Cape Cod Weekend, Part One

Last weekend, the wonderful GK invited me to Cape Cod for a two-day break from reality.  During the summer, her parents rent a house there in a cute little seaside town, so she insisted that I visit for some salty sea air, sunshine, and shenanigans, so of course I couldn't resist.  Saturday dawned sunny and breezy, and we began the day with an al fresco breakfast of delicious muffins and fresh strawberries.

While we could have stayed there all day admiring the view, we instead decided to head to Provincetown in search of pirates.

 

 Although Provincetown has lots of cute little galleries and shops, we strode by most of them with purpose, intent upon our mission.  Soon, as the open sea came into view, we began to feel that we were on the right track....

until finally, we spotted our sought-after treasure, the Whydah Pirate Museum!

  

I'm really into both museums and pirates, so as you can tell from the photo, I was super excited to find both of them in one place.  Photography isn't allowed inside the museum, so I can't show you the interior, but if you find yourself in Provincetown with some free time, I would highly recommend stopping in.  The museum tells the story of the pirate ship Whydah, which sank off the cost of Cape Cod in 1717 and whose wreckage was discovered in the 1980s.   Artifacts and booty from the ship are displayed alongside information about the ships' crew and the life of a pirate in general, as well as local ghost stories that claim that the captain's love still haunts the coast crying out for her doomed lover (that bit was my favorite...spooky).  The museum is tiny, so you can easily see the whole thing in an hour, which, luckily for me, is about the length of my attention span.  After leaving the museum, GK and I moseyed back into town in search of lunch.  Pirating always works up an appetite.

 

We soon found a cute, walk-up restaurant called Box Lunch, a Cape Cod chain, placed our order, parked ourselves outside under some flowers, and dug in. 

I went for the Gilded Lobster:

While it didn't look like much from the outside, it was a delicious combination of lobster, melted swiss cheese, avocado, and mayo. 

 This was my kind of lobster roll.

I failed to get a picture of GK's scrumptious-looking salad because I was too busy getting down and dirty with my gilded lobster.  Not a euphemism.

We then strolled through town a bit more, until we felt that we had successfully worked off at least some of our lunch, and then we decided it was time for dessert.  

Gk and I agreed that few things scream "summer" like traditional soft serve, so we had to indulge.  After finishing our ice cream cones, we said goodbye to Provincetown, went back to our cottage, and decided that it was high time that we got ourselves to the beach.

  

The ocean was at low tide, so we didn't go into the water (isn't that a good excuse?  It had nothing at all to do with the fact that the water would have been cold and GK and I are wusses...) but it felt glorious to nap in the sun, wriggle our feet in the sand, and really enjoy the feeling of being at the beach instead of at the office.

After soaking up all of the sun that my vampire-pale skin could take, we returned to our adopted home, had an afternoon nap, and grabbed some dinner.  We then finished the evening with a trip to a beachside bar, followed by a viewing of Safe Haven.  When GK and I get together, it's just not a party without an awesomely bad movie to watch.  Eventually we said goodnight and dreamed sweet dreams of pirates and lobster rolls.

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Hello, Summer

Despite the fact that it rained for most of Memorial Day weekend, my friend GK and I managed to kick off the unofficial start of summer with style.  GK had me over to her place on Friday night and treated me to a glorious summer-themed dinner.  You should know that this girl never entertains half-way.  I'm always calling her Martha Stewart, although she claims that Paula Deen would be a more accurate nickname, due to her love of butter and penchant for slipping into a Southern drawl.

  

To start us off, GK whipped up a batch of these babies, which were just the thing we needed to take the edge off the workweek and give us a gentle nudge into that lazy summer feeling.  After we were in the right frame of mind, we moved onto the first course:  an argula salad with beets and goat cheese balls (they sound just as scandalously good as they are) and a gorgeous bruschetta with tomatoes, avocado, olive oil, and parmesan cheese.  Sometimes, as long as the ingredients are fresh and full of flavor, it's the simple things that taste the best.

We ate until we were stuffed and then I heroically finished off the remaining avocado chunks, to save them the embarrassment of turning brown.  Luckily, though, GK and I are professionals, and we had saved just enough room for dessert.  And what else could dessert be at a summer-themed soiree?  Strawberry shortcake, of course!

Although she did let me help (and I had a little too much fun molding the biscuits and plopping them onto a baking tray), GK deserves all the credit for this night.  Even the whipped cream was homemade.  This girl and her Joy of Cooking cookbook are destined for culinary greatness.

 

After going back for one-too-many helpings, we rolled ourselves over to the couch and finished out the night with more lemonade grenades and a girly movie.  Followed by a bit of a Mamma Mia sing-a-long.  Welcome back, summer.  We've missed you.

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