The Cape: Lobsters, Whales & Soccer, Oh My!

The Cape: Lobsters, Whales & Soccer, Oh My!

Each trip to Cape Cod is different.  Some families go back to the same spot year after year.  This was our fourth trip to the easternmost part of Massachusetts and we are getting closer to finding that spot.  We were joined this year by old friends of ours from when we lived in Nashville, TN.  It was great to see them and since it was their first visit to Cape Cod, it was a lot of fun.

Chatham, MA, was our destination this summer.  It was our second time staying in Chatham and the familiarity was nice.  We knew the best spot to pick up lobster, some great kid-friendly beaches, a delicious pie shop and many other creature comforts.  The house was close to an inlet and had a nice view from the kitchen and deck.  The water birds enjoyed this inlet as much as we did.

There was a theme to this trip and it included four goals.  They were 1. eat as much lobster as possible, 2. go whale watching, 3. watch as much of the World Cup as possible, and 4. take the kids fishing.  Due to some stormy weather towards the very end of our trip we were not able to take the kids fishing which was a real bummer.  We scored the other three goals.

LOBSTER

This was probably the easiest task since we knew where to go to get it which is about anywhere on the Cape.  We book-ended our trip with two large lobster meals at the house and filled the other days with rolls, a seafood pie, and other lobster/seafood-themed meals.

WHALES

Our first whale-watching trip was in 2007 and I was curious to know if it would be a similar experience.  On that trip, there were whales everywhere, feeding and swimming like we were throwing plankton at them.  So we made our way back up to Provincetown for the second whale-watching adventure.  The kids were excited.

SOCCER

After coming back from Brazil just 9 days before leaving for the Cape, I was still in total World Cup mode.  I think it must be some kind of sports fever or something, but I have not been able to release myself from the grip of these games.  They have been so exciting.  And to think I was just there makes it too hard to put on pause.  And thank goodness for the WatchESPN app!  Not sure how I would have handled a trip like this without it.

There were so many great games during this week.  Brazil barely hanging on against Chile and Colombia getting past Uruguay happened on our first day!  I asked Lisa to drive so I could watch the Brazil-Chile game.  On our first full day, the guys left the gang on the beach to go to a pizza place with a decent bar to watch the Holland-Mexico game.  This was a tough game since our friend is Dutch and I have an affinity for Mexico ever since I lived there 25 years ago.  And I thought Mexico had it wrapped up until Holland showed up and stuck a dagger in my beloved “El Tri”.

The big decision, obviously, was where to watch the USA-Belgium game.  We found a spot on Main Street in Chatham.  I ended up speaking with two families there about Brazil and the games.  There were so many people there that were bandwagon fans.  And many left after the USA was down 2-0 and missed out on probably the most exciting 15 minutes of the tournament.  It was a tough loss though and one that I will never forget.

On our last day we watched the great games of Germany-France and Brazil-Colombia.  A great way to spend the 4th!!

Of course there were many other wonderful stories from this trip.  The beach days were fun with the kids who keep growing up so fast.  The nice meals with good friends.  And just relaxing and being away from work (again)…

 

Some great memories were made on this trip.  The Cape has a way of etching them in under whatever circumstance.