July on the move

In an ideal world travel would be nicely spaced out, allowing you plenty of time to let each trip sink in and be appreciated. We'd revel over how wonderful our memories and photos are, yearning for our next adventure but knowing it is so far away. Honestly, life is too short and sometimes travel just isn't so patient. It is a whirlwind of events that are tied together with no beginning and no end. The past month, my life been defined by not being home and being on the road...packing, repacking, and somehow remembering to pay the rent and going to work in the midst of it all. Yet, it was my own choice and an amazing one at that.

This past month have been defined by 4 equally exciting, dramatically different travels.

#1 Falmouth, MA- A tour of Cape Cod through a true New Englander's Eyes


#2 Madison, WI- The land of Cheese Curds and a Farmer's Market that puts the rest of shame

#3 Riviera Maya, Mexico- Lazy indulgence with some of my closest friends

#4 York, Maine- Lighthouses, Lobsters, and insanely cold water

At the end of the day, I ate amazing food, saw eye-opening new things, laughed, made my taste buds jump with excitement, and ran on so many different roads (or Spanish speaking treadmills) that my running shoes deserve a passport. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Over the next 4 days, I write about each of them. For starters, let's go with my adventure in Cape Cod.

Cape Cod is everything you expect and everything you do not expect in one very skinny strip of land. Growing up in the Midwest, Cape Cod was somewhere so far away and so exotic that the only images that came to mind were the Kennedy's, seersucker capris, sailboats, and lobster. I imagined very rich people with very big boats, beautiful beaches and somewhere all together more impressive than anything we had out on Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes. It just seemed all together so far away. I think it is that we are always more impressed with something we cannot have. At the end of the day, what I learned was that was when it comes to vacationing we are more similar than we are different-- no mater what state we are in.

Prior to my trip this month, I had been to Cape Cod twice before but never with a local and never in the summer. As the trip approached, I finally got to say the phrase you hear all too often in Boston..."I'm going to Cape this weekend". It was the ultimate sign that I was slowly becoming a local. My friend Jennifer had offered up her family cottage in Falmouth for the weekend with my fellow Cupcake and Finer Food Club members Kelly and Renee (we really like to eat, especially Cupcakes). We all agreed that we wanted only a couple things out of our weekend-- beach, cocktails, seafood, and naps. For me, I added in the opportunity to do a couple morning long runs along the ocean at low tide, watching locals clam in the shallow water.

Here are my top takeaways/tips for anyone thinking about a Cape get away:

• Ask a local if they have a cottage or home on the Cape and if they are renting it. We were lucky enough to stay in a cottage that had been in the family for over 30 years. I felt like I was a guest in a family tradition. The hotels I saw on the other hand looked over priced, worn down, and impersonal. The houses and cottages were the real Cape.
• Believe it when they tell you the restaurants on the Cape are bad. I had been told for over 2 years that the food on the Cape was bad but I did not believe it. Why would I when all my images of the Cape were of the wealthy with big boats (that, in my mind, equated to great food). While there eat greasy local seafood (at a place like McMenamy's) and pack a beach picnic and enjoy! Who needs food when you have perfect beaches? Save your food budget for Napa.
• Go to The Chart Room in Cataumet, MA after your skin tells you the beach is a bad idea. Soothe your sunburn with their famous mudslide and enjoy the perfect location. It is your perfect Cape Cod experience and only someone who knows how to get there will tell you the secret.
• Pack a bottle of wine and hike up to the secret location called The Knob. I was swore to secrecy to not tell where this is, so I won't divulge the details. All I will say is that it is the most peaceful, picture perfect place. It is a hike and you may give up and head back to the car-- but don't. If there are still secret hidden gems out there, the this is one of the highest on my list. Also, while on The Knob talk to strangers lucky enough to find it as well. While we were there we met the nicest couple from Rhode Island who told us some secret spots in the smallest state.

The Knob. I can't tell you how to get there
• Get to the beach insanely early-- I mean, insanely early. Jennifer wasn't lying when she said we had to leave the house at 8am to get to the beach by 8:45am to get a spot. The Cape is narrow and the beaches are narrow too. You will be towel to towel with your neighbors so enjoy the closeness and the smell of SPF!
• Do go to a local bar to enjoy the Cape Cod version of a cover band. When I think of cover bands I think of bad versions of U2 and Journey. On the Cape, I witnessed my first ever Rap cover band. Yes, you heard me right-- Rap (as in Wu Tang Klan Rap). Who would have thought?
• Go to Cupcake Charlies-- the best Cupcakes in or near Boston. I have searched long and hard for a better cupcake and I cannot find one. Try the Hostess look-a-like cupcake and enjoy.
• Go running along the ocean at low tide and say hello to the Clamers! I had no clue what Claming was until moving to New England. There is something about running early, smelling the distinctive seafood scent, and getting wind burn from the wicked breeze.
• Take a drive along the shore and look at Martha's Vineyard-- it is only 6 miles away!

I loved my trip to the Cape and I now feel like I experienced it the way a true New Englander sees it-- as peaceful escape from the craziness that is New England. Yet, above all else I discovered that when it comes to vacations and "weekend getaways" we are all more similar than we are different. Give us a little beach, a little sand, a little cottage, and a sinfully good view and we are happy no matter if it is Lake Michigan, Lake Geneva, Florida, or the Cape.