Cape Cod Capers
We awoke this morning with still no sign of our elusive host Bill and were starting to think he was just a myth. Sam had a theory that maybe Tony was actually Bill. It was a complete mystery. Once we’d showered and dressed we came downstairs to a deserted house, not a peep from anyone but Gloria, the cat with the incredibly annoying meow that kept me awake most of the night. Gloria would howl, someone would shove open a door, they’d let Gloria out, they’d slam the door, Gloria would meow to come back in….and so it went throughout the night. I’m not exactly sure who was dealing with Gloria. It obviously wasn’t Bill because as far as we could see, he still wasn’t home!
With no sign of anyone at the house (not even our mate Tony) and not yet feeling comfortable enough to start looking through the cupboards foraging for food, we thought we should probably go out for breakfast. It was just a short walk to the Sunnyside Café, a café with the proud boast (written on its menus) of being named by Cape Cod Magazine, ‘Cape Cod’s “best restaurant dive” for 2013’! They go on to define “dive” as a place with “modest décor, serving low priced but good food, where the locals go”. True to their word, they did serve good, cheap food and the décor was indeed modest! I’ve been so used to ordering SMALL everything in America to avoid getting the supersized versions but when I ordered a small apple juice this morning, it really was small, (not much bigger than a shot glass!). We had a good laugh about that.
Without a car in Cape Cod, walking is our main mode of transport. There doesn’t seem to be too much public transport around and when we tell people we are on foot, they seem taken aback that we don’t have wheels of some sort. We wanted to get wet and check out the beach but it was an epic journey requiring great endurance to get there. It was quite a trek indeed. The sun wasn’t sparing us its rays either and we were working up quite a sweat. When we eventually saw that glimpse of shimmering blue on the horizon, our spirits lifted and we almost broke into a jog, eager to submerge ourselves in the Atlantic Ocean once more.
As we walked, we passed the cutest houses! Nearly all of the houses in Hyannis (the part of Cape Cod where we are staying) are grey weatherboard or are clad in grey shingles with bright white trims. Careful to keep in the same famous Cape Cod style, they each have a signature window or unique shaped roof-line to set them apart from their neighbours. They all have white timber railings and white window frames and lots of them have little crow’s nests on their rooves where they can keep a bird’s eye view of the neighbourhood. They have rolling green lawns where you can just imagine holding a garden party. We also noticed what an incredibly patriotic bunch the Cape Cod residents are. Bar one or two, every house on every street had hoisted a stars and stripes banner up their flagpole. We stood in 3 separate places, on 3 different streets and the average number of American flags we could see with our naked eyes was 13! They are everywhere! Big sculptured hedges, either in rows or big ball shapes are also a popular feature in the neighbourhoods of Cape Cod.
The little beach we found was beautiful. Of course there were no waves but it was clean, clear water and just the right temperature for a refreshing dip. There was even a lifeguard on duty but without the restriction of the flags to swim between, he had his work cut out for him just patrolling the expanse of coastline where all the swimmers were. The shoreline was littered with shells and in some places was about a foot thick with them! There were lots of clams and Shell service station shells (I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that’s not their technical name) and we collected a few as we walked. We saw what we thought were HUGE low-flying ducks, flying in formation just overhead (but found out later they were actually Canadian Geese!). The beaches here have clearly displayed rules of conduct too. Balls of any kind and frisbees are strictly prohibited (there goes that game of beach cricket) and flotation devices are only allowed if it’s blowing onshore!
There were big grey and white mansions fronting the beach, flag poles proudly displaying their allegiance, and hedgerows coming down to the sand. On our quest for a lighthouse we mistakenly stumbled into a gated, private community and were asked by a security vigilant resident , from his open top storey window, to leave. I said “oh sorry, we just wanted to see the cute little lighthouse” and he said it was on private property and we were not to trespass. No exceptions! Off in the distance we could see an absolutely enormous property that looked like some sort of resort or restaurant and after a swim and a read, we decided to make that our destination for lunch. The closer we got, the bigger it loomed and we were getting hungrier as we drew nearer. The only problem was, this was no hotel, resort or restaurant. It was somebody’s whopping big house! Bummer! (not for them obviously!)
