It’s spring break and I’m not travelling. Bummer. So on this flashback Friday I thought I would take a look back at one of my favorite vacations and pretend like I’m out of the office.
It all started 10 years ago…
In July 2007 I got married to the most wonderful woman and began what continues to be the journey of a lifetime. There was a 6-year period of our lives where we did not live at the same address for longer than 12 months. School, jobs, school again, jobs again, abroad, back home—it was hectic, but we made it work. All throughout, we found things to keep us centered: for her, it was adventures to new places and for me, grilling. It took a few years, but we eventually found a way to combine our two interests, and it has made for some unforgettable memories. A dinner from the grill on a remote island in Croatia, amongst the vines at a chateau in Bordeaux, in a lush forest of the Russian River Valley before the wildfires took it, and yes, looking across the gentle waves of the bay in Cape Cod.
Many of the other folks we met on our trip to Cape Cod have been going out there as often as possible for their entire lives, and I assure you that there is a reason Cape Cod is wildly popular in the summer months. Beautiful summer days with a sunrise over the ocean in the morning. Pond hopping in the afternoon accompanied by a fresh dinner from the water’s bounty. A glass of wine and a sunset, all followed by a bonfire on the beach with a tipple of a fine local spirit. If you read that and thought to yourself “I should go there”, I can only agree.
I assume that people living in Massachusetts from the 1600s forward have continued to brave the harsh blizzards of winter on the promise of spring, the pleasure of summer, and the beauty of autumn. Here below I submit to you my most perfect of summer days on the cape.
I wish Texas had more small grocers
We took many trips to the Salty Market and it reminded me how much I like the small grocery/bodega concept. We stopped in on our way to the cottage to stock up on wine, craft beer and basic vacation staples. While browsing the shelves, the scent of bacon and fresh biscuits summoned us to the back of the store. The small kitchen at Salty Market turns out some delicious breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as a variety of prepared foods on a daily rotation. These are perfect to complement your meals or to serve as the foundation of your beach picnic. Salty Market—go early, go often.
Fresh seafood is the best seafood
After our run for the basics, we stopped at a local seafood market for the main ingredients. Cape Tip Seafood is a retail outlet of a wholesale/distributor operation, and we arrived right as they were opening for the day. I didn’t go in with any meal plans, but the scallops spoke to me. They were in the bay that morning and on my plate that evening. Doesn’t get much better than that. We also learned through our wonderful HomeAway host that there is a local fisherman in the Truro area accepts cash at his house in the morning and you can return to pick up lobster from his traps that evening. I’ve never prepared lobster so I passed on that, but I think I’ll give it a shot when we go back.
Truro Vineyard & South Hollow Spirits
While we were at Salty Market, I noticed a product called Dry Line Gin from South Hollow Spirits and immediately wanted to visit the distillery. Just down the road from our cottage for the week, the distillery sits on the property of its sister Truro Vineyards. There was a food truck serving casual, local fare from the popular restaurant Blackfish, and a cocktail bar set up in the grove between the vineyard and distillery. The area was littered with fine wooden chairs and benches, perfect for an early afternoon sit and sip. I sampled the rums, but for me the gin was the star.
The rums were good and the rum cocktails were quite refreshing, but they didn’t quite strike the same notes of the types of Rum I enjoy (Santa Theresa, Ron Zacapa, etc).
All that said, upon returning to our cottage to prepare for dinner on the grill, it felt very proper to mix a G&T and enjoy the cape views.
And now we grill…
When you are grilling away from home, you have very little control over the equipment available to you. Unless your vacation rental site has photos where you can see the grill, you are walking in blind. At the CBHF kitchen, I run a Weber kettle, WSM, and a PK Grill (that charcoal life). In this case, our cottage was equipped with a Weber Spirit (gas), which ended up being more than adequate for beach grilling.
The scallops got a quick toss in olive oil and a very light seasoning of salt and pepper. I erred on the side of having to pack my knives and go for under-seasoning because the scallops were so fresh. I grilled them quickly (maybe 2 minutes per side) and served them on top of a dressed arugula and orzo salad with a side of sunshine.
If you haven’t been to Cape Cod and you want to go, I highly recommend going in the summer even if it is busier and you need to book earlier. I booked in January for a trip in July and HomeAway was already alerting me that over 50% of the available locations had been booked. We decided to fly into Providence, RI spend a night on the town then drive out to the Cape in the morning. I’m glad we did because we got to visit Long Live Beerworks, but that is a story for another time.
Santé.
John