If you've ever been to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the Summer, it's likely that you fell in love with the beautiful beaches, small, hometown feel, and towns within. Strolling through the popular main streets of Osterville, Hyannis, Chatham, or Provincetown, the aroma of delicious food fills your nose. Live music surrounds you, making you feel cheerful. People wearing Cape Cod Lifeguard sweatshirts take pictures and window shop. It feels almost like a scene from a movie, it is the perfect Summer vacation.
After mid-August, everything seems to calm down. A car ride that would take half an hour to get to the other side of town weeks before, now takes only seven minutes. Restaurants are left with familiar local customers, and the beaches become dog-friendly once again. Some would compare Cape Cod in the off-season a ghost town. But to most of us who live here, it is just as exciting, if not more, as it is during the Summer months.
The Fall is filled with beautiful colors. Massive oak trees tower over Route 6A on a Sunday drive; leaves colored red, brown, and yellow dance in the wind gusts above. People pile in high school stadiums on Friday nights to watch the weekly football games. Sounds of equipment crashing together, quarterbacks yell out plays while fans eagerly watch and sip steaming hot chocolate as they cheer for their team. Signs at the end of driveways of local farms read, "Pumpkin Patch and Free Apple Cider," attract families. Children shriek with joy when they find the perfect one, struggling to pick up the heavily weighted orange ball. Cranberry bogs are harvested and the town prepares for the long winter ahead.
The first snowfall brings joy and hope of snow days. Ponds freeze over, and hockey players skate from the time they wake up, until it gets too dark to see the black rubber puck. Little ones who don't know how to skate yet sit on the side and watch on, dreaming about the day they'll be able to play with them. Playful screams and laughter echo out across the pond. Kids sled down the hills of golf courses on one side while teenagers make huge jumps to fly over on the other. Smoke whirls out of chimneys all throughout neighborhoods, fires keeping families inside cozy. The yellow sand hides under the white blanket of snow and the cold waves continue to lap onto the shore.
Soon after the snow melts, April showers bring May flowers. Grandma's will garden, Dad's will mow the lawn, and the days will get longer once again. While the hype around the Cape usually occurs in the summer, the other seasons have just as much to offer. So next time you plan a perfect Summer vacation, maybe plan another one later in the year as well. I can promise you'll have just as much fun.
