Special Edition – HappyCapeCod

2024 Cape Cod Summer Reading List

Each summer, I [try to*] cobble together some Cape Cod-specific, -based or inspired book recommendations. The recommendations are usually from a curated source, such as a local bookstore (Where The Sidewalk Ends, etc) or reader reviews (Cape Cod Chronicle Section 2/Art Cast, etc.). Only one recommendations has truly failed me.

The short list below (and fifth “annual” as I forgot to do a 2023 list*), includes stories that take place on Cape Cod (and the Islands). Nothing too heavy; at the very least, interesting enough for an overcast day.

The Vineyard Remains, Addison McKnight

The Vineyard Remains is the second novel by West Hartford authors Nicole Moleti and Krista Wells, who go by the pen name Addison McKnight.

A thriller that explores the “dark” side of the exclusive island’s year-round population through the eyes of two women who have come to live there for very different reasons, and whose lives are forever intertwined through secrets and tragedy. This book is half women’s fiction, half psychological suspense. While there are many books set in the Vineyard, and many authors who live there, there are not a lot of thrillers.

An excerpt of a brief synopsis from Amazon: A desperate murder committed by Angela Miller’s mother tore Angela’s life apart and brought her to Martha’s Vineyard to live with her wealthy grandparents. It’s where her cousin, Kiki King, was born and raised, and Kiki now wants nothing more than to see the world beyond its sandy perimeter. Kiki’s mother escaped it. She took a late-night swim off Tashmoo Beach and was never seen again.

Historic Storms of Cape Cod, Don Wilding

Historic Storms of Cape Cod looks back at the most severe weather events to strike Cape Cod over the last 125 years.

An excerpt of a brief synopsis from Amazon: Cape Cod has always been in the path of deadly hurricanes and ferocious storms. Unwelcome summer visitors include the “Long Island Express” Hurricane of 1938, the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, the twin Hurricanes Carol and Edna in 1954, and Hurricane Bob in 1991. These storms destroyed countless homes and left several coastal communities under several feet of water. Surging tides carried away houses with residents inside who didn’t survive and sank the Coast Guard lightship Vineyard in Buzzards Bay, killing all 12 crew members. Fall and winter brought the benchmark Blizzard of 1978, the nor’easter of January 1987, and the infamous “Perfect Storm” of October 1991 which delivered some of the highest tides ever seen on the Outer Cape.

The Outer Beach, Robert Finch

This deep dive into a life of discovery along the outer Cape Cod beaches from Orleans to Provincetown, is a must-read for the inner explorer in all of us.

An excerpt of a brief synopsis from Amazon: Robert Finch writes of its beaches: “No other place I know sears the heart with such a constant juxtaposition of pleasure and pain, of beauty being born and destroyed in the same moment.” And nowhere within its borders is this truth more vivid and dramatic than along the forty miles of Atlantic coast―what Finch has always known as the Outer Beach. The essays here represent nearly fifty years and a cumulative thousand miles of walking along the storied edge of the Cape’s legendary arm.

Finch considers evidence of nature’s fury: shipwrecks, beached whales, towering natural edifices, ferocious seaside blizzards. And he ponders everyday human interactions conducted in its environment with equal curiosity, wit, and insight: taking a weeks-old puppy for his first beach walk; engaging in a nocturnal dance with one of the Cape’s fabled lighthouses; stumbling, unexpectedly, upon nude sunbathers; or even encountering out-of-towners hoping an Uber will fetch them from the other side of a remote dune field.

July 10, 2024

Movie Review: A Cape Cod Christmas

by Jeff Shaw

Last month, the Chatham Orpheum Theater held a screening of the 2021 holiday film, A Cape Cod Christmas, including a meet and greet with the Cape Cod-based director, John Stimpson. Somehow [perhaps in the midst of pandemic chaos] I missed this movie announcement all together, and just the other night, watched it.

As Jennifer Sexton-Riley wrote in The Chronicle, “A Cape Cod Christmas,” promises an opportunity to rediscover romance with an ocean view. Margot, a children’s book author, comes down to Cape Cod for one last Christmas dinner with her disagreeable siblings before they have to sell their family beach house – a home base of family tradition while their parents were alive. Margot doesn’t want to sell, the other two siblings do. Further, her sister Meredith is in a tough financial situation faced with a looming college tuition bill for her son. A plan is devised to try and get the sister and brother to change their minds as well as a childhood romance is rekindled.