We kept walking and found what must have been a vacation sailing school for kids. They were all returning to shore in their tiny sail boats and were filing into a shed for some ready made sandwiches and cookies. They made us even hungrier. Along a little further we saw the Hyannis Yacht Club and were excited to smell the delicious aromas emanating from their kitchen. We enquired about the restaurant and were told in no uncertain terms it was for members only. Well, it seems there are pockets of Cape Cod that are quite exclusive.
All reports before we arrived here in Cape Cod said it was “crazy” in the summertime and super crowded but that hasn’t been our experience at all. It’s actually fairly quiet. It made us think of just how deserted it must be in the wintertime!
Our eagle eyes spotted a post office/general store up ahead in the distance. It was such an adorable little shop, with its grey shingles and bright red front door. We picked up some sandwiches and drinks and Sam was delighted with his “Strawberry Shortcake” ice block – a sort of strawberry version of a Gaytime. Apparently this little shop was where JFK frequently brought all the children from the island to get candy. The woman behind the counter told us she was now the “keeper of the candy”, a job she took rather seriously. The Kennedy Family had their summer home here (the Kennedy Compound) in Hyannis and holidayed here all through their lives. There’s a big JFK Museum here and a couple of memorials to the late president here in town. It’s Hyannis’ biggest claim to fame.
After our mammoth walk back from the beach, we returned home to chill out. We heard muffled voices downstairs and timidly shuffled down the stairs to see whether we might finally get a glimpse our mate Bill. Sure enough, there sitting at the piano was the man himself – Harry Connick Jnr look-alike, with shoulder-length hair and a t-shirt proclaiming “I’d Do Me” – pounding away at the keys. We startled him but he was delighted to finally meet us. He introduced us to his girlfriend Monica (who, although she was introduced as Bill’s girlfriend, seemed to also have a husband and Bill also referred to a “wife” so it was a bit confusing!) We chatted for ages and he apologised for his absence. The house was built in 1925 and he did admit it “probably” needed a lick of paint and a bit of a remodel – maybe a repair job on the smashed windows too? We all agreed the house does have a certain “character”. The best thing was, Bill gave us keys to his shed, which, when opened, revealed a treasury of bikes of all sizes and shapes, from which we were free to choose and use to our hearts’ content. No more pounding the pavement!
Once we had our wheels we were able to explore much more widely, visiting the harbour front and riding along the shoreline amongst the gorgeous houses and cute little grey and white neighbourhoods. The Hyannis Main Street is an interesting mix of really upmarket restaurants and shops (to cater for those whom Bill described as the “gazzillionaires” that reside in some of the classier areas of Cape Cod) and then the the rundown, tired looking shops whose shelves are still stocked with gear from when JFK was in town. There are also about 25 t-shirt and tacky souvenir shops, in this relatively small retail strip, with Cape Cod t-shirts in every style and design you could possibly ever imagine. Right down on the waterfront there was a concert starting up and there were rows of “artist’s shacks” which opened up in the late afternoon to become sales rooms for local artists selling handcrafted goodies and paintings. Bill set us up with some lights on our bikes and we rode back down to the waterfront tonight to have dinner at Spanky’s Clam Shack, where the family focused atmosphere was really fun.
When we arrived back at the house, Bill was entertaining some friends out the back and had given himself a dramatic haircut! We thought he must’ve had a twin brother! He was making himself some sort of cocktail that involved hommous and Tabasco sauce (amongst an array of alcoholic beverages)! He told us he was “probably going to get drunk tonight” but hoped he wouldn’t be obnoxious! Great. We hoped so too! Before he left us to return to his guests, and not before a considerable chat, he showed us that both of our single beds had a massage function and were able to lift and bend in every which way. The only problem was, it was formerly a king sized bed so the functions work in unison! Let’s just say we had a lot of fun for the next half hour and Sam got a bit carried away and almost ejected himself out the window on his mattress!
