Where Am I Now?

     B and I have traveled some 530 miles west from Cape Cod, a sixth of the way across the country .  . . and yet we're still on what most people regard as the East Coast.

     But I'm sure you only need one guess to figure out where we are now.

     It's my daughter, who is having her bridal shower in Buffalo, a place where she lived for two years and where she met her fiance. B has already married off her two sons (and even has a grandchild!) but this is a first for me. So since you all have more experience at this than I have, I'd like to solicit some advice . . . but that's for my next post.

     For now, I'm enjoying the sights and sounds of an old city that is getting some new life breathed into it. There are two big colleges here, the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State. There are a lot of young people around. And the state is building a big new medical complex here to help revitalize the city.

     Meantime, we're staying in an old mental institution that has been renovated into the Henry Hotel, named after the architect Henry Hobson Richardson who designed the complex in the late 1800s. We're staying on the second floor, in a room with 15-foot ceilings . . . don't ask me what's up in those towers!

Local Color

     For some reason -- and I don't know what it is -- the hydrangeas on Cape Cod are absolutely spectacular. B and I have a few hydrangeas in our yard at home. And they are fine. But what people grow here is a whole 'nother class of flower.

     Almost everyone, it seems, grows hydrangeas in their yard. The blossoms are lush, colorful and plentiful.

  
     Another popular thing to do on Cape Cod is decorate the mailbox . . .

     with flowers, birds and other designs.

  
     And as you might predict, some people decorate their mailbox with pictures of hydrangeas.

     But, of course, the main reason to come to Cape Cod in the summer is the beach. Here is the beach at the end of our street, which deadends at Nantucket Sound.

     Yesterday B and I drove down to Falmouth and rode our bikes along the Shining Sea Bikeway, which runs some 11 miles from North Falmouth to Woods Hole. We've done this before --- it's one of our favorite rides -- but as usual we only did the section from downtown Falmouth to Woods Hole, about four miles (then four miles back).

     On the way we pedaled past Surf Drive beach, which offers a panoramic view of Martha's Vineyard across Vineyard Sound.

     Then we came into Woods Hole, a tiny little town with one main street featuring shops and restaurants.

     But Woods Hole is also famous for marine research. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a facility here. The University of Chicago sponsors a marine biological laboratory. There's also the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Science Aquarium and a U. S. Coast Guard center.

 
     The Atlantis is one of the research ships.

 
     Woods Hole is also a gateway to Martha's Vineyard. People board the ferry for a 35-minute ride over to the island of rich and famous, where one-percenters buy homes for an average price north of $1 million.

     At the end of the day (being neither rich nor famous) we stacked our bikes on the back of the car, drove home and barbecued some hamburgers. Then we walked down to Main Street in Harwich Port for the music stroll, held once a week during the summer, which features bands playing up and down the street or on a little lawn in front of a shop.

     Alas, even for retirees, vacation must end. Tomorrow we set off on a new journey, driving 530 miles due west for another adventure . . .

Glimpses of Cape Cod

     I got a new camera for my birthday, a Canon SX730, and so I've been taking some pictures here on Cape Cod. This first one represents two favorite activities on the Cape -- boating and relaxing.

     Sometimes it's a little misty by the seashore, especially in the morning. This is a bed-and-breakfast located a block or so form Nantucket Sound.

     And then down on the beach . . .

     There are some pretty impressive homes on the waterfront. I think this one is owned by someone from the Boston Red Sox.
 

     But not all homes on the Cape are so grand. This one is certainly nice enough, but a little more down-to-earth.

     Here we are, back in town. Bonatt's is the local bakery that offers the Meltaway, its signature pastry with a nutmeg glaze.
    

     Down the street is the locally famous Sundae School ice cream shop . . .

     Last night we went to see the Cotuit Kettleers play the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod baseball league. The players are top college prospects from all around the country, testing out the competition for moving up to professional baseball. Cotuit beat Chatham handily, 12-3, and has three players (one from Duke, one from UCLA, one from Wright State) going to the all-star game this weekend.
    

     I don't think there's any baseball team named after lobsters. But they certainly make their presence known throughout Cape Cod. I had a lobster roll for dinner the other night. Here's a lobster on the front of a house ...

