Day Three

Day Three

Monday. A comfortable night’s sleep. Up at 6:30 to a very windy, cool and sunny start of the day.

Breakfast at 8 then off to Orleans Friends Market for specials and a stop at the Birdwatchers’ Store

At the BWS they will give you a free pencil if you tell them a good joke. I asked them if it could be a regional joke. Yes, that would be ok. I told them I was from Connecticut and my joke was: Hurricane Earl. That rang the bell and I got my free pencil.

Then it was off to survey MY Cape Cod…beach by beach.

Rock Harbor: Fleet’s in. The fishing fleet that is. Conditions way too dangerous to be out fishing.
Fort Hill: An artist was setting up his easel and I told him his paint was going to dry before he could get it on the canvas. ☺
Coast Guard Beach: Surf is really up and the tide is still coming in. Almost dead high. I stopped at the visitors’ center and bought two books.
Nauset Beach: Heavy surf. Up and over the berm. A woman was way to close to the surf and turned her back to the ocean. I cringed as she got ass-slapped by a breaking wave. She was lucky it didn’t drag her out to sea. She was soaking wet from head to foot. Not a smart thing to do.

At noon I stop at the cottage for some food and a potty break.

Marconi Beach: The sand is blowing something fierce and sand blasting everyone who has the courage to stand there. This was not happening on the other beaches. It’s probably the way the land curves and presents a different angle to the wind.
Marconi Site: The dunes have been eaten away to an extreme. Pretty soon they will have to move the diorama of Marconi’s telegraph station. I don’t remember it being this close to the edge…like maybe 5 ft.
LeCount Hollow: Spent lots of time on this beach many years ago. Today I took note of the sign that indicated the dunes were sliding.
Beachcomber at Cahoon Hollow: This isn’t the official beach, it’s a parking lot overlooking the ocean. The Beachcomber is a joint, club, tavern, bar…take your pick. It is now closed for the season.
Newcomb Hollow: High tide was 2 hours ago at 11 am, so the surf is not as impressive. However, with that gale force north wind, all the sand from Race Point is on its way to Chatham.
Ballston Beach: A steep climb to the top of the dune then a steep drop to the beach. I did the climb, took pictures, declined the drop to the beach.
Herring Cove Beach: What surf? Calm as could be.

Finally in Provincetown. This is just a reconnaissance tour. I’ll be back another day to get my fudge at Cabot’s and my lobster at Napi’s. The first thing I did when I got into town was find a bathroom where I could wash my sunglasses and glasses. They were coated with a fine, greasy, sticky film of salt and sand. Sat in Lopes Square while ate a cheeseburger and did some people watching,

Stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts to get my email and send replies. Replies have to be sent using my Yahoo! account. That’s ok. As long as it works. Caught up on fb.

As I came out of DD’s, two ladies were unloading antiques from a pick-up. There was a delicate rocking chair with a caned seat. I could not resist the temptation to go in. My goodness. It was like being in my mother-in-law’s house again. Caned shaker chairs, Hitchcock chairs, tables, etc. I spotted a lovely little “cabinet”. It was no more than 24” high, 18” wide, and about 6” deep. It was painted a cream color with floral stencil on the doors and the small drawer below. Price: $40. Hmmmm. I looked at the drawer…no dovetailing; the bottom was of a modern material (don’t remember what it’s called but it’s some kind of fiber on the back and smooth on the front…is it called ‘masonite’). The door panels were of the same material…painted and stenciled. The back was broken clear across the back so that it was two pieces held in place by nails. It was beat up, but it had charm. We negotiated. He would not take $25 or $30. I would not pay $35. It probably wasn’t worth the $25 I initially offered. Oh, well. Either some sucker will pay full price or I’ll be back and get it for $10. Billingsgate Art and Antiques…will eventually have a web site. I’m thinking they are a new storefront. Sure have a great location…between the post office and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Then it was home and into the shower. My hair was sticking out all over the place and felt like it was shellacked. Felt good to be clean again.