The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsThe saddest day of the year for us. And we always know it's coming.
We have just spent our usual vacation on the outer tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. Today was our last day. I say "USA" because it's a cumbersome trip to get here from our home in the German Rheinland. A genuine pain in the ass to tell the truth. A sleepless night packing, the short flight to Schipol Airport (Amsterdam), the long flight to Boston, spending the night there, then a taxi back to the airport, renting a car, then the 3 hour drive out to Truro (with a pit stop to pick up my 12 string from the incredible Fran Ledoux in Marstons Mills, the unsung hero of fretted instrument repair on Cape Cod).
But when we get here--oh MAN do we get our reward. Nature pure, crystal clear water on either side, and out here, there's only a 6 mile wide sliver of land between the Bay and the Ocean. Anything could cross your path. A raccoon, a coyote, a wild turkey, a hummingbird, an oriole, a goldfinch, a blood-red cardinal, a deer, a possum, even a skunk. In the water, seals swim up to within 20 feet of you--not necessarily good, as the water is now so warm that Great Whites are infesting the area as well.
And then there are the people--after 30 years of making this trip, we know plenty of the locals, and I do a guest hour on the local community radio station, have been doing it for 30 years now. A local art gallery owner we are friendly with, a painter, and Russian girls that stop me on the street because they remember me from the year before when I spoke to them in Russian while they were packing bags at the local supermarket in a work-study program. The crusty old white-haired woman who owns an over-priced parking lot in Provincetown--but we park (sorry, "pahk" there anyway, because she's so entertaining, and we know she only has three and a half months to make her whole year's income. We haven't been going out to the (usually good) restaurants much, since my wife is a gourmet cook, and we get the freshest local seafood there is in the tiny shops run by local fishermen.
The weather has been the best EVER this year. I had a pile of mail sent up from Dallas. I hardly looked at it the whole time. I had intended to write some more of my second book on rainy days. Except there haven't been any. Just great days with this amazing air they have out here. We've had some visitors. Mostly family, one old friend of my wife she has known for 30 years. But all are gone, and we are eating our last meal, packing, and wondering how the HELL did 27 days go by so quickly?
Tomorrow, the real world starts again. Damn. I could get used to this.
UTUSN
(70,711 posts)DFW
(54,405 posts)Some people like the tropics, some like the mountains, some like the action of the big city. We've been there, done that.
I get German vacation conditions, so I can do this and not be AWOL.
The problem here is that there are people I have been seeing here for the last 30 years, most of whom are our age or younger. They are happily retired, and they are now telling us, "WTF are you still working for? You're practically one of us now. Find yourself a place here and come join us!"
When I was on the radio on Monday, the moderator was asking me why I was still working, and I told him I didn't want to die of boredom. He said, "oh really? You enjoy the nature here, you play music, you write, you travel, and you're worried about dying of BOREDOM?" I realized that I didn't have much of an argument any more to refute him.
Suich
(10,642 posts)DFW
(54,405 posts)You're right!
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
DFW
(54,405 posts)Our two daughters (left) and my brother (far right) were here for a week, too.
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)DFW
(54,405 posts)One of the most beautiful women I ever met happened to be nearsighted. By the time we got married, and I gave her her glasses back, it was too late. Our daughters not only inherited her looks (they are 32 and 30, look 10 years younger), but my wife's father's 20/20 vision as well.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)DFW
(54,405 posts)I don't think political correctness forbids that yet, or a lot of art museums would be out of business.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)but I'm still willing to trade. ---And now for something completely different....
DFW
(54,405 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,637 posts)I must admit I worry because you work so hard all year long. I'm glad you get this vacation, but I also wish you could make it permanent.
Safe travels home!
DFW
(54,405 posts)If I live that long! LOL
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,637 posts)DFW
(54,405 posts)irisblue
(32,980 posts)best lobster I've ever had. Mussels in wine sauce over pasta ( I tried to make this at home) I'm glad you had such a good time, but I'm a bit envious.
olddots
(10,237 posts)it might be the air .
DFW
(54,405 posts)And the friendly natives!
qnr
(16,190 posts)Ilios Meows
(26 posts)I really miss beaches in Mass and the Outer Cape in particular. It really is a piece of paradise.
DFW
(54,405 posts)We agree! There is a reason we make the journey all the way from Düsseldorf every year.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Ilios Meows
(26 posts)The beaches that comprise the Cape Cod National Seashore are gorgeous. The towns of Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet are great. The Belgian coast is kind of meh by comparison. Too many high rises and not enough nature.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Ilios Meows
(26 posts)Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Anniversary of Nixon's resignation, and you look like you're old enough to join me in remembering it.
Executive deleted!
DFW
(54,405 posts)And I remember it VERY well!
NJCher
(35,687 posts)so you live in Germany, vacation in Truro, and have mail sent up from Dallas. I don't understand the mail part.
Cher
DFW
(54,405 posts)It's the HQ of the outfit I work for is, and my US residence. When I get mail in the States, it goes to Dallas, and they forward it on to whatever continent I'm trampling that week.
malthaussen
(17,204 posts)... to a few dozen more such days in future years.
-- Mal
DFW
(54,405 posts)....be spot on for many years to come!!
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)niyad
(113,344 posts)copy of your book is always out.
DFW
(54,405 posts)Thanks for letting me know!
Ilios Meows
(26 posts)He's an American pastry chef who worked at Chez Panisse, wrote some very good cook books, and lives in Paris. He reviews some of the food that he had while staying in Wellfleet. Some of my old faves (PB Boulangerie, Macs, Arnold's) are mentioned:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2015/08/cape-cod-new-england-vacation/
DFW
(54,405 posts)After that link, the outer Cape would be overrun!
Ilios Meows
(26 posts)When I started going there, it was so quiet, except for P-Town. You could swim at the kettle ponds with barely another soul. Truro at least maintains its quaint, rural charm.
trof
(54,256 posts)Loved our week at the Cape.
Of course getting there and back was a bitch.
TRAFFIC!
But it was worth it.
I'll never forget the time I was 'learning' to sail my tiny Snark and got caught up in a yacht race.
I was lucky the racers didn't have firearms on board.
We like the 'salt life' on the gulf coast, but do miss the Cape.
Aristus
(66,388 posts)I lived there for three years I can barely remember when I was a kid, and my Dad was stationed there. Then I was stationed there myself when I was in the Army.
I'd give anything to go back. What a wonderful country...
DFW
(54,405 posts)I'm now in Chicago for work. Next week, back to Dallas, then up to DC.
Then over to Vancouver for 2 days, then up to Alaska for 10 days, then back to DC for 3 days, then back up to Boston for a wedding in Lenox, then back to Boston and THEN back to Germany. Germany has its good and bad points, but as long as you can dodge the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats (almost impossible), and the weather isn't TOO miserable, it can be tolerable. At least I am married to one of the friendly natives, and she makes things tolerable pretty much wherever I am.
But for now, miles to go before I sleep.