     Meanwhile, I told you about the guide to Naval signal flags that's posted on the wall here at the house we're renting. So, can you figure out what this sign says?

      Here's a clue:

Speaking the Language

     We went over this on a previous visit to Cape Cod, but honestly, I need an update on seashore nomenclature. We were sitting on the beach, staring out across the water of Nantucket Sound, when suddenly someone piped up, "What is a sound, anyway? What's the difference between a sound and a bay?"

Cape Cod Bay & Nantucket Sound

     Nobody knew the answer, exactly, although there were many opinions. Until someone pulled out his smart phone and googled the answer for us.

     So if you landlubbers will indulge my sudden interest in the maritime lexicon . . .

     A sound is a large ocean inlet (such as Nantucket Sound) or a narrow ocean channel between two bodies of land (such as Vineyard Sound). But there must be some flexibility in the definition, because . . . what is Puget Sound? By the way, the word sound also refers to measuring the depth of the water, and is also said of a whale when it dives to the bottom.

     A bay is a body of water connected to the ocean or lake that is surrounded by land on three sides, and is formed by an indentation in the shoreline. We have Cape Cod Bay and Buzzard's Bay here in Massachusetts, and a lot of other bays along the East Coast from Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay on south. The West Coast doesn't have so many bays.

Classic cove

     A gulf is a large bay, such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California or the Gulf of Alaska.

     So what's a cove? It is a small bay that's usually round or oval in shape with a narrow opening to a larger body of water.

     And how is that different from an inlet? An inlet is typically long and narrow, an indentation of the shoreline of an enclosed body of water.

More of an inlet

     And a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides created by glacial erosion. You don't have to be in Scandinavia to find a fjord. The Hudson River is actually a fjord.

     Then what's a harbor? A harbor is a bay or cove or inlet where boats are at anchor -- and is often artificially created or enhanced by breakwaters, sea walls or jettys.

     So that begs the question: What is a cape? It is a large and often long headland or promontory that extends into a body of water, often the ocean. In the case of Cape Cod, the land was formed by the southernmost terminal moraine of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (which also carved out the Great Lakes) some 20,000+ years ago. The same process also gave us Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island and Long Island.

     So there you have it . . . why, you can almost believe you've been at the seashore for a couple of weeks yourself!

Charlie Alfa Papa Echo / Charlie Oscar Delta

     We have planned this vacation in Cape Cod, MA, since January -- that's how far in advance you have to book in order to get a place that you really want.

     On our way here we were able to stop and see the wife of my friend who died . . . his widow now.

     B and I were talking in the car along the way, and we wondered whether we were visiting her for her benefit, or ours. We didn't even know precisely why we were going. We just knew we had to.

     We had a very nice afternoon with his wife and daughter as they showed us around their new condo complex (It's not officially a 55-and over community, she told us, but everybody who lives here is over 55). We reminisced about my friend, and she retold the story of how they first met at a meditation seminar, back in 1974.

     And then B and I continued on to Cape Cod. Or, as I talked about in my July 6 post "Singing Past the Graveyard" we moved on with our lives, which we do as human beings. Or as the singer said about Clementine . . .

How I missed her, how I missed her
How I missed my Clementine,
Till I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine.

     I guess maybe I feel a little guilty about moving on with my life. But I have to say, after agonizing over a multitude of decisions we confronted when moving and unpacking and settling in to our new place, it feels nice that today our weighty decisions involve whether we go to the Sea St. beach or the Bank St. beach. Do we go over to The Port for dinner, or get some corn on the cob and clam chowder and eat at home?

     The house we're renting belongs to a former captain in the U. S. Coast Guard Reserve. There is a lobster trap on the ceiling, a ship's captain's table in the living room, a map of Cape Cod shipwrecks on the dining room wall. The pillows have pictures of sailboats on them; the bedspreads are festooned with anchors, the bookcase is filled with titles like Tales of the New England Coast.

     There is also a guide to International Naval Signal Flags on the wall, and so last night and this morning I've been learning the signal flags. I'm doing this from memory, so correct me if I'm wrong . . .

Alfa
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
J ... I forget J
Kilo
Lima

... and I'll learn the rest of them for next time. Ahoy there!