#16 on Life List - Check!

I fulfilled a dream of my own, and a dream of my mom's - we went to Cape Cod. We have been there, done that, seen it all - and loved every minute of it!

Here are the things I loved about it:

Every house is frickin' adorable.
Every shop is tootsy-wootsy-cutesy.
I love the water, the coast, the ferry rides.
I love how houses are situated and how they face and the walking paths and all the trees.
I love that every little town is neat - there's not just one neat town, there's 20 of them all in a row just waiting to invite you in!
I love how they have bakeries and fudge shops and ice cream shops and Dunkin Donuts on every corner. And, delicious apple fritter- I wish I could have sent one home to my dad. We both love apple fritters.
I love all of the fresh seafood and lobster. Yummo!
I love how the people talk. That Boston accent will get you!
I love that anything kind of goes in terms of dress- you can dress up or dress down and it's fine.
Those people love dogs - and then some. Like dogs shop in the shops with you- just browsing like everyone else. There are lots of dog shops. And, all the owners have dogs that go to work with them everyday.
Jogging to the ocean. On my jogs I'd think to myself, "Well, in Des Moines, right about now, I'd be passing the fifth house on the block" or "I'd be passing Happy Joe's" - but there, I got to pass adorable cottages, a cemetery dating back to the 1800s and I got to run on the beach!!! They don't know how good they have it!

Here are the things I didn't like:
Apparently, fountain pops are hard to come by. I don't think they know what they are missing out on. And, at the last shop, we actually went in to ask where the next fountain pop shop could be found, and the lady looked at me and said, "Where are you from?" And I said, "Iowa" and she said "Yeah, I knew you weren't from here- we don't have fountain pops or soda fountains or whatever you're calling them." Okay, then.
On that note, I would give the people of East Coast a C- in their conversational skills. It's like they've never heard of "small talk" before.
I'd give my mother an A++ when it comes to conversational skills. She tried and tried and tried and she kept getting knocked down. I had to finally clue her in on the fact that I don't think the people here like talking like she does...
I don't think the people laugh a lot. There were so many times that I caught my sister, my mom and I laughing out loud- and absolutely no one would smile at us or laugh with us. I always thought that was protocol but apparently not.
The fact that summer doesn't start til Juneish/Julyish. That just stinks - that's a short season for them!
That there are only two towns on the entire Martha's Vineyard island that you can drink alcohol....seriously, we went to a place called "Black Dog Tavern" and no beer was served. Don't you think they should change the name?
Church. Okay, to be fair, it was my suggestion...the cutest little Lutheran Church sat right across from our Bed and Breakfast. It was Sunday. The timing was good. I knew as soon as we sat down we were in for a treat. It was old-school Lutheran church. We recited, we sat up and down, we sang every single thing we could sing, we repeated, we did it all. Mom was right at home- said it reminded her of church growing up. All I could think was "My sister is going to kill me for this grand idea." About 2 hours later, we emerged unharmed and God smiled down on us for the good attempt- even if we were thinking about the hours that could have been spent shopping...

And, here were some of the funnest times of the trip:
Listening to the Garmin tell us directions and making fun of it.
"Dinging" my sister for every time she said "The thing about it is...". It's similar to those people who always say the word "literally" - yes, it's that annoying.
We went on this bus ride with an 80-year old and he gave us his entire history from when he was born until present day. He honestly didn't take a breath the entire time and I kept saying things like "Uh huh" and "I hear you" and "I know what you mean" and "Go figure" - and never heard a dang word he said.
Provincetown....very, very "free" town - would put Key West to shame- anything goes. And, it was opening young femal lesbian weekend- which was very appropriate for our trip....I have to say, I made sure I was never standing too close to my sister. And, watching mom shake her head or gasp every block or two. She came out of that town more conservative than what she went in...that's for sure!
The old men who'd wave and cheer me on in the mornings as I'd jog by.
The guy who got all huffy and puffy in the airport because we stole his seat or something - I'm still not sure why he stormed off.
The fact that on every single flight, my seat was right next to the bathroom in the very back.
There were just a lot of good times had by all. I think it's a good thing when you can leave with your mom and your sister and come home completely unannoyed by both of them. And, the funniest part was after I had been home about an hour, I called my sister and Guthrey answered and said, "What do you want? You just spent 5 days with her! What more could you possibly have to talk about?" It was quite funny actually.

But, I think I mostly owe my dad a "thank you", and a "you're welcome" and a "sorry." The thank you is for everything - the food, the gifts, the cash, the tickets - it was an amazing trip that would have never been possible without you! What a great dad I have! The "You're welcome" is for taking mom on a trip to Martha's Vineyard so you weren't forced to shop with her AND for giving you time at home to order in, grill out, and do your "honey do" list on your own schedule! And, the "sorry" is for the fact that I'm sorry that you gave me your credit card to book this trip, and I still have all of your card information that I plan on using again soon for future trips.