Warp speed home

Saturday we left Cape Cod and drove ourselves back home.  We first stopped at the rest area just off of routes 132 and 6 and had food at Dunkin Donuts and Subway and gased up the van.  We caught some traffic around route 6 as we were getting off of the cape and then it was mostly smooth sailing after that although we did hit some rain storms.  C didn't end up getting off of I95 in CT so she ended up driving all the way through NYC.  We stopped shortly after getting on the NJ Turnpike at the Vince Lombardi rest stop and had a bite to eat.  I had a Nathan's hot dog and we all had some Cinnabon before we left.  After that we fueled up and I drove the rest of the way home.  It was a smooth ride and when we got into town we grabbed some pizza from Papa John's and some milk before driving back to the house.

The Final Day

Originally on Friday we looked into possibly going on the seal watch excursion again but when I called them in the morning, they didn't have six seats left on the boat so we called off that idea.  So we then decided to go over to Hyannis and take their duck mobile tour.  In case you haven't seen them the duck mobiles are these amphibious landing craft from the WWII era that have mostly ended up as tour vehicles in various cities where they take you on a land and water tour.  C and I had taken one a few years ago when we went to Halifax, NS.  We took the noon tour which was pretty decent if not super long.  The harbor cruise part was the better half, with the first part including a fair wait in traffic.  The driver and tour guide were good although a little more about Hyannis history would have been good.  After we took the tour we ate at the British Beer Company restaurant just across on Main St.  It was really good.  We had a big plate of nachos that were good.  I had their onion soup and a roast beef sandwich that were also good.  After lunch we headed down the road to Sandwich to see the Sandwich Glass Museum which has a large collection of 19th century glass from the former Boston & Sandwich Glass Company.  The visit included a glass blowing demo and a short film.  We enjoyed the visit there.  After that we drove back along 6A past the various antique stores and shops and B&Bs.  C and I dropped the others off at the hotel and then made some brief stops at the Yankee Candle store, a candy store, a coffee stop at McDonald's and a value book store before returning to the hotel.  We then spent time at the adult pool (which apparently is adults only after 8pm and not the whole time) which was nice.  We got cleaned up and went back to the Hearth & Kettle for our last dinner in Cape Cod.  I had their cheeseburger club - basically a cheeseburger combined with a BLT.  I also had a hot fudge sundae that was good.  We finished the night with a short stop at the little arcade at the hotel where we managed to get a couple of stuffed toys and balls out of the crane machines.  Back to the rooms.

Boston in an afternoon

Thursday started out relatively late where we decided to take one of the seal observation boat tours at 2:30pm in the afternoon out of Harwichport.  After making the reservations we went downstairs and ate at the tables out back for the Hearth & Kettle for breakfast.  It was really good.  All of the adults got coffee and they gave each person their own little pot.  I had the nor'easter which consisted of poached eggs with Canadian bacon over a bacon and cheese scone with a cheese sauce over it and home fries.  I also got a side of this spicy breakfast sausage called linguica which was orangish and quite good.  Unfortunately we had noticed the wind picking up while sitting there and before we left the breakfast table the seal tour place called saying they had cancelled their tours due to weather.  So that left us thinking about what to do so we decided to drive up to Boston.  After a brief wrong turn that took us down by the cruise terminal in South Boston we ended up parking in the garage by the New England Aquarium and Long Wharf where the Marriott hotel is that C and I stayed at a few years ago.  We paid for a trolley tour and harbor tour combo and then rode the trolley around the historic area seeing the Old North Church, Boston Common, the USS Constitution and other sites before going back full circle to the pier.  We had about a 30-40 minute wait before the next harbor cruise so we ducked into the Marriott to use the restroom and get some water and drinks from the Starbucks.  It was like one hundred degrees in Boston today so we were needing some water.  We got in line for the harbor tour around 4:15pm and it departed shortly after 4:30pm.  It was a nice cruise around the harbor and it was good to see Old Ironsides from the water too.  After the cruise we decided to eat there at the Chart House.  It was good.  I had the lobster bisque which was delicious and I got a ribeye that was ok which came with good mashed potatoes and I also got a side of creamed spinach that was excellent.  I had a good Cabernet with my meal too.  We finished it with the lava cake that was yummy.  Following that the kids went and played at the fountains a block away and then we got back in the car and headed back towards the Cape.  Unfortunately the older granddaughter got sick to her stomach and was throwing up so we had to stop a few times on the way back.  Hopefully she'll feel better by morning.

