Cape Cod

We left Maine Sunday morning in a downpour. It let up while we drove through Boston, which was a good thing. Boston traffic, even on a Sunday morning, is not fun. Our GPS died before we left, so we had Mapquest directions for a while, until Ross got the GPS in his Pacifica working. (Unfortunately, that wasn’t until Boston.) Halfway through Boston (but after we drove across that very cool bridge that is shown in the opening shots of “Boston Legal”) both kids had to go potty, so we had to get off the highway. Then we had to find our way back to the highway – thank goodness for GPS! After we got back on the road, however, the skies opened and it rained like crazy, all the way to the Cape. After we got here the winds came up – looked like a crazy hurricane out there!

Cape Cod isn’t exactly what I’d imagined. I suppose I never gave it much thought – I kind of expected a smallish, very New England, fishing town. Not even close. Cape Cod isn’t even a town – it’s the whole peninsula (you see how naïve I am? Obviously, I know nothing about the Northeast). We are in Yarmouth, which is pretty much one strip mall followed by a motel after another. No views of Nantucket Sound from these motels – you have to drive, and then PAY to go to the beach.

Yesterday we drove to Provincetown, locally known as P-town, which is the farthest one can go on Cape Cod. Now, THIS is what I imagined! What a pretty town – every other house was a B & B. Evidently, many people here rent out their homes during the summer, for $2,000 or so a week, and go live on their boats, then come home again in October. Nice. We did the usual tourist stuff – bought sweatshirts, went to all the little stores, etc. Then, we talked Bob into going whale watching. He said, hey he can see whales at home………….not like this, he couldn’t! It was amazing, The naturalist on board was so excited – he hadn’t seen this in years, he said. We went out about 20 miles into the North Atlantic, into an area where they normally feed. We saw a couple of whales off in the distance, then, there we were – in the middle of 14 humpbacks, feeding. They were no more than 20 yards from the side of the boat! One time three of them came up, lifted their enormous tail flukes and slapped the water. Then they dove – and came right back up, with their mouths open, getting all the fish. They come up, mouths agape, until their heads are all the way out of the water, then, as they lower themselves back in the water, they keep their heads out a bit, while the water drains out of their mouths, through their “teeth” (the baleens). This went on for over an hour……..it was AWESOME in the true sense of that word. Bob was glad we talked him into going…..we’ll never see anything like that again. Unfortunately, the ride was pretty rough – 4-5 foot swells, with about a 3-4 foot chop, so there were some pretty sick folks, including our daughter-in-law. She’d have taken the Dramamine, but they don’t advise it for pregnant women in the first trimester.

Yep, you read that right – grandchild number 7 is on the way. Guess I’ll be back in Maine before I expected.