Cape Cod Here We Come!

As predicted, the rains came - and so did the wind.  That’s beach living – the meeting of land and sea always causes for high winds when the storm fronts come.

We decided that we would knock an item off the to-do list – at least partially.  When we get to Southeaster Massachusetts we like to visit Cape Cod.  Especially after Labor Day when most of the seasonal tourist have left and the shops run discounts to clear stock.  Because of our schedule we decided we would only take in Falmouth.  It is the first major shore town over the Bourne Bridge so there are plenty of shops and galleries to visit.  We found ample parking for the Ram in the lot at the intersection of Post Office Rd. and Katherine Lee Bates Rd. behind Eastman’s Hardware.  This put us right in the middle of the downtown section of the city.

Umbrella in hand we headed for the Chamber of Commerce to grab one of those cute cartoon maps of the area.  While there Lori noticed they had postcards and they were only 25 cents apiece – compared to $2.00 each at Davoll’s.  From there it was a stop in Noonan Park just to watch the world pass.  

As we’re sitting there the rain starts to pick up so we decided to investigate some of the local shops.  We first hit Celebrations, a unique gift shop with year-round Christmas items and Cape Cod themed gifts. Next we dodged the rain by ducking into The Gallery on Main.  This gallery has some incredible artwork including some fabulous seafaring pencil art by Barry O’Neil.  Some of O’Neil’s pencil art, including military drawings showing ships and aircraft, was displayed in the back room of the gallery because the gallery was setting up for a show in the evening.  After we leave the gallery and are heading down the street I noticed that most of the local businesses had bowls of water out for four-legged friends.  I always admire places were well mannered dogs are encouraged.  

As we are walking down the street we see Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium and I immediately think of Stowe, VT and the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.  I wonder if Ben & Bill’s can replicate it?  Turns out – close but no cigar – but this is still a great cup of hot chocolate, just not enough to knock off the top guy!

Now the rain is really picking up along with the wind so we decide to wrap up the visit.  We make a stop at the post office to get stamps.  For some reason the Falmouth Post Office does not carry pre-stamped blank post cards or post card stamps?  You would think with all the stores that sell postcards nearby there would be a run on the 35 cent postcard stamps.

As a closing thought we noticed this sign in Ben & Bills’ 

Who sees a display of chocolate boxes and says “Let me taste something in each box until I find the one I like.”?  Do we need to run the park bench scene from Forrest Gump?