Cape Cod...

We decided to see Gloucester, north of Salem where The Perfect Storm was filmed, before we headed for Cape Cod, but we got lost on a dead end beach road where we found ourselves at Manchester By The Sea, so we stopped there and had lunch, deciding to abandon the idea of Gloucester.

Pictured below is the beach at Manchester By The Sea where we ended up for lunch.







Taking the I-95 South, avoiding Boston, we ended up at Scusset Beach State Park where we had a long walk on the beach, but the wind blew so hard all night it was hard to sleep so we decided to head a little further south, from where we could easily do two separate driving loops of Cape Cod.

Pictured below: A fisherman casts for Striped Bass at Scusset Beach State Park.






We found a campsite at Dunroamin' RV Park at Sandwich, a very well preserved and stately little town that was the first settled in Cape Cod. If it had still been summer this would be an ideal RV spot because it's a huge property with a beautiful sandy beach on the lake.

We drove the loop around the southern portion of The Cape, the part that the Rand McNally Road Atlas displays it's red ribbon on, signafying The Best of The Best of scenic drives. Not. Hyannis was a highlight but the rest was just OK. Its not the first time we've been fooled by Rand McNally recommendations.

Back at camp, the laundry spun as we had dinner outside. It was dark but balmy - so much so that the crickets were still doing there thing. We feasted on another of Janice's wonderful culinary delights:
Thai Cucumber and Radish Salad. One of the freshest tastes you can get for summer, but it'll do in any other season too.
Dice some radishes and cucumbers, finely chopped basil, some good rice vinegar, sugar and light oil. Roughly three vinegar, two sugar and one oil - so that it's sweet, but tangy, with just enough oil to make the other stuff stick.
Thai Chicken Patties: Ground chicken, fish sauce, cilantro, garlic, a little bit of finely chopped jalapeno and some ground black pepper. Janice tells me there's no way she can give you measurements on this, its all to taste. Mix it all together, make into small patties and fry.
We had some fancy artcichoke/spinach dip with it but it's just as good if you just lightly grill some Naan Bread in the same frying pan you did the chicken patties in.

Pictured below: The beach just south of Hyannis and the port at Hyannis, which is different than Hyannis Port - for that a ferry ride is required.










We woke to a beautiful sunny day and drove the eastern loop of Cape Cod. It's kind of like a fifty mile drive along Marine Drive in West Vancouver, except almost all the houses have shake exteriors. These Cape Codders, or Codders, or Capers or whatever you call them, are kind of crafty when it comes to the beaches. They don't have signs to them and the scenic highway doesn't always follow the waterline so we had to be vigilant about watching for street signs that might give them away. Like Breakwater Street in Brewster, which we found lead to, of all things, Breakwater Beach.

Janice had planned to have leftovers from last night's meal, but with a twist. She put the leftovers in tinfoil and was going to heat them on top of the truck's engine while we took a walk on the beach. Trouble was, the engine put out hardly any heat, so we ate them barely warm, which was good too.

Pictured below is the beach at Brewster, some historical buildings that had been moved to Brewster Park, and a fall scene which is fairly common throughout New England at this time of year.










We drove to Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod and strolled around, trying to avoid the main street which is crowded with tourists even now in the off season. Provincetown is as pretty as any other, but crowded with tourists, many of whom are young men that often appear to be a little light in the loafers.

Pictured below is a view of Provincetown from a slight elevation, the monument to the Pilgrams, where Janice blew by the admission gate. I followed and pointed out to her that we had just sneaked in. She claimed the $7 entry fee was to climb the tower. I pointed out to her on the way out that it was a general admission. She was only slightly embarrassed as we hurriedly walked to the truck. Also pictured are the busy main street and the port.










What's the only thing more common to New England than Wild Turkeys? TD Banks. Yes, they completely dominate the marketplace in all of the New England States. As a matter of fact it's rare to see any other bank. I can't imagine that they're Canadian owned. There's no way these rich Yankees are going to let a Canadian bank have all their money.

Today is cloudy and we've had enough little tourist towns for the time being so we're going to skip the ferry ride to Martha's Vineyard and head for Rhode Island instead.