As mentioned at the end of the last post, we spent the week in Cape Cod for an end-of-summer getaway. We had a great time.

The summer season was winding down, so the Cape wasn’t very busy, but almost everything was still open. We went once a couple years ago in late autumn and found summer to be a completely different vibe.

We stayed on West Yarmouth in an Airbnb next to a so-called cranberry bog (I went hiking in there and didn’t see a single cranberry bush) with lots of rabbits and turkeys as neighbors.

Some things we enjoyed:

Whale Watching! We went with https://whales.net (what a great domain!) and saw a bunch of humpback and minke whales. We even saw a breach!

Beaches

• Mayflower – Bay side. Restrooms, lots of parking, big beach to explore.
• Skaket – Bay side. Incredible tide pools and grassy mud flats with razor clams.
• Chatham Lighthouse Beach – Nice beach to walk, lots of sand dunes, Atlantic side, but protected by some small outer islands.
• Coast Guard – Atlantic side. Lots of surf, seals, and sand dunes. Very limited parking.
• Race Point – Atlantic side. Lots of sea birds, seals, and sand dunes.

Restaurants

• Sesuit Harbor Cafe – I really liked the stuffed quahog, Amanda liked the shrimp.
• Captain Frosty’s – According to my friend (and former chef) Eric, this has the best fried food around.
• Mac’s in Wellfleet. We tried to get into the main restaurant, but the wait was an hour long and we had a cranky toddler, so we went down the road to the place on the pier. Amanda and I shared a dozen Wellfleet oysters, then Amanda had a lobster and I had a pulled pork sandwich.
• Cape Cod Creamery
• The Knack – Great burgers, onion rings, and lobster rolls.
• Old King’s Coffeehouse – Pretty good breakfast sandwiches.
• Three Fins Coffee – Really solid coffee roaster
• Chequessett Chocolate – Good chocolate bars and truffles in Truro. Cute shop.
• Cape and Island Distillers – Amanda liked their canned Sippewissett Gin & Tonic and I liked their canned Shark Bite Rum Punch. When you don’t have time or space for mixers and a shaker, canned cocktails are convenient.
• Double Dragon Inn – This looks like a regular Chinese restaurant on the outside, but they have an old-school tiki bar inside serving up things like Zombies, Scorpion Bowls, Fog Cutters, and Navy Grogs. We had to go. We shared a Scorpion Bowl, the service was great, and the food was pretty standard Americanized Chinese food.

One thing we learned on this trip: For the next couple years, eating outdoors at picnic tables is much more our speed with a toddler.

It seems like the dockside places are all BYOB, which I wish we had figured out sooner. Everyone seemed to carry in a cooler and pull out their own drinks. Now we know.

Lighthouses

• Chatham Light
• Highland Light
• Nauset Light
• Sandy Neck Light

Signs

I love informational signs. There were some good ones in Cape Cod.

On the way back home on Friday we stopped for lunch in Providence, RI, to visit one of my teammates, Nate Allen. We also stopped in Danbury to eat at Frank Pepe’s (IYKYK) and shop at Stew Leonard’s (again, IYKYK).

Labor Day Weekend

Amanda and I both had things we wanted to do with friends on Saturday, so she hung out with Charlie in the morning while I went kayaking with my friend Jeremy Wall (we saw an eagle on Iona Island!), and I hung out with Charlie in the afternoon while she went to see the Barbie movie with Kristin Richer. Charlie and I cut the grass, rode bikes, fixed the screen door and Amanda’s bike handlebars, picked tomatoes, played on the swingset, and ate leftover pizza. You know, cool dude stuff.

Sunday we went grocery shopping, Amanda went horseback riding, then went to a friends’ house for an end of summer party. We all had a pretty good time.

Monday we hung around the house. I cleaned out the fridge and did laundry, we all picked up the house, and then I made some ribs on the grill for dinner. I used this quick method from Meathead, which I think turned out great. They had a bit of bite left in them, which I like, but Amanda prefers them a little more fall-off-the-bone, so I might cook them longer next time, or finish hers in the oven.

I also decided to replace the built-in soap dispenser with a glass rinser hooked up to the hot water line. It is awesome. $25 on Amazon.

Unfortunately I made a stupid mistake while replacing it and got sprayed with 5 gallons of hot water while frantically running around to find a towel and trying to turn the hot water shut-off completely off. What a mess. I thought I had checked it, but in retrospect I must have only checked the cold water on the single-handle faucet. That is a mistake I won’t make again.

This week it is back to work. The weather looks like a scorcher all week, so I made cold brew and have some easy dinner plans like taco salads and grilled chicken.