Cape Cod Day Trips

My neighbor and I took a few hours this week to visit the local Heritage Museums and Gardens, located in Sandwich, Massachusetts. It's on Cape Cod but it's also a totally different face of Cape Cod than we usually see. No lighthouses or beaches, but beautiful flowers, shrubs, sweeping meadows, paths around the lake, art exhibits and herb gardens. I've visited many times with my children and with my Girl Scout troop, but never on my own or with only adults. What fun!

There's something for everyone - Hidden Hollow is filled with great hands-on stuff for young kids, the antique car museum is a hit with men (especially older men - the cars are incredible!) And the foliage is unbeatable. The Andrew Wyeth exhibit opens June 6th and should be really interesting. And for those with teens, the Heritage now boasts an adventure course complete with ziplining through the trees!

And don't forget the antique carousel - fun for all ages and much closer than the one on Martha's VIneyard!

For more information visit their website at http://heritagemuseumsandgardens.org/

In Like a Lion.........

The first week of March brought another foot of snow to the Old Mill Point neighborhood. Sunny weekend in store, but with temperatures hovering in the low teens, maybe not so much melting. Yet.

Beautiful dusting on everything making the world sparkling and white, but looking forward to warmer breezes melting away the remnents of winter.

Fingers crossed. No more snow, okay? Let's make good on the adage, in like a lion and out like a lamb. By the end of the month I want warmth. Flowers. Budding trees. And no more snow. (Hope Mother Nature is listening!)

Sunshine on the Snowy Point

 You can see in this shot that the river is frozen...

Many of the homes in the neighborhood have drifts making access hard or impossible at the moment. Not unusual - we only have access to one of our doors at the moment, the other being drifted closed until the weather thaws. As crazy as it all looks here, there's more snow in Boston. We visited Cambridge yesterday, and driving through the area was incredible. 

Came home and thought, ah, this is nothing.

Winter Storm Neptune Blowing Through Cape Cod

 Heavy wet snow blanketed the Cape last night, making roads pretty slippery as we made our way home from a Valentine Day dinner and movie. Apparently it took a break in the middle of the night, and at about 7 a.m. this morning, the heavy snow was falling again - I took the above two photos then, showing how thick it was on the branches.

The roaring winds began mid morning, and are still raging as I type at lunchtime. You can see in the most recent photo that the clouds have thinned and the sun is trying to shine through - reminds me of being at the top of Killington on a blowy but good conditions kind of ski day.

Last night you could hear the surf pounding from our house, through the quiet blanket of falling snow. Right now, the wind is so loud you can't even hear a snowplow coming, you can only see the blinking lights. Not that I've seen a plow in a while.

Hope wherever you are, you're staying warm and enjoying a lazy Sunday.

Winter Storm Neptune on its Way

4:30 p.m.

...and another round of blizzarding begins...

Happy Valentine's Day... 8 a.m., The Calm Before the Storm...

February Snow Update: Yep, there's still snow.

While much of the Boston area got 2 more feet of snow yesterday, the Cape had slush falling from the sky. Plenty of pretty white flakes, but enough sleet and rain that it didn't accumulate any more than we already had on the ground. The roads this morning are black, albeit slick with slush.

The dogs and I went to check the beach, using the Seaway entrance. Which is there, behind the mound of plowed snow. The stairs were invisible and treacherous since you couldn't see where they were under deep drifts. Knee deep drifts over both staircases, which I've never seen before.

The beach was empty (shocker) and beautiful despite the dark grey sky. Or maybe because of it. The temps are in the low to mid 30s, with no wind. Nice day for a walk.

But I'm still dreaming of summer...

Snowpocolypse Update: 3:00 p.m. Wednesday

 I took shots of some of the bigger drifts, against houses and in driveways, so you can see some of the crazy snow we got in the neighborhood from this storm named Juno.

 (No there is not a car under that drift. It's all snow.)

 This is a giant drift that ran down the beach access path between Connelly's and Baseman's homes. My son is there for proportion... remember that this is usually just a flat grassy area. No bushes. No ridge of any kind. That's all snow.

This is the middle of the road on Strandway on Wednesday afternoon... the middle of the road. Up to my son's knees.

...and then the plow finally came after 3:00 p.m. And it still hasn't done the end of the road leading down to the dock. The Highway Department said they have to come back with smaller equipment.

Snowpocolypse Update: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday

 We walked through the neighborhood on snow drifted, unplowed streets to get to the beach. The storm was a Nor'easter, and looks like it was kind to our shoreline, but we couldn't make it down there as the staircase was under a huge drift.

Snowpocolypse Update: 10:00 a.m. Wednesday

It's still flurrying here, but no wind and no real accumulation. The snow plows haven't been through the neighborhood yet, although a few private trucks have come in and out. Lower County (and of course Route 28) plowed, but side streets are not as of yet.

The total accumulation is 2 feet plus, but many of the drifts are much higher.

Yep, that's my minivan under the snow drift. Heading out again soon to shovel more.

Wherever you are, stay warm and stay safe. And if you're in Florida, don't gloat too much, it's just not healthy.

Snow-pocolypse Update: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday

We took a walk around the neighborhood at 4 p.m., just before it started getting dark. Yes, the wind is still howling even now as I type this at 6:40 p.m. Not much of an ocean view for high tide as you can see in the first two shots - not much visibility at all, actually.

The lights flickered when we came back in at 4 p.m., and I've heard that the power was out at a few homes. We didn't see any downed power lines or trees, although a section of fence is down along Riverway.

The wind is supposed to die down in a few hours, but the snow is supposed to continue through the night. Hoping for calmer skies tomorrow. Quite the blizzardy day!