Post by Grubb. The last time we enjoyed an extensive visit with Marc and Judi was when we were in Oaxaca during the Christmas holidays in 2018. That was when Marc, bent on introducing Ella to the world of mescal, gave us the rambling go-for-the-worm dark doorway bar tour that prepared us for joining the…
The Final Hour
On a frigid winter’s day during a powerful nor easter in 1952, an oil tanker, the Pendleton, snapped in two 10 miles off the coast of Chatham. They didn’t manage to issue an SOS, but a couple hours later, the two pieces of the tanker were picked up on radar. The Coast Guard launched a…
Into the sunset
From Barry and Deirdre’s home in West Barnstable (north side of the Mid Cape) we moved 25 minutes east to Marc and Judi’s in Harwich, on the south side of the Lower Cape. First order of business (okay, after a gin and tonic and a lovely dinner), was an expedition to Paine’s Creek Beach to…
Thank you Barry and Deirdre
What a wonderful start to our journey. Thank you to our wonderful hosts, Barry and Deirdre, for putting up with us for four days, for beginning our orientation to the Cape and to New England, for fun, educational, stimulating conversation, maps and recommendations, and for our first ever lobster roll. Barry and I are first…
Boardwalk, lobster, and cranberries
Post by Grubb. Barry and Deidre took us on marsh walk along a narrow pier that looked above sinuous water carved reedy patches where crabs burrowed into the mud. Stepping on the donor-inscribed wooden slats towards the lookout at the end of the pier, I started to feel like I was in the opening sequence…
My favorite car dealer
Post by Grubb. Kurt Vonnegut—who else? In the late o 1950s when Kurt was living in Barnstable, he sold Saabs out of a stone garage. Fortunately, for those of us who are fans, the business never really took off. Cape Cod is known for its summer stock venues (Provincetown Playhouse the most renowned), and Dennis’s…
A last walk down Willow Street
I can’t get enough of the green.
Rhubarb
Post by Grubb. For every trip we take, there’s a search for some edible delight we have a hard time finding in Albuquerque. On venturing out to the Yankee heartland, I was bent on sampling some rhubarb pie. To my taste, it’s the prince of pies. Luckily, in Centerville, a village of Barnstable, there’s a…
Historical beginnings
A couple days ago, we walked by the 1717 Meetinghouse. Yesterday, Deirdre was able to get us inside for a look around. Long story short: London, England, 1616, Pastor Henry Jacob breaks from the Church of England to found the Congregationalists who were forced to meet in secret. Years later, he was discovered and imprisoned….
A wet day for Hyannisports
Post by Grubb. One of the thought adventures I have when I travel is to compare the landscape of my imagination with the actual terrain I encounter. It usually turns out that reality downsizes the take-away from I’ve read or seen in photographs. Years ago, our visit to the Texas Book Depository in Dallas gave…
A captivating photo
Yesterday was a gray, rainy day on the Cape. The kind we New Mexicans love because they are so rare for us. What to do? Pile in the car and take a drive to Hyannis, only a few miles away. Deirdre drove us to the extravagant golf course, the Kennedy compound and the John F….
What Hurricane?
Post by Grubb. With clear skies and a faint, almost nonexistent breeze, we headed toward Sandy Neck Beach trudging on a trail of pure sinking sand that cut through sea coast marshland. Signs on either side of the path warned us not to stray. The advice was taken seeing that the poison ivy had taken…
Cape Fear
Post by Grubb. After leaving the open landscape of the New Mexican high desert, the drive from Providence, Rhode Island to Barnstable, Massachusetts was like tunneling through a relentless forest. From the brown to the green, the distant to the near, it was a fugitive environment where one could easily disappear. I wondered, what’s hidden…
Walking West Barnstable
Barry and Deirdre have lived on the Cape in West Barnstable for decades. First up yesterday morning, a walking history tour. with Barry and Deirdre. A seafaring, rural community in a lush green setting. We learned about Cape style homes (did you know there is a full Cape, 3/4 Cape and 1/2 Cape?). We walked into the…
Off to the Cape
Good thing I made a pit stop at the 5 star bathroom before we went searching for the Avis counter, purportedly said to be in the airport confines. Signs directed us to a Skywalk, up the escalator, straight over two main streets and a parking lot…a half mile later we turned a corner to find…