wellfleet

(continued from A Week Off … Part One) Wednesday we woke up to some clouds and sprinkles and decided that it may be a good day to check our email and see what other non-beach related activities we could do, pending the weather. We hit up Dunkin Donuts near town and plugged in for a few hours – yes, I know it was vacation but I’m glad I was at least able to check a few emails, send out a few tweets and Facebook updates for clients, and delete some (maybe about 400 or so. Not joking) emails. After Dunkin, we hit up our favorite French bakery for another delicious Parisian sandwich, some olive bread and Croque Monsiour. Yum!

I heart bread (PB Boulangerie)

After the bakery, the weather was still looking iffy (cloudy with some sprinkles) so B convinced me to join him at a bike rental place. I was petrified. I don’t ride bikes. I know, it sounds so simple, right? I run (or at least I was before my boot) but riding bikes? Never. So naturally, the thought of riding along Cape Cod’s bike path (the Rail Trail) frightened me. B had found a bike shop just off the trail that had tandem bikes. The guy who worked at the shop probably thought I was crazy as I told him I didn’t know how to ride a bike and didn’t want to die that day. As we tried out the bike around the parking lot (probably going 2-3 mph) I was screaming nearly the whole time. “You’ll love it!” the guy assured us as B signed the paperwork. And with that, we were off on the trail. For the first 10 miles or so I was so scared of falling off. B was doing all the steering but still – what if we hit a bump? What if my hands stopped holding the handlebars and I went flying? Surprisingly, nothing happened. I don’t recall when I stopped feeling scared and when I started having fun, but at one point B started timing our miles which went down from 5 min per mile to 4 min per mile to even quicker at the end. All in all, we ended up biking about 35 miles! Not bad for someone who hasn’t ridden a bike, right?

Smiling now .. much better than my look of fear beforehand

Wednesday night, B and I enjoyed some old-fashioned fun and headed to Wellfeet’s Drive In Movie Theater for a double feature – Men In Black III and 21 Jump Street. I hadn’t ben to a drive-in in ages, and it was B’s first time – both movies were fun and perfect summer entertainment. Plus, who doesn’t love a drive-in?

: Wellfleet Drive-In

Thursday the weather was gorgeous and we spent most of the day relaxing at the beach and finishing our books. That evening, we invited an old friend from college to visit – he lives less than an hour from the Cape and we hadn’t seen him since our wedding! Our original plan had been to go to the infamous Beachcomber – but it was closed! We ended up hitting the Pearl (which wasn’t bad – I had lobster quesadillas) for our last night’s meal and then returned to PJ’s for dessert.

Friday and Saturday we were off early to head to Boston for our Boston College reunion! Well, not without another stop at our new favorite French bakery for some breakfast. After that, we drove to Boston and checked into reunion. While we were only around for about 24 hours (before heading to a wedding in Boston Sat. night), our time was fun and included re-living many BC memories, including:

Staying in Edmonds, my junior year dorm!
A lobster bake (yes, more lobster. I don’t know my total lobster consumption, I lost count after the 3 full ones, 2+ lobster rolls and ) – the same way our freshman year started off!
Walking around the Reservoir, the place where B and I first held hands and then later got engaged
Taking a walk into Cleveland Circle, grabbing Pino’s for lunch, a stop at Mary Ann’s, a Reservoir run, and walking by Roggies (with a quick stop in)
Walking up the Million Dollar Staircase to Main Campus
A stop in Hillside to smell the fresh Starbucks brewing, paninis grilling and homemade chips (Yes, even after living in the real world and experiencing real food, I still love BC Dining)
And of course seeing so many great faces, friends and wonderful people from college

my beautiful alma mater at night

3 outta 6 ‘aint bad – half of Mod 25B! (plus a photobomber)

The weekend ended with a college wedding which featured not only a ceremony in BC’s signature church but a reception downtown with rooftop dancing and gorgeous Boston views (congrats Matt and Kim!) and a high school graduation (congrats Ignatius grads!). And now we’re back in the grind … until my next trip – Ireland!

