Last Sunday, as the kids were packing their stuff in the car and preparing to drive home, Jessica sighed and said that this vacation had been the best one yet. That’s a big statement, considering that this was our 7th year renting this particular house in Mashpee. But you know, I think she may be right. We did some traditional things and some new things and it all added up to a terrific week.
The traditional stuff included several days spent lolling on the beach. These days were especially special this year because Kim and her family were vacationing on the very same beach that we were. Their house was just 2 blocks from ours and we got to spend lots of time with them, knitting, drinking, eating, chatting, watching the Patriots and more. As my kids would say: awesomesauce.
Also traditional for us was some shopping time. We hit The Christmas Tree Shop and Wings, strolled the shops of Hyannis with my dear college friend, Doreen, and wandered through Mashpee Commons. We ate at The Raw Bar, home of the gigantic lobster roll, drank margaritas with Doreen at Gringo’s, and had dinner at Bobby Byrne’s – although that was slightly less traditional since we left the kids at home and instead went with Kim & Ken and Terry & Pete, who also happened to be on Cape Cod for vacation last week. In keeping with tradition, most of our evenings were spent hanging around the house, playing Racko and Apples to Apples, eating yummy food and snacks, drinking Cape Cod beer and martinis, and just enjoying our daughters and our grandson – who, I must point out, was the biggest help ever this year. Go Patrick!
As for the non-traditional stuff, we went on a seal watch and that’s where the photo I posted yesterday came from. We traveled out to Monomoy Island aboard the Monomoy Island Ferry and we saw some adorable seals. We learned a lot about them from the captain and we also learned about protecting them from idiots in other boats – some people just have no clue – but that’s a story for another time. Before our seal watch we had fantastic sandwiches from Chatham Cookware and after our seal watch we stopped and enjoyed the view of the beach from Chatham Light. We finished up the afternoon with ice cream – my first all summer! – from Sundae School. We also visited Woods Hole for the first time and enjoyed walking the main street there. We had a yummy lunch on the water at The Captain Kidd.
You know me, though, it’s really all about the beach and we ended our vacation the way we began it – on the beach. The kids went home Sunday morning but Dale and I stayed until Monday and that last day was so perfect it was almost magical. We rode our bikes, we brought wine to the beach, we had a wonderful dinner, we played cards, and we talked and talked and talked. Don’t get me wrong, this is a family vacation and I love having our kids with us, but having time to ourselves pushed it over the edge and truly made it one of the best weeks ever.
And that’s why next year . . . we’re going for TWO weeks.
Sounds so relaxing!! And two weeks sounds even better!
From the look of your pictures and the sound of your descriptions it was truly a week made in heaven.
I”m glad you guys had such a great time! It makes it even more fun when you have friends staying nearby. I had my first Sundae School experience a few weeks ago. So delicious!
Cape Cod is on my list of long hoped to visit places. I need to come back to this post when I have time and make some notes. If I keep adding info, surely I’ll get there one day. Looks like you’ve done excellent scouting for me, based on all those smiles.
Two weeks…I don’t know if I would ever leave! My parents first dog was named Racko – they said she’d bark when they played the game and yelled Racko so that’s what they named her!
Two weeks sounds like heaven to me. So glad you had a nice time together as a family.
Awesomesauce….I love it! We really enjoyed our stay and even more because we got to spend some quality time with you and your family.
Ken has been chattering about 2 weeks as well and this is coming from a guy who does not love the beach..go figure.
One week with the whole family and one without…sounds perfect! Best of both worlds.
A two-week vacation is definitely more awesomesauce than one … and I’ve only ever had a two-week vacation once in my life, but I loved every second! Sounds like you had the perfect slice of life right there 😉
How super – love the photos!
Sounds just right. We only had a 4 day beach vacation this summer. I know I live by a beach–but that’s not the same as endless hours by waves. sigh.
It sounds like a perfect blend of family, friends, and an incredibly awesome environment. Kim posted a picture of their home away from home which looked so homey and inviting. Cape Cod has an amazing mystique….I remember a romantic ballad about Old Cape Cod, maybe from the 50’s?
My kind of a vacation in my very favorite place ~ Cape Cod. Have done and been to some of your spots. There is something so very special about the Cape. So glad you had a great time with your family!
I spent my summers at a beach in North Falmouth, so lots of the spots you mentioned are familiar to me. Love Cape Cod summers!
Did you see the infamous great white off Monomoy????!!
We’re having great weather this week for our staycation – we live in a beach community year round, which is great; why go somewhere else? Although now that a great white has been spotted off Newburyport, we’re a little uneasy about entering the ocean!
wonderful wonderful! (I now realize I don’t get to write one of these vacation wrap up blog posts this year)…so glad you had fun. got some great photos. and even better memories (and btw – your new routine is working – you look fabulous!!)
Ah, it sounds wonderful! I’m a little envious.
I love that you keep your camera out and working on vacation. I carried mine around and completely forgot I had it. That is why you have such a beautiful collection of photos and I have zip, zero, nada! I need a vacation bracelet (WWCD) to remind me to get that camera out! Just lovely Carole. It sounds idyllic.
So glad you had such a wonderful time!