Home Again

It was the perfect escape in every way.  My two weeks on Cape Cod are over and my house is now in the hands of families who will rent it by the week, every week, through Labor Day.  Good bye house, hello money to pay for it.

It’s startling and gratifying to watch these trips evolve.  I began my history with Cape Cod as a kindergartner when my parents took the family to a cramped and musty ocean-front ranch for 100 dollars per week that imprinted the scent and sound of the surf on my mind forever.  Now I find I need the ocean, like some people need the woods at a campsite, even if it’s only to glance at the sea out the window on a drive-by.

We rented that cottage each summer for six years.  It was only for two weeks at a time, but it felt like two months.  I recall my surprise years later when my mom told me how brief the trips were because the experience was so big.  I was determined to do the same for my children.  That’s how it all started.

Natalie, 23, started her history at the Cape at the age of 3.  Christian, 17, has gone since he was an infant.  In those early years our vacations to rental cottages had a distinct and predictable pattern.  We woke up with the birds around 5 am., ate breakfast, and hit the beach with sweatshirts because it was so darn early.  We saved on sunscreen with the sun still sitting on the horizon.

A few hours there and it was back to the cottage for lunch. Then it was the adult’s opportunity to explore.  We packed the kids in their car seats where they promptly fell asleep for two or three hours while we drove around.   By the time we got home, around 3, the kids wanted the beach again and the routine began anew.   Beach, dinner, ice cream cones and sleep.

By the time the kids became teens the trips had really changed.  Everyone wanted a pal for the trip so we rotated with Natalie getting a friend for the first year,  Harry the second year and so on, until it was Christian’s turn and by then Natalie didn’t want to come at all.  At 15 she was so darned unpleasant she was practically uninvited anyway.

How age does change people.  Now Natalie is the first one to sign up, usually in January, for the trip that occurs reliably every June.  This year she was the only child to make the trek.  Christian and a friend had come on Memorial Day, Harry had taken the house with some friends the first week in June and Charlie, 21 has returned to Tampa, Florida to work for the summer before he begins senior year at the University.

Shadows on the sand at sunset

This year was marked by lots of hosting and activity the first half, then some solitude and time with Cape girlfriends the second half.  In the two perfect weeks without a single rain drop I had my fill of lobster, I watched the roses and hydrangea unfurl around my house, I bought little treasures in the boutiques along scenic route 6A  which is the largest historic district in the U.S. and I swam in water that was almost too warm to be refreshing and I did that nearly every day.   Family, food, friends, a recipe for contentment wherever you get them.

Cranberry bog on the walk to the beach

Now I’m back to a dirty kitchen and dog hair tumbleweed all over the first floor.  Mail fills a box.  The refrigerator?  You don’t want to know.  I’ll get to all of it bit by bit.

And summer is in full swing here.  Cape Cod is a perfect place for me, but you can do a lot worse than a Syracuse summer where everything is green and people are out and happy.

Vacation is over but there is much to look forward to.

Tagged as: Cape Cod, families, vacation