Exploring the Cape pt. 1

Getting to MA was an overnight expedition this time around. Normally, I try to catch flights that leave early in the day so that it's not super late by the time I make it to the east coast. It turns out that flying out after dinner, traveling through the night, and then arriving mid-morning the next day is actually really, really nice. I'm not sure if I had a unique experience, but from the way my trip went, I would highly recommend this kind of flying. I kept telling everyone that I felt great even though I was giving it a few days to see if things caught up with me. They never did. 

Airports are always entertaining. It turns out that they are especially entertaining in the middle of the night. I only slept on the planes, so my airport time was spent doing some major people watching. At one point, I was convinced that I was sitting feet away from Anne Lamott. I may have been, but after totally staring at her for the longest time, I changed my mind. People were doing laps. There was a lady talking at the top of her lungs on her cell phone. And then there was a guy who was on both of my flights. He was SUPER friendly and I think he made friends with nearly every person on the plane. He wandered around the gate chatting up whoever he made eye contact with. 

The morning after I arrived in MA, my friend Hannah announced that we were going to pile into the van to explore the Cape. There was a lot of rain, people were fighting sicknesses, and yet, the day was sunny and about as warm as it was going to get, so we needed to make the most of it. Hannah, Jake, Paul, Marja, Joshua, Finn, and I maxed out the mini van with plans to see Coast Guard Beach, The Atlantic Spice Co in Truro, and Provincetown. We took along a picnic lunch and headed out with the whole day ahead of us. 

I've known Hannah since I was 19, but had only met everyone else HOURS before. It was kind of hilarious being in the car with a bunch of strangers who also happened to be British. I kept finding myself tuning out their conversation because A) it didn't feel like it was my business to listen and B) it occasionally sounded like a foreign language. They were all super friendly and a day exploring the Cape was the perfect way to get to know everyone A LOT better. 

Coast Guard Beach was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it. Making our way out further onto the Cape was exciting to me. Especially since tourist season was still at least a month away. Things were deserted and deserted tourist towns make amazing places to explore. We took our time. We looked at what we wanted to look at. We weren't rushed or hurried along by other vacationers. We had almost everywhere we went allllll to ourselves. 

At Coast Guard Beach, Joshua (who is 4 1/2 years old) came over to me and pressed two sea shells into my hand. I tucked them into my purse. That little boy managed to work his way right into my heart over the course of our visit to MA. We played with his toys, making sure the "baddies" and the "goodies" were equally matched. We read books. We ate snacks. We played outside. And in short, we became fast friends. By the time the wedding rolled around, he was my little buddy. He even left his place at the front of the church during the middle of the ceremony to walk down the aisle and wave at me. <3 nbsp="" p="">

Back to the first real day of my trip...Hannah, Marja, Finn, and I chose to stay close to the cliffs to stay out of the wind. Jake, Paul, and Joshua headed straight for the part of the beach where the tide was going in and out. They got as close to the water as they could without getting wet. There was one point where Joshua ALMOST fell right into the ocean. He was being sooooo careful to follow Jake's lead, but the sand was mushy and it was a close call. Jake looked like a Nervous Nellie, Joshua was totally shocked, and the rest of us thought it was absolutely hilarious.

The Atlantic Spice Company is a fun little stop. I overheard one lady telling her friend that her Mom ALWAYS stops there whenever she visits. I can't say that I wasn't keeping my eye out for Mary Higgins Clark, just in case.

And there you have Part One...I've got one more post to share on this day and then a handful of others to cover the rest of my trip! We'll get through them.

Have you ever been to Cape Cod?