by Simon
(Harwich)
On a sunny Cape Cod day as Summer wound its way towards Fall I decided to take a walk of exploration from my front door at The Platinum Pebble Boutique Inn along route 28 into West Dennis to see what I would find.
I set off at a brisk pace as I’d recently read that the speed at which you walked was a good indication of your life expectancy. Apparently the faster your average walking pace the greater is your longevity. The article went further to say that proficiency at balancing on one leg was also correlated with longer life, though it hadn’t clarified whether it mattered if this was the left or right leg! Anyway I’m amazed that somebody thought that the correlation of one-legged balancing and life expectancy was something that needed analyzing. It does however explain why Flamingos live so long! (and no I didn’t make that up, with a typical life-span of 40 years they are actually one of the longest living birds). Anyway back to route 28…
I used the opportunity to stride out with vigor to cover as much ground as possible while simultaneously stretching out my mortal days. Truth be told all the vigor and striding wore me out very quickly and I was gladdened to find myself outside Buckies Bakery Café in Dennisport before too long and able to stop for a much needed refreshment of Gourmet coffee. Buckies is a great place to stop any day between 6.30am and 6.30pm for freshly baked on the premises breads, pastries, biscotti, paninis, cookies, cakes, specialty sandwiches, soup etc. It’s been a Cape Cod favorite since 1999 when the owner Alyson first started her business. I highly recommend you stop by sometime and try their fresh turkey, stuffing and cranberry Panini (and not only in November at Thanksgiving) -it’s delicious! Better news for my feet is that in January they will relocate to a spot just around the corner from The Platinum Pebble!
Continuing along route 28 I passed the many antique stores and ice-cream parlors, with their respective treasures and pleasures, which are generously dotted along this portion of route 28.
Eventually the road brought me to the serene and pretty Swan Pond River, which offers superb kayaking opportunities and easy rental at Cape Cod Waterways. Heading north the shores of the river are lined with acres of conservation land providing great opportunity to spy hawks, waterfowl, herons and geese. A chart inside Cape Cod Waterways will help you identify the most common birds. If you decide to head south toward Nantucket Sound you’ll get views of spectacular water-front properties.
Not too far after the river I arrived at the famous Cape Cod T-Shirt outlet, Cuffy’s. From its humble beginnings back in 1980, Cuffy’s has become one of Cape Cod‘s success stories, evolving into the largest seller of sweatshirts in the U.S. and you won’t find a better place to stock up on Cape Cod souvenirs. Besides their famous T-shirts and sweats, Cuffy’s carries a full line of mens’ and ladies’ sportswear as well. And there’s plenty for the kids, too.
Opposite Cuffy’s is one of my favorite local restaurants, Norabella’s. Opened in 2009 by Jeff Wilson and named after his daughter Nora, this unassuming looking place is producing some of the best Italian cooking I’ve tried on Cape Cod. Make sure you call for a reservation as this intimate restaurant fills up quickly. I recommend the “Braciola di Vitello alla Griglia” (veal chop with pancetta and herb roasted garlic sauce, spinach, gorgonzola mashed potatoes and asparagus).
So there I stopped to reflect on a walk whose speed may not have added much to my longevity but had allowed me to take some time to enjoy a glorious sunny morning on the Cape.
If you want to catch up on other blogs from The Platinum Pebble please feel free to check out their website. I’ll also look to post blogs when I can on the best-of-cape-cod site.
Simon