The film was shot in Falmouth during the pandemic, and features many prominent locations throughout town.

I am not a movie critic, in fact, I don’t recall ever reviewing one, but a few observations stood out. Please feel free to agree or disagree:

Props

A reindeer-themed throw blanket on the couch was a little too Green, White or Rocky Mountains. I would bet 9/10 beach house homeowners have a marine-themed holiday throw.

B-Roll Shots

The brief aerial shots of the people walking the beach* was so Cape Cod. Same for the (quiet) shots of the harbor. Nailed it.

Storyline(s)

While the story circled back around to the original premise neatly, I cannot help but think a secondary plot line should have been established, about Meredith, the sister. Her character was underdeveloped, but you could see a path where she, not Margot, was even more torn between the emotions tied to losing a connection with your late parents/happy beach house memories and the practical reality of using a third of the house’s sale price to pay for your child’s college tuition.

It wasn’t clear where Meredith and her family were currently living, but she recalled not being at the family beach house in two years, so that seed of longing was planted early. Since the painting ended up being for Meredith, not Tom, the older brother, or somehow split among both siblings, this would have made the painting unveiling scene twice as powerful as well as the second-to-last scene, a bit more joyful [Spoiler alert…knowing that Meredith could have it both ways].

A Little Life Advice

I love the in-your-face message Christian delivers during the sunrise walk along the beach…to paraphase…put down your friggin’ phone and look around and actually see, dare I say appreciate, the natural beauty that surrounds many of us! Indeed, we’re the lucky ones.

Word Play

Later in that scene, Margot and Christian run to the dock where their initials were carved and…to paraphrase…he says something to the effect of, after all these years, it’s still there. “It” being their love/connection, which gets a bit lost as Margot recoils at his advance.

Bottomline

If you have a soft spot for Cape Cod, it is going to be hard to turn off the movie once started. The brief b-roll shots of coastline, downtown shops, and holiday decorations, especially of a cozy, waterfront beach house, are satisfying. Like all Hallmark- or Lifetime-esque movies, there is plenty of cheesiness, but endless coffee runs keeps you grounded [coffee bean pun intended].

While far from a holiday classic, it may be sniffing the rewatchable conversation. Regardless, there is an important lesson, hard to ignore, for many families who will find themselves in a similar situation – what to do when multiple children inherit a family [or beach] house and do not agree with what to do with it [keep or sell]. For that reason alone, the film may be worth watching.

*I know of no one who wakes up before sunrise regularly to walk the beach. Do you?

January 1, 2024

2022 Cape Cod Summer Reading List

By Jeff Shaw

A beach day is the time to relax. First move, ditch the device, and instead pack an actual soft or hard cover book. Sit in a colorful, slightly uncomfortable beach chair, along the water’s edge and prepare to decipher words on paper. I call this process, “reading without interruption,” sort of.

Distancing yourself from devices and those persistent pop-up ads, annoying dings, and growing inbox number, is a great way to start a day at the beach – unless of course you are “remote working.” “Hey, watch the sand! My laptop, kid! Umm, where’s the nearest outlet to charge?”

Indeed, embrace accidental kicked-up sand by pre-teens, rowdy college kid cheers and jeers or innocent cries of hungry toddlers. Once those moments pass, dive-in to those crinkly pages.

The short list below (and fourth annual) includes books featuring stories that take place on Cape Cod. Perhaps your next beach day will occur in an area featured in one of these stories. Give them a read to find out!

The Old Cape Teapot, Barbara Eppich Struna

The sequel to the first story, The Old Cape House, is a fast-paced, captivating story that picks up with familiar characters from the first book. Once again, alternative chapters spanning 300 years takes readers to the Caribbean island of Antigua, setting the stage for another historical fiction mystery. Similar to Dan Brown’s signature “short chapters,” Barbara writes a concise story that takes off after a seemingly unimportant visit to an antiques shop. A race to another treasure chest buried in the woods of Cape Cod awaits!