Fair times

So we went to the Barnstable fair on Wednesday night.  We were relatively late getting out there after missing one turn (stupid rotaries).  Once there we went in and the kids got on a number of rides.  The older one got on the Polar Express and the little roller coaster.  She and her little sister got on the kiddie coaster, another ride that spun around, these spinning bears and also into the inflatable bouncy castle thing.  They both went on the little fun house with their father as well.  It ended up where the kids rode a little train to finish up.  By that point the fog was rolling in pretty good so we decided to leave but since we hadn't grabbed anything to eat for dinner we ended up stopping at Dominoes and getting a pizza, sandwich and some cinnamon sticks to take back to the room.  And that was that for Wednesday night.

A Day at the Beach

Today was another day to sleep in and get some rest.  We ended up getting out of the room around 10am or so and we stopped at the other Dunkin Donuts down by route 6 before taking the road east towards the outer cape to go to the beach.  We decided that we would stop at Coast Guard beach on the National Seashore.  After parking at the remote lot and paying the $15 fee we caught the tram down to the beach.  The beach is relatively narrow set between the dunes and the ocean with a fairly steep drop off into the water.  It has life guards stationed although they hearded people into a relatively thin slice of the water out in front of their stands.  The sand itself is pretty coarse and down by the water you sink into it pretty deeply.  Also right where the surf hits the beach there are a lot of rounded stones making it a little tough on your feet getting into the water.  The water itself was great, perfect for relaxing when you got past the surf.  They mostly had green flags up indicating good conditions with a brief time where they had the yellow flag out.  We swam a bit, the kids played in the sand, and I took a walk down the beach to seem some of the dunes closer.  We even saw a few seals swimming offshore a couple of times.  After we left the beach around 3pm and caught the tram back we grabbed a bite to eat at the Lobster Shanty out there on route 6.  It was good.  I had clam chowder, some baked stuffed clams and the all you can eat fish and chips.  The kids got little sand buckets with their meals.  Now we're back in the room resting before we go off to the local fair tonight.  More to come.

Next stop: 1620

On Tuesday we got up and after a stop across the street at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast we headed out route 6 to route 3 to Plymouth.  Our first stop was the waterfront and we found a parking spot just down from the Mayflower II.  We fed the meter and then went out to the ship.  I ended running back to the car for a coupon I should have grabbed that gave us a discount on the combo ticket for the ship and the plantation.  We then boarded the Mayflower.  It's an interesting ship in part because of how small it is.  It definitely doesn't look like it would be a very comfortable way to cross the Atlantic.  We checked it out and then left the pier and stopped at the gift shop.  From the gift shop it's just a really short trip down the street to Plymouth Rock in it's pavilion.  By this point it was around noon and we walked back towards the car and went across the street to Cafe Nicole for lunch.  I got some more clam chowder, naturally, and a fish sandwich with melted cheddar that was really good.  C got a Thanksgiving wrap - turkey, stuffing, cranberries, etc. all rolled up in a wrap.  She said it was good.  When we finished eating we headed back to the van and then drove around Plymouth, saw the monument of the Forefathers, and then headed back out to route 3 to go to Plimoth Plantation.  The plantation takes you back in time showing you what a native village was like with native people to talk about it.  It also has a full English village meant to represent what the colony might have been like back in 1627.  The people there are in character in period clothing.  They also have a craft area showing how different crafts were historically done and a gift shop.  They also had a barn with some goats of unusual breeds.  We headed back to the hotel after that where we went down to the pool and then hung out in the courtyard before going to dinner at the hotel  (lobster chowder + fried seafood platter that was too much food), getting some marshmallows for the kids to roast, and finally after watching the kids in the pool again going back to the room for the night.  Another fun day.

Yarg! Dickey Mo!

So after leaving the hotel this morning and grabbing a quick breakfast down the street, off we drove east on route 6 to Provincetown.  Once we got there we parked a block away from the pier and then walked down to get our ticket to board the boat.  We had the 1pm sailing and boarded around 12:30pm.  We were on the Dolphin X.  Unfortunately it was ready to rain by the time we got on the boat so we ended up buying 4 ponchos for $12 but we still picked the back starboard corner on the upper deck.  It was open to the weather so we did get wet but after we set off to sea it turned out to be a pretty calm day, if cloudy and wet.  In terms of whales however it really was an awesome trip.  We saw a ton of them and they were very active doing things like slapping the water with their flukes or flippers and even jumping clear out making enormous splashes.  I swear these whales were on the payroll for the Dolphin fleet.  We got a lot of photos and video clips.  After we returned to port, we grabbed a quick snack (pizza, onion rings, bread sticks and a hot dog) before strolling around P-town to do a little shopping.  Then we headed back west and the rain got even harder in places with lightning and thunder.  We were going to stop at Arnold's but it was a mob scene so we get moving.  We drove a bit on route 6A through Brewster but didn't find a place we liked for dinner so we finally ended up back down from our resort at Sam Diego's Mexican restaurant.  It was pretty good and we had some drinks.  After that it was late and we went back to the resort to rest up before tomorrow's activities which looks to start by following the pilgrims footsteps from P-town to Plymouth.