Vacation Blogging

~ Laura

We escaped from New Jersey last week and drove up to Cape Cod for the week. Both Steve and I were completely burnt out and needed to escape from work and the computer and the never shrinking pile of laundry. We plugged in the car DVD player and headed North with over-packed duffel bags and Steve’s fancy maps.

We stayed in South Yarmouth on South Shore Drive, which is on the lower arm of the Cape.
Capecodmap

We stayed at a hotel that bragged about being perfect for young kids and that’s what we needed.  We sucked up the high price and the motel-like rooms, because the kids were happy. Our room had a back porch over looking the ocean and there were three pools. Jonah had an excellent time with the planned activities for the kids. Both kids went to movie nights. The ocean wasn’t too choppy, so I could read my Harry Potter books without getting stressed out about Ian being knocked over by a tidal wave. If one kid wanted the ocean and the other needed to chill out with cartoons in the room, it was no big deal, because the beach was thirty steps from the room.

We didn’t do too much site seeing, because the kids were completely uncooperative. One rainy day, we drove up to P-town. Surprisingly, the kids had no interest in the leather shops and art galleries. Steve was dying to see the drag kickball game at 4:00 and Hedda Lettuce at the local theater, but there was too much whining from the short ones. So, we got a quick burger at the Burger Queen and drove off. With all the bars and restaurants and camp, Provincetown looked excellent. Steve and I pouted a bit in the car back to the resort.

After that, we didn’t stray too far from the hotel except to find food and miniature golf. I read a lot. Polished off another two  Harry Potters and memorized the new Lucky late at night by the bathroom light. (I’ve been reading the fall fashion magazines on the beach since I was a kid. I remember sitting with my friend Laureen on the beach when I was fourteen with Vogue and trying to figure out how we were going to do the Chariots of Fire look on a teenager budget.)

Was it an ideal vacation for me? Well, I chilled and that was a good thing. I ate some good food, also a good thing. But my ideal vacation is to be drop lifted into a foreign country with a sack of money, a map, and instructions to find one excellent meal, get invited to a local’s house for dinner, and to buy something amazing. The children may be in college before we do that or check out Hedda Lettuce. In the meantime, thank god for J.K. Rowling.

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Published by Laura

6 thoughts on “Vacation Blogging”

  1. I almost called you to come with us to the Chatham playground and/or out for ice cream Thursday night, but we were running late (cooking over a campfire isn’t as quick as a microwave 😉 and my son was acting up. Both kids were on the cranky side due to slight colds exacerbated by sleeping pretty much outdoors. My son has asthma, and we were nebulizing him twice a day. And then there was the rain on Monday night and Wednesday morning. We bailed Wednesday and went home overnight so my son could sleep in his own dust-mite-/mold-free bedroom and so we could bring the other car to divvy up the load on our station wagon (we were hauling a camper, a canoe, and 4 bikes). But we had a great time Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
    We’re still debating over whether to camp again next year or rent a house again. The house was definitely more comfortable, especially in the rain. We’re going up to the White Mountains for a long weekend in a few weeks, and we just canceled the camping reservations and booked a motel, but that’s partially because we’re not sure the Soob can haul the camper up mountains. It was cranky enough on flat Cape Cod.

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  2. Sounds like a great vacation to me. We’ve done the foreign trips with kids (Italy & France). And, you’re right, no great meals or great shopping. On the other hand, you do meet locals (kids are a magnet) and you explore a side of the towns you’d never get to without them. For example, who knew that there’s a great playground in venice that where you can see the sun set over the lagoon with the doge’s place as the backdrop?
    Our kids did well with outdoor sights that did not require pre-planning (eiffel tower, notre dame good, gugenheim museum in venice, not so good). You also have to decide that you’ll come back, so that you don’t try to do everything :-).
    We’re trying the week on the beach vacation next week. No pool, though, and the water is cold, and the rental house seems to be a bit heavy on mounted dear heads. But, I’m looking forward to how it goes. I’m excited about chilling.
    bj

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