A Mysterious Murder in Monomoy, Hunter Laroche

Fair warning, this book is self-published, i.e., no professional editing. But as a fellow wannabe writer, I’m rooting for the little guy in the publishing world. Go ahead, ignore the typos. There are a handful of things I like about this book. One, the story covers a lot of ground; a family secret, traveling to exotic places, dining lavishly and solving riddles to pursue centuries-old treasure are delightful elements for easy reading. Two, the story takes place on Nantucket, in the “present day,” meaning the author uses real locations, like bars, restaurants, stores, beaches, etc. Though “present day” is the 1990s or so, as the characters communicate by payphones and landlines, no smartphones or internet are mentioned despite the book being published in 2021. The use of real locations may also be helpful for “Nantucket newbies,” who may appreciate leads on dining and recreational activities ahead of an upcoming visit to the island. Three, chapter titles are “island truisms,” many of which resonated, though they didn’t seem to have anything to do with the chapter’s part of the story. As a bonus, the author also makes at least two Jimmy Buffett references, likely completely unintended (pages 83 and 123). So, if you can ignore exhaustive details, grammatical and punctuational errors – which the author admits in the epilogue — enjoy this beach read.

The Summer Place, Jennifer Weiner (summary courtesy of Jessica Devin, Brewster Book Store)

Admittedly, I have not read this book, yet. But I love the Outer Cape, so it has to be good, right?! Rest easy, multiple literally sources including the local Brewster Book Store and the New York Times Book Review, recommended it. I’ll take their word for it.

A traditional beach read, the Summer Place, tells the story of the various secrets that unfold and come to light for one Cape Cod family during the pandemic. The story is set at the family’s fictional summer home in Truro and is also partially set in Provincetown.

A follow up to Weiner’s 2021 book “That Summer,” “The Summer Place” as “a complete page turner” for its storytelling and plot twists, which will keep the reader engaged through to the end. At the same time, it’s not a cumbersome read. The complexity of the relationships are intriguing. This author is masterful in the way she weaves these secrets together.

Do you have any favorite stories that take place on Cape Cod? If so, please share!

July 22, 2022

2021 Cape Cod Summer Reading List

Beach Bliss. Photo Credit: Chris Hackett/Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Jeff Shaw, July 1, 2021

There is something remarkably relaxing about reading on the beach. Whether holding an actual book (old school!), scrolling on a device, or flipping through pages of a magazine, a gentle breeze across your face, warm sand in between your toes and the natural sounds of waves washing ashore is a setting hard to beat.

There are many authors who live on Cape Cod. There are also a ton of books – fiction and non-fiction – about Cape Cod. Now best sellers most of these recommendations are not. But if you just want to get lost in a book for a while, why not pick one about the very sand you are sitting on? Enjoy these reads on your next day at the beach.

2021 Cape Cod Summer Reading List

Into A Raging Sea, My Life and the Pendleton Rescue, 1985

The autobiography of Coast Guard hero Bernie Webber, who captained the rescue boat CG36500, is a truly unbelievable account of a career in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Certainly best known for leading the unimaginable rescue of crew members of the Pendleton, which split in half during a storm in February, 1952, he also was stationed in Vietnam, in Truro, on Martha’s Vineyard, at Monomoy Light and on Lightships displaying an unassuming heroism that simple defines the greatest generation he was apart of.

Lovers of nautical history, and of course Cape Cod history, must know the stories told on these pages. It may give you a new respect for the fishermen, patrollers and scientists that devote their life to the sea.

Baseball by the Beach, Christopher Price, 1997

After the 2020 Cape Cod Baseball Season was cancelled, what better way to make up for lost time with this detailed historical account of the earliest years of baseball on Cape Cod, all the way to the modern day.

The early evidence of the Nichols Baseball Club of Sandwich (1860s), suspisouions that future major leaguers played (Mickey Cochrene), and the debate about which year was the true start of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL). Price finds the newspaper evidence of the first time baseball was playedon Cape Cod, the first time the words “Cape Cod Baseball League” was printed and chronicles the changes from rosters full of local players to the recruitment of college stars, and the decision to use wooden bats.

