Cape Cod Trip - Part 2

 On Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early as we were heading to Boston for the day!

We stopped for coffee and donuts at Dunkin which is also a tradition every time we head off the Cape.  (I don't think I mentioned that when we went to Newport on Sunday.) This usually adds 15 to 20  minutes (at least) to any trip so we have to factor that in to our time.  There are a million Dunkins in Massachusetts and every one of them has a long line.  They love their Dunkin up there!  

Our drive in was very rainy.  And by the time we got there it was pouring down rain.  We had checked the weather and knew that the morning would be rainy but it was so windy and there was so much rain.  We finally (after I caused Dan to miss an exit and that added another 15 minutes to our arrival time) got to Regina Cleri to pick up Dan's uncle.  Regina Cleri is a retirement home for priests. Thankfully as we pulled in, the rain stopped and a little later the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful day.

Dan's adopted uncle (Ron) is also in Regina Cleri now.  Longtime readers might recall that every year we pick up Uncle Bob and take him to Glouchester to visit Uncle Ron and have lunch. Before we left for lunch we had a nice visit with Ron.  Due to health reasons, he was unable to go with us.

We headed out to Needham to meet Dan's brother Dick, and Jen and Jillian.  There was a lot of texting and calling on the way because apparently the little storm we drove through caused a lot of damage in Needham where they live.  There were trees and power lines down and a lot of flooding. The restaurant we were meeting them at (along with quite a few other businesses and homes) had no power.  So we had to pivot and go somewhere else but we finally made it!  It was so great to see them and spend time with them.

After lunch we dropped Uncle Bob off and walked around Boston for a bit.  We normally park in the Boston Common garage but decided to park in a garage that was closer to Fenway.  This garage was very small.  So small in fact that you had to let an attendant park your car.  Some of the cars were even up on lifts in kind of a makeshift second level. On our way out of that garage I noticed a sign that said the garage closed at 11:00 pm and no cars could be removed after that time.  I mentioned it to Dan and he brushed it off.  But the more we walked around, the more nervous I got.  So right before the game we moved the car. It ended up costing more money but I didn't have a good feeling about this garage and I just knew that if we didn't move it, the game would go into extra innings and we would have to leave to get the car and that would have been horrible.

Here's some pictures from our day in Boston.

Please note that Sarah and I are already dressed for the game but Peter and Dan didn't want to walk around wearing their Red Sox shirts as well because if we all had on Red Sox gear would look like "tourists".  Which I guess technically Peter is a tourist but Dan is not since he grew up there.  :)

Here are some pictures from Fenway:

 

 

The Red Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals but we still had a great day with Dan's family and had a great time at Fenway!

Wednesday morning Dan and I took a walk through the neighborhood and down by the water while the kids slept in.(We didn't get home from Boston until after Midnight.)  Then the kids and I ran some errands while Dan worked on a project at the house.  Then we had lunch at home and Sarah and I headed to the beach for a couple of hours.  We read our books and picked up shells.  Look at the pretty ones we found:

 Dan and Peter made their way to the beach and swam for a while then we headed back home where we grilled hamburgers and the kids worked on a puzzle. We aren't a big puzzle family but we usually try to work on one while we are at the Cape. 

After dinner we went to Skull Island for a round of mini golf.  It's been a long time since we've played mini golf on the Cape so that was a lot of fun! Sarah was determined to beat Dan but she lost by one point.  Peter and I duked it out for last place.

After mini golf we headed to the new Cuffy's location. Cuffy's is the premier place on the Cape for tee shirts and sweatshirts and they just recently opened a 20,000 square foot location with a boardwalk and ice cream shop, a sandwich shop,  and all kinds of cool gifts and souvenirs. You could literally wander through that store for an hour or more.  And they have a neat candy shop  with this on the wall: 

That's all done in JELLY BEANS!!!

After we left Cuffy's we headed to the Sundae School in Dennis for ice cream and then came back home and worked on the puzzle more. The puzzle is of the area of the Cape where we stay.  You submit your address to this company and they turn the map of the address into a puzzle.  It was really cool putting the street part of it together but everyone got bored of it when it was just water. Like I said we are not puzzle people. :)

It was cloudy on Thursday but Dan and I did our morning walk and then we went to some thrift shops on then at lunch at the Black Cat in Hyannis.  It was quite tasty.

After lunch, we visited with one of the neighbors and then I made spaghetti.  After dinner we headed to another Cape League game even though it was starting to rain a little.  We stayed for a while but the rain was too much for me and Sarah so we went to the car and waited it out until Dan and Peter were done. Sarah really wanted a hot shower after sitting in the rain so she and I went home while Dan and Peter got ice cream.

Friday was our last day on the Cape which meant a lot of work.  After breakfast and our morning walk, we went to the dump, returned cans, found Dan some Yarmouth tee shirts (after looking in a bunch of tee shirt shops), and started cleaning and doing more laundry.  After lunch we hit the beach for a few hours as a family.  We took some drinks and the speaker (Peter has an excellent Spotify playlist) so we hung out enjoying the sunshine, the water, the music, and our time together.

After the beach we had pizza (also a last night tradition) and got our final Cape ice cream at the Lil Caboose.  It was such a lovely last day on the Cape.  

After closing up the house, we were on the road by 7:00 on Saturday morning.  We (of course) stopped at Dunkin for coffee and donuts and made it to a Shake Shack somewhere (no clue where we were) for lunch.  I had never been to Shake Shack before and it was delicious!  We normally go to mass in Winchester, VA but we knew we wouldn't make it so we stopped in Hagerstown, MD for mass at St. Mary's.  

On Sunday morning I was reading my email in the car and got a note from someone who reads my blog and doesn't comment (Hey, Catherine!) and she was asking if we were at St. Mary's on Saturday evening.  She thought she recognized me!  How cool is that?  

After mass we made it to our hotel in Winchester and then headed to Old Town for dinner.  It's another tradition.  They have the cutest area where Loudoun Street is closed to traffic and you can walk on the street and shop or eat.  They have a bunch of restaurants.  This time we tried the Water Street Kitchen.  It was excellent! 

Dan snapped this pic of me outside one of the old buildings on Loudoun St.

Sunday morning we slept late, enjoyed another delicious (well, free anyway) breakfast at Hampton Inn and made our way home.  We got unpacked, got the laundry going, played with the cats and then joined Mom and Brad for a delicious home cooked meal at her house!

It's nice to be home but I had such a wonderful time with my little family.  Now that the kids don't live at home any longer, I really do cherish our time together.  

And here are a couple of parting shots. Dan took this picture on Friday evening when he and the kids went for a quick bike ride together...

And I took this one when I went down to the beach to see if I could spot them.

Until next time, Cape Cod.