What a summer!! As soon as school was out we went to NYC, then the kids were here. Before we knew it, we were on an Alaskan cruise. Now August has come and we were asked to spend the weekend at Cape Cod with our friends, Dillard, Laurie, Pam, and Mike at Dillard’s mother’s house. I got off work early on Friday and we joined the Cape traffic to journey south. The GPS directed us to take I-495 around the city as it would have been an additional hour to take I-93 through the city. As we planned, we arrived just in time for dinner, and what a spread! Fried chicken, sweet potatoes, rolls, and quite a bit of other food was laid out on the table. Such was our welcome to the Cape!

After stuffing ourselves for dinner we decided to journey to the beach in Sandwich to see the sunset. I’ve seen many sunsets, but I wasn’t really prepared for this. New England sunsets are amazing by themselves, but add the water element and they become truly spectacular. Lots of people had beach chairs set up just to view the spectacle. We really enjoyed our first evening and felt prepared for a weekend of fun and friendship!

We rose early the next day for more of Mrs. Collins fantastic cooking. A mountain of bacon accompanied eggs, bisquits, and fruit. She made enough to feed an army so we were well prepared for our day. We decided to visit the National Seashore which is on the east side of the cape. Though a little chilly, we decided to brave it anyway. Our GPS led us to Coast Guard Beach. We parked about a half mile away and took a tram to the beach. We were greeted at this beach with a sign warning us of Great White sharks that feed on seals. As luck would have it we saw at least half a dozen seals that morning. The lifeguard chair also had a shark flag flying so we stayed clear of the water. Most of us wrapped up in jackets or our towels because the temperatures was in the low 70s with a cool breeze. We tried to have fun, but eventually it was just too cold to stay, so we packed it up and headed out to explore more of the cape.

Heading back west, we found a fun little seafood restaurant for lunch. Janet & I don’t care for fried fish so we opted for clam chowder and potato skins. We proceeded down 6A which is more scenic than Hwy 6. Dillard spotted the Cape Cod Natural History Museum and thought it would be fun to explore. Though mostly geared towards children, we especially enjoyed the aquarium portion of the venue. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit was a lobster that had just molted within 24 hours. We were told that the creature would eat most of the old shell for the minerals. We were amazed at how much it appeared that there were 2 lobsters in the tank. A rare blue lobster was also on display. The tide pool exhibit was fascinating with all its hermit crabs, sea stars, shrimp and other sea life.

After the museum we drove over to Hyannis to explore the town and eat dinner. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed our meal outside. Afterwards, we walked down to the harbour to make final arrangements for our ferry ride to Nantucket on Sunday. We told Mrs. Collins that we would need to leave early the next morning, but again a big breakfast was waiting.

We boarded our ferry and headed for the island. Our ferry was listed as the fast ferry as it is a hydroplane. What that means is it’s faster than the slower ferry, that contains cars. Janet and I visited Nantucket a few years ago so we were regarded as something of the experts. We found a cute little place for lunch and also made arrangements for a bus tour of the island. Nantucket is a great place to visit for the day, but it’s also very expensive. We enjoyed seeing it again, especially with friends!

We ate another dinner under a beautiful evening sky and then it was time to return to the mainland. We chose to sit outside despite the chill. I didn’t regret it as once again we were blessed with a brilliant sunset and beautiful views. This month begins my tenth year living in New England. We are revisiting places, but continue to enjoy them. New England is a wonderful place and I will never tire of seeing all its wonderful sites.