A quick holiday, hot water, seashore and lots of food

We went to the Cape for three days, two nights.

Lately I have discovered a secret super power: I can find great hotels that have exactly what I want for a decent price. Of course, you have to put in the hours. It takes dedication, skill and love.  Give me your requirements and I'll find you a deal.

From our first day there, in the wind and rain.

My requirements were few: I wanted an in-room jacuzzi in an interesting and beautiful place. And an in-room jacuzzi. Really, all I wanted was the jacuzzi, but we picked Cape Cod for the beauty and the seafood.

We're not overwhelmed with money...we carry lots of debt and live month-to-month, with one and soon two kids in college. I'm way underemployed with four violin students and an 8-hour/week message board monitoring job. And I'm working to create a business where I coach families with kids who are having a difficult time with their school experiences. It's been a struggle getting this business off the ground, and of course when we were hit with the diagnosis last December, the effort slowed down considerably. So we're not in a position for extravagance...but we have allowed ourselves an indulgence or two since the diagnosis.

Lindy and I both enjoy a good hotel room, eating out, and driving around. So I found a good deal at the Hyannis Harbor Hotel, $120/night with a jacuzzi. We went to see a terrific production of Lin-Manual Miranda's In The Heights at the Seacoast Repertory Theater in Portsmouth then went on to the Cape.

By the time we walked into the hotel, we were tired and cold (it was freezing and rainy) and I was so ready for a private hot dip in a rumbling jacuzzi. But a pipe had broken and there were no other available jacuzzi rooms.

I could have cried. My back and neck were killing me. They gave us an upgrade to a king room with couch, but the public jacuzzi was closed for the night! And in a different building from the room!

We should have gone over to the Tidewater Inn ($97 for the jacuzzi room, my second choice but Lindy liked the look of the Hyannis Harbor Hotel better) immediately, but spent the night there, and by 8:00 the next morning we had a refund and booked a room at the Tidewater and they let us in at 11:00! It was a more modest establishment but family-owned and friendly and the jacuzzi was to die for. I basically lived in it.

One bit of info from the first night: our room had a scale and while the hospital had told Lindy his weight was 154, that scale said he was 151. That was a wake-up call. We really have to get him to put some weight on! I decided to pull back on my absolute prohibition on refined carbs.

All 3 days that we were in Cape Cod we ate ourselves silly. Clams and oysters on the half-shell every day. The first night, pretty traditional stuffed sole for me and Frutte di Mare at Spanky's Clam Shack just down the block from our hotel in Hyannis. The next night we went for a more modern restaurant, The Naked Oyster, also in Hyannis and had amazing food, starting with oysters on the half shell from their own oyster farm. I had Ahi Tuna a la Basquaise and he had Grilled Swordfish, which h had ordered rare but came a bit more on the medium side...still juicy and delish but he was slightly disappointed. However, we ate ourselves silly again.

The Pilgrim Memorial toward in Provincetown

That first day was rainy and cold though we drove to a bunch of beaches and did some sightseeing. The next day was sunny and really wonderful. We did more beaches, and made a pilgrimage to Wellfleet (my favorite author, Marge Piercy lives there and I've always wanted to see it).

On to Provincetown. We walked around and marveled.  What a great little town. Neither of us had been there before. It's a cuter, older, and much more funkified Bar Harbor. Tiny streets, narrow sidewalks, awesome stores. Not packed with people, but people and traffic enough to imagine what it's like in high summer!

We went to the Lobster Pot, a real coup because we knew nothing about it beforehand. But take a look at this menu. Cast your eyes toward the Signature Bouillabaisses and Stews. We were definitely drawn to those. Lindy had the Cajun Bouillabaisse and I had the Pork and Clams Osso Bucco. We were in heaven and we ate ourselves silly.

Oh, but before that -- before that -- we had the amazing Russian Oysters, raw oysters topped with sour cream and...wait for it...caviar.  Heaven.

Of all the chocolate cakes and cheesecakes
I've had in my life, this may be the most
deliciously decadent thing I've ever eaten.

Cajun Boullabaisse

Clam and Pork Osso Bucco 

After that we hit the road. We were already going to get back home to Jackson at 10 pm. Then there was an incredible traffic jam getting over the Cape Cod Canal. We rolled in at 11. Happy to be home.