When You Get An Awesome Text

When you get a text on Friday morning that says "Hey, what are you doing this weekend, we are coming to Cape Cod?!" from one of your favorite blog friends.....you leap out of bed and do the happy dance. 

Then, you text your mom and dad to see if said friend and brood can stay in their nicely finished basement for the weekend.

Then, you wish the day to go by quick so you can see your friend and her fantastic children first thing Saturday morning.

Then, you see them and hug and say that you have to go to a soccer game in the pouring (and I mean cats, dogs and maybe cows) rain while they go to lunch. When you finally catch up, you take them to the Fish Pier to show them the beauty of Cape Cod in the late afternoon. 

Then, you proceed to ask your ex-husband for lobsters and cook them yourself with the help of your parents and have somewhat of a crazy "dinner party" Saturday night.

You decide to go to Provincetown on Sunday to vicariously live through a tourist's eyes of Cape Cod. Of course you have to torture all the kids to take a picture at the "anchor" because every time you go to P-town you must do this with whomever is with you.

You of course take as many pics of the kid you have with you because you know she has to update her Facebook page.  Thankfully, she allows 2 of your friend's kids into the last picture.

Luckily, someone takes a pic of you and your friend so you can actually prove you were together! (Thanks B)

Then you proceed to cry your way to work on Monday morning while leaving your friend to her own devices because her town gets Jewish holidays off and yours does not.

Then you count down the days until August because "friend" and family have threatened to come back for 2 whole weeks!!!!

If you would like to see Liz's version of our weekend go here. Special thanks go out to Garth (not his real name) and my mom and dad :)

Cash Mob

Things are quiet on the Cape in the winter. Many, many of the cute little downtown shops close their doors for the long winter months of January, February and March. Some close up shop from Columbus Day weekend to Memorial Day weekend.

However, there are some hardy folks whom we are grateful for because they keep their shops open all year long.

Yesterday was the beginning of a new era for shopping in town. BJ one of the owners of  Millie's General Store (featuring all American made products) came up with the idea for a cash mob. We all know what a flash mob is (and with any luck I will participate in one someday), there was even one on Modern Family. BJ's idea brought 17 brave pioneers to the elementary school parking lot yesterday afternoon at 3:30, none of us knew where we were going. We were told to bring $20 and the theory was to all walk into one store and spend at least $20. What a boon that is in the middle of winter for a store owner to make an extra $300.

The store of the day was Cape Fisherman's Supply. Cape Fish is a year round store that has been in town for a long, long time. They service all the commercial fishermen in town and in the summer serve the sporting fisherman, too. Well, 17 women were a little skeptical about going to Cape Fish and what we would find for $20. The new owner of Cape Fish was pleasantly surprised when we all busted into his store. There was laughter, chatter and many questions of "what is this?". Everyone walked away with something. People bought belts with fish on them, t-shirts, cleaning supplies and knives. Afterward some of the women went to The Red Nun (a local year round watering hole) and were treated to wings!

This is a fantastic idea that has bonded one little town and will hopefully grow to other towns in areas where winter is just a little too long. I anticipate next month's secret adventure to double in size and enthusiasm!

This is B holding up one of our purchases in front of the store. Not a t-shirt for her, but for the little bundle of boy joy that will be born into the family in June!

Chatham 300

Chatham is celebrating it's 300th birthday next year. This has resulted in much fan fare and celebrations and historical research around town. I was asked to write a small blurb on something having to do with the fishing community for a book that will be published for the event. Here it is.....

I am blessed to live in a town where fishing has been one of the mainstays of the local ecomony. I feel very lucky to call the fishermen my friends. Fishermen  have increasingly taken a backseat to the tourists and multi-million dollar homes in Chatham. However, the Chatham Fish Pier is the one place all those tourists love to visit in the summer. 

The fishermen and their families have taken some hard hits from the government in the past 12 or so years. The restrictions have been so confining that many of the men have found other jobs, have been forced to sell their boats and their homes. Many of the men started fishing with their Dads when they were little. Many of the fishermen now, do not want their children following in their footsteps. 

My favorite thing about the fishing community is how loyal they are to each other. No matter how much they jockey their positions out on the sea to get the best and biggest catch, they are one family in a time of need. I have seen men gather at the Pier when a fellow fisherman’s boat sank. I have seen them come together to prepare for a hurricane or large storm. The most touching times are when a fisherman or child of a fisherman is battling a life threatening disease. The families rally, donations come in and the community comes together as one to help. I have been blessed to see this happen over and over again. 

My daughter(14) went fishing one day this summer with her dad. He bought her pink fishing boots and new Grundens. He picked her up at 4:30 in the morning and by the time I saw her at 11 AM, she was laughing, joking with the crew and rinsing out fishing totes. A highlight of her day was bantering on the radio with the men who had watched her grow up. These men (and women) are the salt of the earth and I am so proud to be considered one of the family. 

Say Cheese! It's a Giveaway!

So my friend Chris

is officially published!!

He is a fabulous photographer and has snapped many pictures all over Cape Cod and Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. There are pictures from the early morning, the middle of the night, middle of the day and from an airplane. The photos in this book encompass the feeling and beauty of Cape Cod.

And because Chris is a great guy, he has given me one of his books (signed!) to giveaway!!!

Just leave me a comment on this post finishing this sentence...

If I came to Cape Cod, I definitely would want to see ___________________.

I will use the handy random number generator thing to pick a winner, therefore I am not judging your answers, just wanted to make you think a little. You have till next Wed the 14th!!