Eric, Piper and I took our family vacation to Cape Cod and Boston this year. When we told people where we were going many asked, "Why are you going there?" I could have replied, "the history", "the beautiful scenery", "the lobster"...and all of those would have been true, but the main reason was it was available through our timeshare on short notice. That being said, it more than lived up to it's reputation as a favorite vacation spot for families for over 100 years.
We took the red-eye flight from Portland and arrived at Boston Logan at 5:30 am, where we sleepily made our way to the rental car agency, got our car, plugged in the GPS and began our hour and half drive toYarmouth where we were staying. Along the way we kept looking for a Starbuck's with no luck....however there is a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. Seriously, if I lived here I'd weigh a ton...I can't resist their delicious double chocolate donut....mmmmmmm!
Anyways, after fueling our stomachs at Dunkin Donuts we arrived at the resortin Yarmouth around 7:30 am...ummm, just a few hours before check-in. The guy at the front desk gave us a recommendation for breakfast and some daily beach passes to kill some time before check in. Unlike the beaches here in the Northwest, you have to pay to use the beaches on much of the East Coast. In Cape Cod, it doesn't cost to use the beach, but it costs to park in the parking lot...and most of the beaches are not within walking distance to town.
Off we went to the Keltic Kitchenfor an Irish breakfast. I don't know how long this place has been around...but it looks like awhile. The hostess, a middle-aged woman with rosy cheeks and red hair haphazardly thrown in a bun, greeted us like we were family and showed us to our table. The kitchen is open, with counter seating in front, where the locals sit and eat and chat with the cook while he works his magic. Eric ordered a cornbeef hash (the best he's had) and Piper and I, being opted for eggs, Irish bacon (a bit thicker and meatier than American bacon) and soda bread toast. The mean revived us enough to venture off down to Seagull Beach while we waited for our room to be ready.
The Keltic Kitchen. That's Dublin born, Dave Dempsey in the kitchen cooking up hearty Irish fare. He says, "The french live to eat, but the Irish eat to live."
We arrived to an empty parking lot (except the attendant) who looked at our pass and flagged us in. We changed our clothes in the bath house and walked out on the beach. We had the place to ourselves at this early our. The sand was white, the sky blue, the dune grass green and lovely cottages dotted the shore...yes, just what I had expected of a Cape Cod beach. We walked across the sand to the surf line and noticed the beach was covered with seashells. Now, I'm not talking broken bits and pieces or chunks of seaweed covered mussels...but beautiful white, pink, and translucent yellow shells. Piper and I couldn't believe our eyes and began scooping them up...handing them to Eric until his pockets were full.
Not a soul on the beach at 10:00 am. Seagull beach in Yarmouth.
All those pink and white spots on the sand....those are perfect, beautiful seashells!
We found a place to lay down our towels with a little bit of shade from the dunes. Eric and I laid down and took a short cat-nap, while Piper went straight for the water...her first time in the Atlantic Ocean.
Piper takes a dip in the Atlantic.
After the beach got too hot, we drove to Yarmouth Port to get ice cream at Hallet's Drugstore. Built in 1889 by Thatcher Hallet, and today owned by his great-grandson, the family obviously never felt the need to do much remodeling...the place is amazingly preserved. With the exception of the addition of electricity, a new ice cream counter, and the portable tv in the corner, it looked like it must have looked when it opened it's doors. We ordered our ice cream and cooled off under the ceiling fans.
Eric and Piper enjoy their ice cream at Hallets drugstore.
Next we decided to explore the town of Dennis, wandering along Route 6A (the old King's Highway) past one charming old sea captain's house after another. We stopped at a charming white steepled church next to the town park and cemetery (there seemed to be a lot of that on the Cape).
This bell next to the church used to be in the schoolhouse that was right next to the church, but is since gone, the bell being all that is left.
Beautiful white steepled churches are everywhere.
Exhausted we finally headed back to the resort where we were able to check-in. We schlepped our luggage to our room, opened the door, threw down our bags, turned up the a/c and finally got a good sleep. Much needed rest to get us through the rest of our week.
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