
It's been a while since I've landed here with tales of adventure. Sometime you just have to store up... and then toss them all out at once. I recently had the best type of vacation I can imagine... adventures, exploration, friends, food. I spent a week on Cape Cod and in Boston. And here's a doozy of an account of the discoveries. (I feel like I'm setting y'all up for a big ol' vacation slide show.)

The instigation for the visit was the wedding of my friends Christine and Joe. 1) I stayed at their rental and had the two-story windmill all to myself. 2) The view of the marshlands out behind the house. 3) Joe and Christine, and wedding attendees Kathel and Jimmy. 4) Jimmy bearing the rings at the wedding. 5) Me on the lower level of the windmill... with warm decor, quirky art, and old musical instruments. 6) The ceiling in the second floor bedroom.

The wedding took place at the Edward Gorey house in Yarmouth, MA. Gorey is a renowned (and prolific) illustrator, known by most from his many books, and also his contributions to the PBS series Mystery and his Tony-winning designs for
Dracula starring Frank Langella. I'm enthralled with his work and his unique style. So I was like a kid in a candy store with the opportunity to look around. 1) The yard sign. 2) Pointing the way. 3) Illustration recreation and Black-eyed Susans that decorated the house. 4) Gorey's book
The Gashleycrumb Tinies inspires a scavenger hunt of sorts throughout the house where you can discover all 26 untimely ends of the unwise children. 5) Gorey's Tony and
Dracula designs. 6) Omblegroom, the 22lb. Gorey House cat.

The nifty look of these photos comes courtesy of the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone. Here is a selection of photos using the grainy black & white "film"... 1) Weathervane and original design. 2) Window decorated with some beloved objects. 3) Trick wallpaper... the ladies only show up when the light hits it from the correct angle. 4) Another window, this time with toy mice. 5) Edward's fridge. 6) Out another window is a Gorey-inspired graveyard.

In nearby Dennis, MA you'll find the Cape Playhouse and the Cape Cinema. 1. The front of the playhouse, showing the awning damaged by high winds the previous week (and when this photo was taken, anticipating hurricane Earl). 2. The playhouse has been open every summer since 1927 and the walls are papered with posters featuring many notable names who have performed. 3. Gertrude Lawrence is said to haunt the place. If you are in "her" dressing room and you don't bring her flowers, things tend to fall off shelves. A scrap of paper featuring her autograph fell from the rafters when a tour was being given. Spooooky (and fun)! 4) The Cape Cinema was built three years after the playhouse and now features art and foreign films on the one screen. 5) Vintage concession ads and preview graphics are part of the experience. I saw the Robert Duvall movie
Get Low while I was there. (Amazing!) 6) But, hands-down, the star of this place is the enormous mural covering the entire ceiling and walls... designed by famed illustrator Rockwell Kent and painted by legendary set designer Jo Mielziner. Wow!

On a full day's meandering, I drove the length of the Cape, from Yarmouth up to Provincetown. 1. Yours truly and the Highland Light in North Truro. 2) The "Nantucket Bucket" at Moby Dick's... steamed mussels, little-neck clams, and corn on the cob. 3) Some old pilings in Provincetown with the Pilgrim monument in the distance. 4) Charming P-Town. 5) Lobster roll! 6)Sun setting over the water... the only place you can see that on the east coast.

On the way to Boston, I navigated the Old King's Highway and stopped where I felt the calling... from Yarmouth to Plymouth (lots of "mouths"). 1. Lothrop Hill Cemetery. 2. A fire station sign announcing the imminent arrival of Hurricane Earl. 3. In Plymouth, a monument to Samoset (I believe). 4. The rock and my shadow. 5) The Mayflower II. 6) Burial Hill.

Boston adventures: 1) The view of downtown from my hotel room. 2) A couple pigeons atop the Boston Common plaque, with Park Street Church looming overhead. 3) The gravestone of Mary Goose, possibly legendary "Mother" Goose. 4) These may or may not be pencil nubs once used by a renowned and revered caricaturist. 5) A large milk bottle near the site of the Boston Tea Party. A little tea house down the street was advertising a special called "Earl's Fog" in commemoration of the hurricane... Earl Grey tea, honey, and cream. I couldn't help but feel the whole tea irony. 6) The Old State House and the site of the Boston Massacre.

1) Paul Revere's house. 2) Paul Revere monument with the Old North Church in the foggy haze of the background. 3) A blurry but pretty shot from the hotel room as the Earl rain began. It ended up being pretty much a dud of a storm. 4) Trinity Church. 5) In front of the Boston Public Library. 6) One of the many murals inside the library. I was a bit disappointed that the John Singer Sargent mural gallery was closed. Ah well... incentive to return.

1) A monument near the Boston World Trade Center and a fun shadow. 2) The Museum of Fine Arts. 3) I did get to see the Sargent murals here. 4) Scuplture study:
Air. 5) Fenway Park from the outside. 6) And looking in. Note: I also enjoyed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Sargent's huge
El Jaleo and many more amazing pieces in an absolutely stunning building surrounding a beautiful courtyard. There are also two large empty frames, left that way after the Rembrandts once held there were stolen in a big heist.
Well, that's the end of this particular journey. After a four hour bus ride, I was back in NYC. And I can say that I do indeed feel at home in my new home city based on a wonderful happy feeling as I approached the Midtown Tunnel. So many adventures to be had here... and even more just a quick jaunt away. Such a wealth! Take care, all! Peace and love to you.