No Vacationing Beyond This Point

Every year down here I feel a little pang of regret that we tend to revisit the same old haunts.  I get the urge to explore, see new sights.  Today we accidentally took a trip along Route 6A and saw more of Dennis, Yarmouth, and Barnstable than we have in a long time and more than we would have liked to.  Pretty towns but they ought to post a sign at the Dennis town line: "Tourists beware.  No vacationing beyond this point."  At Yarmouth it ought to say "Antiquers Only."  And at Barnstable, where the county courthouse dominates the landscape, it should say "Caution. Lawyers outnumber actual human beings."

We were on our way to the Cape Cod Museum of National History when the blonde decided she was feeling peckish.  She suggested we have lunch first.  I suggested we turn around and head back into Brewster to eat at one of our old favorite roadside snack stands.  “We were just there last night,” she pointed out, which I didn’t think was really a convincing argument against going there but on vacation I like to be flexible.  I named another old favorite in Orleans.  “Keep going this way.  Let’s see what’s down here,” she said reasonably.

Twelve miles later.

I swear.  Those towns must put all their fun over on Route 28, along the Sound.  On the Bay side, where we were, lost and hungry, it's all residential.  If there’s a clam shack, lunch counter, or seafood place on 6A between Brewster and Barnstable it’s camouflaged and only tourists renting in town who get a permit are told where to find it.  Just before the museum’s grounds there’s a seafood shack that we passed up because it had no shade and didn’t look all that inviting anyway.  The owners should put up a large sign:

LAST FRIED CLAM ROLL FOR TWELVE MILES.

We'd have stopped.

Comments

[djw]

Lance, I never really considered the Cape Cod area to be one of my fantasy vacations, but you're posts are making me yearn a bit for something I had no idea I wanted. Sign of a good writer, I suppose.

[Jack (CommonSenseDesk)]

The travelogue is good and the osprey pic is a good one (even if it isn't your camera). I heard the clams were in short supply this summer because of red tide. Are they readily available? Going to the Cape with a shortage of clam rolls is like going to Maine and missing Reds.

[Lance]

David,

Thanks. The check from the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce really comes in handy.

Jack,

Red tide is a problem, but so far there seem to be enough clams to go around. They just cost more.