for this Airbnb stay at the Rugosa Guest House in Eastham. I would highly recommend this place. In season, of course, the rates for this spacious suite would be higher. It includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a deep tub with water jets and a small deck with table and chairs. 

In early October, I received a press email from Gayle Conran of ConranPR regarding the "Annual Monumental Yard Sale" in Provincetown this weekend. Anne loves yard sales. I knew she would literally drive to the end of the earth to get to this one, and I was right. Ptown is where the land meets the sea.

Fun today:

• A morning shower with my Twilly d'Hermes Body Shower Cream.
• Coming across Sarah Kain Dresses on Commercial Street in Ptown! The designer upcycles fabrics...I bought a beautiful scarf (red velvet one side, mauve fabric the other, with fringe trim) and a dress she sewed from vintage denim.
• Good coffee.
• Pretty views.
• Nap.
• Walk along beach in Provincetown.
• Exploring the Jewelry Studio of Wellfleet. where two sisters polish their craft. Gorgeous silver and gold, sea glass, turquoise, miniature Wellfleet oyster charms. Browsing, just browsing.
• Checking out every T-shirt on God's green earth so Anne could get some for her husband and kids (and one for herself, which she loves, a Mac's Seafood one with a mask on the fish.) I didn't mind a bit. No rush, pure fun. Where Anne seeks out bargains and stylish tees, I seek out velvet scarves and vintage dresses.
• Chose cute gift for Figgy! at Utilities, a kitchen/home shop I will definitely revisit!!!!!!!!
• Steamed Chinese food for dinner. Lots of vegs.
• Continued chatfest with Anne.
• Lovely audio text from Punchy! Lovely calls and texts from Dan, Figgy, Sis. Even when we stray from home, it's nice to be grounded.

Good night. We head home tomorrow at noon. But Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary before that, and last stop at Hot Chocolate Sparrow!!!

This Is Why I Love Cape Cod--a story on Medium

 

5 Top Secrets of Cape Cod Beauty All Year Long

Alice Garbarini Hurley

Oct 9 · 3 min read

Now more than ever, wide open spaces mean so much. Follow this Cape Cod nature map, from the old bird blind to the the boardwalk that crosses over the salt marsh to the water’s edge. Image* from HERE.

1. Highway to heaven. The journey is a key part of the trip — there’s gold in those paths you ride to the Cape, leaving everyday life farther and farther behind in your rearview mirror. Look for cranberry bogs on Route 6 East, the big canal glittering under the Bourne Bridge, Cape Codspelled out in trimmed shrubbery when you land on the other side. Behold the rotaries (traffic circles). Point your car east for Provincetown, the very tip of the Cape, where the land meets the sea.
2. Old magic. My parents took a honeymoon road trip to the Cape from New York City in June 1951. Much of the sandy spot remains unchanged. Lighthouses that guided sea captains still dot the coast, though the beacons are now automated, and many have been moved back (very carefully) from perches on eroding dunes. Storybook windmills stand on village greens — one in Eastham dates to 1680. Are you into buried treasure? John F. Kennedy Jr. did a 1985 dive into the old Whydah shipwreck, a pirate vessel captained by badass Sam Bellamy. It went down in 1717, with all hands on deck (nearly 150 people), and a lot of silver and gold. Visit West Yarmouth or Ptown to see some of the loot.
3. Seaside history. Your car might hold five people holding modern devices, but you will pass historic highway signs (Entering Eastham, inc. 1651) and houses where oceangoing whalers once lived. My husband, Dan, even stumbled upon an ancient tree bearing rare snow-white apples behind the Captain Penniman House, built by a famous whaler in 1868. We hoisted our girl, age 12, up in our arms to search for the elusive fruit.
4. Nature walks. About 150 years back, the land at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was farmed for turnips, asparagus and salt hay — now walk its quiet, pine needle-padded trails, looking for turtles and frogs in the ponds. Marconi Beach, with a sweeping view of the Outer Cape, has a trail that feels prehistoric, slicing through a stunted oak and pine forest and the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp.
5. Timely and timeless conveniences. Remote as it is, the Cape’s WiFi is now up to speed. But you can still order “slow” food — old-fashioned cranberry walnut kettle fudge, for example — on your fast smartphone and pick it up at the Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans. Or, as Patti Page sang in “Old Cape Cod,” her 1957 golden hit, “If you like the taste of a lobster stew, served by a window with an ocean view,” sit down at a restaurant (or a seafood shack, for a warm lobster roll).

*I wish I knew the name of the talented mapmaker--that's my beloved Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary pictured above--so I could credit her or him. If you know, please LMK.

Please note: I had live links on the Medium story, but they didn't pop up here. For #2, check https://www.nps.gov/articles/whydah.htm. For #4, see  https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/wellfleet-bay/about/trails

Alice Garbarini Hurley first went with her family to Cape Cod at age 4, sitting between her parents in a white Ford Falcon while her three older siblings were squished in the back seat. Her writing has appeared in Coastal Living, InStyle and Good Housekeeping. She has blogged daily for more than 10 years at Truth and Beauty.

• Cape Cod
• Massachusetts
• Family
• Nature
• Nature Trails