Sneaking to the Cape

January is not the best time for a Cape getaway, you say? It's lonely and bad weather and a long way to drive? Think again, ye sayers of nay. Let's start with parking spaces. The very best ones of all time are available to you this month and we're talking directly OUTSIDE THE DOOR of desirable restaurants, okay? Right in front of shops. You won't even get your feet wet. Of course that's if they're open, but never mind that. TJMaxx, or T's as I call it, is tremendous in Falmouth and I have never been there in the winter when I haven't found a fabulous buy. Uh well, except for this time. Also my favorite Ooh La La has closed down. Let's give a big OH NO to that.

You can't have everything.

So it's a little forlorn. So the Christmas lights are blinking with a few blanks. But it's still time off. It's still vacation.

THINGS YOU CAN'T DO AT THE CAPE IN JANUARY:

laze at the beach and get a terrible sunburn

laze at the beach and get sand in your paperback

laze at the beach and drink wine from a Seven-Up bottle (my friends do not do this. Only I do this. Let's make that clear).

do pretend karaoke out on the deck (has to be moved indoors.)

mingle and people watch at the Woods Hole ferry

Visit certain loved establishments, like Cape Cod League baseball and Seafood Sam's (dirge-like music here). I just found out that Mozart's last great work was the little known but very poignant Requiem for Closed-Down Dairy Queen. You can sometimes find the CD on EBay.

THINGS YOU CAN DO AT THE CAPE IN JANUARY:

Drive around pitifully.

Make lots more phone calls.

Analyze your life and your mistakes a lot better and with more attention to detail.

Rent lots more movies. We watched The Duchess, a great Wallpaper Movie and the only time Ralph Fiennes has not been sexy.

See into people's houses much more easily.

Enjoy relative lack of snowfall, compared to rest of Massachusetts.

Get into more intellectual pursuits like going to the library and boning up on existentialism, which we skipped this time.

Can't think of any others.

Celebrate an important birthday of a dear friend.

January, in fact, is the only time we can do that.

And it was grand. This is a girl's weekend. We watch Girl Movies and eat Girl Food and talk about Girl Stuff. No shopping is considered excessive. No observation is considered too odd, especially if it starts, "I sometimes feel...." It's pretty much heaven.

Getting ready for class tomorrow--am I allowed to sigh? What about groan or say ugh? Oh, I wouldn't do that. I'll be happy to see the little nippers.

Sign posted in the Eiffel Tower as you wait to go up in the "ascenseur":

ATTENTION PICKPOCKETS ACTIVE IN THIS AREA PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

I think that qualifies as une bloopeur.

A bientot

love,

becky