1.) We’re just about an hour door-to-door from Boston, and only an hour and 15 minutes from Providence. Get out of the city for a couple days of rest and relaxation on the beach. Construction on the Sagamore Bridge is now complete, the new flyover bridge entry from Route 3 eliminates the old nightmare of rotary traffic coming onto the Cape, and Route 6A, the Old King’s Highway, is newly paved and a pleasure to drive.

2.) All our favorite clam shacks are open for the season, serving up succulent fried clams, scallops, shrimp, oysters, and onion rings. It’s not officially summer until you’ve had your first lobster or clam roll of the season.

3.) Four Seas Ice Cream opens for its 76th season this Saturday, May 22 with its annual 15% off sale of your favorite flavor. Come down and grad a pint or two to take home.

4.) Cape Cod Beer just sent out this great post on Facebook: “We just got off the phone with your boss. He/she wants you to leave early today and enjoy the weather with a fresh Craft Beer to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. We wouldn’t lie.” Come taste the difference with a locally brewed “Beach Blond”.

5.) Cape Cod Restaurant Week continues through the 23rd of May, and Provincetown Restaurant Week is just beginning. Try a great dining experience for a fraction of the price.

6.) The rhodies are blooming at Heritage Museum and Gardens. Take a stroll through their lovely manicured grounds and go for a whirl around an authentic carousel.

7.) The 14th Annual Nantucket Wine Festival is celebrating all things vino through May 23rd. Take the Steamship Authority’s Fast Ferry and be on the island in just a little over an hour. It’s a great day trip from the High Pointe Inn.

8.) The Harbor Your Arts Artist Shanties open for the season on Saturday, May 22. Support the arts and score a great piece of local artwork at affordable prices.

9.) Truro Vineyards host the Coastal Wine Trails Kick-Off event on Sunday, May 23rd from 1-3PM. Nine wineries from Southeastern New England will be sampling their wines for the afternoon.

10.) Anthony Everett, co-host of Channel 5’s Chronicle HD, featured Cape Cod this week on this nightly news magazine. If you love Cape Cod’s natural charms – but can do without summer’s cars and crowds – spring is prime time. He samples some extremely fresh, world famous oysters, gets a dramatic picture of how Mother Nature is changing the shape of the seashore, and finds a taste of France by way of Las Vegas. Watch all three parts of the episode and see what all the buzz is about.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Rich and I met Doug and Dianne Langeland, publishers of Edible Cape Cod, a magazine dedicated to celebrating the abundance of local foods, on a day cruise to Nantucket a few years back. Our friend Ali scored the winning bid on the trip at a fund-raising auction and invited us, along with the Langelands, and Todd and Beth Marcus, owners of Cape Cod Beer, to join her and her partner, Tommy, aboard a classic Trumpy yacht owned and captained by director Dan Adams. It was an early September day that could not have been more beautiful…clear blue skies, warm sunshine, and smooth sailing. Doug and Dianne brought champagne, and Beth and Todd, a growler of Cape Cod beer, of course. We opted for wine.

It was a convivial group, to be sure, made even more so by the liquid refreshments. We drank champagne on the way over, and beer on the return trip. Wine accompanied lunch, which was served onboard the vessel by the ship’s crew while docked at the marina in Nantucket, after which we all dispersed for various adventures in town. The day was magical, and fast friendships were formed as a result.

We were all fairly new business owners on Cape Cod at the time. Doug and Dianne had recently launched Edible Cape Cod, and Todd and Beth started Cape Cod Beer around the same time we opened the High Pointe Inn. Tommy and Alice had just returned to the Lamb and Lion Inn after transitioning their former inn in upstate New York to its new owners. Amazingly enough, we are all still here, each successful in our own way and supportive of each other in so many ways.

For example, our good friend, Tommy Dott, author extraordinaire and fellow innkeeper who writes for Edible Cape Cod, published an article in the Spring 2010 edition of the magazine that showcases the High Pointe Inn and other B&Bs on Cape Cod who support the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” movement. In it he describes how many of us have embraced the concept of culinary tourism and made a concerted effort to integrate all things local into our ever-expanding menu of guest services, whether it be an authentic Cape Cod adventure like shell fishing, or simply taking advantage of the local farmers’ markets held throughout the Cape during the growing season to flavor our breakfast offerings. Featured in the article is Rich’s Hangtown Fry recipe, an off-beat but delicious omelet filled with, among other things, fried oysters. It might be an acquired taste for some, but for a lover of the bivalve, it is the breakfast of champions.

Tommy was honored recently by Edible Cape Cod as a “local hero” for his contributions to the magazine, many of which shed light on the unsung heroes and humble entrepreneurs all over Cape Cod that help make it such a remarkable place to live and work, as well as visit. At the function held at the Naked Oyster and hosted by Doug and Dianne, we bumped into Beth Marcus, drinking of course, an IPA from Cape Cod Beer. We reminisced about our voyage to Nantucket that fateful day, and how far we had all come. Assembled as we were to honor our local heroes, I felt honored to be among the hardworking farmers, restauranteurs, brewers, confectioners, authors, and innkeepers that work so hard to create something honest and unadulterated for those of us who are lucky enough to live and work here on Cape Cod, and those who have the good fortune to visit.