Cape Cod Holiday, Day One

Last week, I met up with GK in Boston, and we jumped in her car and made the drive to Cape Cod for a quick summer getaway.  We’ve been doing a good job of keeping in touch via Skype, but there’s really no substitute for catching up in person, so we enjoyed the roadtrip and filled each other in on all the shenanigans that we’ve been getting up to since I moved to New York.  We made it to Wellfleet around 9pm and called it a fairly early night.  Upon checking the weather the next morning, we saw that the forecast was calling for rain and decided that it might be better to go shopping than to try for a beach day.  We headed to the town of Chatham and got right down to it.  Of course, the rain had decided to hold off until later in the day and we were greeted with bright sunshine and blue skies.  

Our first stop was Jack Wills, where GK got her Old England-meets-New England preppy glamour on, and I admired this lovely staircase in the entryway.  

 

I kinda like the idea of pink and blue striped walls, don't you?  

Next, we walked by my favorite store discovery of the day, the appropriately named “Ducks In the Window."

After perusing the silly toys (and trying out a few of them, of course) and tubs of candy, we realized that we were quite a bit older than most of the customers in the store, so we went back outside and found GK’s next ride. 
Just think of how easy it would be to spot it in a packed parking lot when you can't remember exactly where you left your car.

Continuing on, we stumbled upon the newly opened Chatham Wine & Provisions (gotta love that name.  It makes it sound as if wine is a necessity, which of course, for some of us, it is) and had a lovely chat with one of the employees while ogling the displays.

We then strolled further down the main street before ducking into Gustare Oils & Vinegars, where we were greeted by row upon row of different flavors of balsamic vinegars and olive oils, just begging to be tasted.  

GK and I don't always agree on important, pressing questions ("Is today a margarita or a mojito sort of day?"  "If you could go back in time, who would you rather date, Gene Kelly or Humphrey Bogart?") but we did both come to the conclusion that the fig balsamic vinegar was the clear winner.


We wandered around a bit more, stopping to smell the flowers here and there.  

  

Next, we found Chatham Candy Manor.

We stopped to look in the windows, but the glorious, chocolately smell that was wafting through the door was simply too much to resist and we just had to pop inside.

....which proved to be a disastrous decision, considering how close it was to lunchtime.  Sugary, fruity treats lined one wall in colorful, festive displays.

But if we're being honest, I was really there for the chocolate.

The employees at the fudge counter were all delightfully friendly and very generous with the samples, so we tried a bit of everything.

We decided to get some Inside Out Reeses fudge for the road (mostly peanut butter with a swirl of chocolate running through it) as well as some truffles, chocolate-covered oreos, and chocolate-covered peanut butter ritz cracker sandwiches.  A rather restrained haul, if you ask me....

By the time that we left Candy Manor, the forecasted rain was threatening to fall and our stomachs were asking for more than just sugar, so GK and I met up with her parents and ducked into Carmine’s for some pizza.

We had passed this place earlier, and while it wasn't much to look at inside, the delicious smell filtering through the air was enough to convince me to give it a whirl.

We decided to split two pizzas and went for the pesto pizza with ricotta, tomato, basil,and green onions, as well as one of their specials, with green peppers and sausage. 

 

When it comes to pizza crust, I'm usually an in-betweener.  I don't like it so thick and doughy that it overpowers the toppings, but I also want it to have a little bit of bready substance, and these pies really hit the mark.

By the time that we had finished eating, the rain had stopped falling, so we popped into a few more boutiques and ogled the clothing, housewares, and stationery.

We stopped in nearly every store and then realized that there was one more spot that we just couldn’t miss:  Buffy's Ice Cream Shop!

I went for the peanut butter fudge in a homemade waffle cone....

while GK chose the black cherry vanilla chunk.  But I was too busy slurping my own (in a very ladylike fashion, of course) to pause and snap a photo of hers.  By the time that we had finished, we were covered in ice cream and feeling like we were five years old again.  We strolled back to the car and headed towards Wellfleet, but first we stopped off at the Chatham Bars Inn to plan out a future girly getaway at the lovely hotel.

We took a quick peek inside the lobby and then admired the sea views (in both color and black and white).

Doesn't it look like a nice place to stay and get up to some glamorous, seaside shenanigans?

After getting our fill of the view and the salty sea air, we drove back to our home away from home at Wellfleet. That afternoon turned blustery and dark, so we stayed inside with girly limoncello and prosecco cocktails (modified from this recipe). 

We decided that it was a bubbles and tv sort of night, so we watched a bit of I Wanna Marry Harry (I'm not usually one for dating shows but the hilarity of this one combined with my love of all things English got me hooked) and then turned our attention to The Great Gatsby.  A bit cheesy at times but well worth a watch for the visual spectacle alone, and I actually quite liked some of the story-telling choices that Baz Luhrmann made with the film.  

With our heads full of jazz, glitter, and prosecco, we went to sleep with plans to spend the next day on the beach.  But I'll tell you about that next time.

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