Cape Cod Revisited

My friend Jessie is going to the Cape this week, and she asked me about any places she ought to stop while she is visiting. I lived on cape for a summer as an intern with the Cape Cod Times, and, though I remember how difficult it was sometimes, I look back at it fondly. I really want to return with Aaron and get to visit the places we went last time without him leaving.

He drove my car from Omaha, Neb., to State College, Pennsylvania in a day to pick me up from my residency at Penn State. By the way, State College is also an amazing, cute little town. I'd love to go back there, too. Anywho- He picked me up in State College and we drove to my summer home on the Cape (ha!). It was my first time to ever go to the East Coast, and driving through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts took some heavy-hitters off my 50-states list.

I remember when we finally got to Yarmouthport, where I was going to be renting a room, I was speechless. Everything was so old, quaint, beautiful and wonderful. At the same time, I was scared of being in this foreign place, where I knew no one, and devastated that my best friend was only dropping me off and then flying back to Nebraska for the summer. I remember holding back tears as we drove into the driveway of the amazing home I would live that summer. I remember looking to Aaron for comfort, and seeing how excited he was for me to have this experience, and knowing how amazing the experience would be, and still feeling completely sad to lose my partner.

When he left later that week, I was devastated. I think the dark Cape nights made it especially hard for me. There are not many streetlights, and the few that scatter across my old house on Main Street are dim, and I would try to go to sleep but lie awake and worry and be lonely.

Looking back reminds me of how fragile I was for those first couple of weeks on the Cape. Tonight, as I was trying to remember the names of shops and restaurants, I googled the address of the old house where I lived to get bearings on locations. I couldn't believe it what I saw...

That white car on the gravel driveway? That's mine. This two-year-old image really made me smile. It made me even more thankful for the two years since my time on Main Street and especially for the boy whom I have travelled so many more miles with since then. I look forward to so many more.

Nauset Beach Lighthouse
Taken the day before Aaron left the Cape ~ June 2009