A few months ago, B booked us a week at a cottage in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. It would be his first time in the Cape, and my first time staying in Wellfleet. Growing up on the east coast, I had many fond memories of spending summer weeks on the Cape with my family, but this would be my first time going just with B and to the Lower Cape.

I was not disappointed. The house was just as VRBO had suggested – down the street from the beach and the perfect size for a week’s retreat. AND without Internet or great cell reception, which meant we were truly able to unplug (at least for the most part).

Friday evening we left Cleveland and then drove into Albany and spent the night with my parents. Saturday morning we got up early, enjoyed a quick breakfast with my parents, including our year-old wedding cake (which was still absolutely delicious! How is that possible?!), and then we were on our way to Cape Cod for the week! Well, sorta – we had to stop at the most amazing place first – Prime Outlets in Lee, Mass.! I miss this place so much. (Sidenote – yes I know we have “outlet” in Northeast Ohio, but show me one with J Crew, Polo, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, GAP AND Brooks Brothers in one place!)

380-something day old wedding cake

I knew I was back east when I saw BC gear at Brooks Brothers…

As soon as we got to the Cape we checked out our place, walked to the beach, and then enjoyed a typical casual Cape Cod meal on the harbor – lobster rolls and fried oysters. Delicious! I gobbled up the food before grabbing a photo – but was able to get in a quick pic of our scenery.

Outdoor dining – with a great view!

Sunday, the weather was gorgeous so B and I spent most of the day outside. In the morning, we walked to the nearby French bakery and split a Parisian sandwich (again, no photo.. too delicious!) and bought some lardon et fromage bread to go. Then we hit the beach. I lay down outside, enjoyed my newest reading material (11/22/63 by Stephen King. Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore to get this. It’s no 50 Shades, but it’s impossible to put down!) and got in a healthy dose of Vitamin D (hey, doctor’s orders, right?). That evening, B and I checked out Wellfleet’s Main Street and then enjoyed a seafood dinner and drinks at the Bookstore. We split a dozen oysters on the halfshell (A Wellfleet specialty! The restaurant literally walks across the street to the harbor twice a day to pick them fresh) and I enjoyed the Fisherman’s Dish which was cod mussels, shrimp and clams in an awesome broth.

One of many seafood dishes

Monday, B and I spent some more time on Main Street and visited all the galleries and shops. But on the way, PJ’s Family Restaurant caught our eye – I’d heard that it was known for its lobster rolls, so we had to stop and check it out. B even loved it – and he’s not a lobster guy! After our delicious lunch, we headed to the downtown area. Fun fact – besides being the first place in the world to have wireless telegraph technology – and not the phone wireless technology – (Did you know the Titanic’s SOS signal went to the wireless station in Wellfleet?) Wellfleet also is known for having an abundance of galleries and being extremely welcome to artists. We enjoyed an afternoon ice cream on the harbor and a few drinks at Winslow’s Tavern, another great eatery on Main Street. For dinner, I was craving lobster so we returned to PJ’s where I got the lobster dinner and B got a burger. Are you keeping track of the lobster? That’s 2 lobster rolls and one 1 ¼ lb lobster so far …

Waaay too excited for my lobster

Tuesday we decided to check out Provincetown and then go whale watching! I could write a blog post on whale watching alone. While Provincetown and its shops and ice cream were great, whale watching was spectacular. We went on a 3 hour cruise with the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch, led by an amazing naturalist. We saw 20+ whales (and some of them, multiple times) and a few dozen dolphins. It was amazing to watch them feed and just hang out in the wild. We even saw a baby whale play around while his mother fed. Some photos and video from the trip:

At night B and I decided to eat dinner in our cottage – and we chose fresh lobster from the local seafood shop. New lobster total: 2 lobster rolls and 2 lobsters.

More to come on the fabulous week we had .. and possibly some more lobster!
(Part Two of the post can be found here)