He also includes the history of each franchise (current and former), with team records for major statistical categories, wins, losses, and managers. A perfect companion for a summer afternoon.

Legends and Lore of Cape Cod, Robin Smith-Johnson, 2016

A collection of short stories and vignettes you never heard of about people, places and noteworthy events that have occurred on Cape Cod. There are suggestions that the first to visit Cape Cod was not Samuel de Champlain, the first white explorer in 1605; not Bartholomeow Gosnold, credited with naming Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard; not the Pilgrims who landed in Provincetown and later colonized Plymouth, but the Lief Ericson and the vikings with are rumored to have wintered on Cape Cod in the summer of 1004.

There are accounts of famous people like President Grover Cleveland’s “Gray Gables” summer retreat and personal train station in Bourne, America the Beautiful author Katharine Lee Bates birthplace in Falmouth and of course the Kennedy’s compound in Hyannis Port.

Of course, you will find stories of major disasters (hurriance, shipwrecks, erosion, etc) to murder mysteries and requiste hauntings to where famous landmarks get their names (MacMillian Wharf, “Bellamy” anything, etc) to UFO sightings. Perfect book for the beach, before bed or if you get interrupted regularly.

Murder on Cape Cod, Maggie Day, 2019

There is no better name than “Cozy Caper,” the actual name of the fictional book club (Cozy Capers) in the story to describe this fun and quick read. Murder on Cape Cod is the first of a new book series by author Maggie Day, who takes you on a loop through the Upper Cape Cod fictional town of Westham. WIth plenty of Falmouth area references, both numerous and direct, it is hard not to visualize this quaint seaside village.

The main character is impossible not to like and who happens to live off a bike trail and owns a bike shop. Even the businesses owned by her friends are “delightfully Cape Cod;” bakery, candy store, bookstore, library, liquor store and lighthouse caretaker, who all convey the ease of getting around a main street by foot. While there is little to no mention of life on the water, a fishing knife becomes a prominent clue in the mystery.

The author sprinkles in actual places, a few opinions on life choices that transcend to real life, and actual recipes of meals included in the story arc in the appendix.

In need of other recommendations? Check out the Cape & Islands Book Store Trail that span the peninsula and usually feature a section about books written by, or about, Cape Cod.

All-Access Cape Cod Beach Parking Pass

The Ridgevale Beach parking attendant shack in May, 2021. Photo credit: Jeff Shaw.

Author’s Note: Happy Memorial Day weekend! I hope you are able to gather safely with family and friends to celebrate and commemorate. In the spirit of this weekend kicking off the unofficial start of summer, below is an essay (long shot idea) asking local leaders to consider participating in a multi-town — better yet Cape-wide — beach parking pass.

The concept is rooted in the mountains (ski areas), but could create new experiences and better understanding of Cape Cod’s natural resources for locals and visitors alike. I’d love to hear your reaction to the idea, so unleash the comments!

All-Access/Multi-Town Cape Cod Beach Parking Pass

Whether bayside or oceanside, salt or fresh water, private or public, beaches make Cape Cod a special place. The same is true for the communities around them.

Yet parking at area beaches during the summer season can be daunting, to say the least. Could a multi-town, even Cape-wide, beach parking pass better promote these natural resources?

Beach access has been on my mind. Recent articles on the “dust-up in Dennis,” where seasonal residents are not eligible for the $50 full-time resident beach sticker and instead must buy an $180 seasonal resident beach sticker. Similarly, Chatham and Orleans continue the longstanding debate of the proper distribution of revenue from oversand vehicle stickers.

Being Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer, most Cape Cod towns updated their beach information and fees for the upcoming summer season. Easier said than understood.

All 15 Cape Cod towns have different prices, options, enforcement dates, enforcement times, and processes for purchasing a beach parking sticker/pass. (I actually compiled a spreadsheet listing all this information and my head hurt about thirty minutes into a 2-hour project.)

Overloaded with 15 different beach sticker programs, I am convinced a multi-town beach sticker season pass is a worthy pursuit. Feel free to ready the rotten tomatoes.

Admitedly, it is easy enough to work-around parking at town beaches without the required parking sticker. You can visit before 9:00 am, or after 4:30 pm in most cases. You can drop off your party and park elsewhere if you don’t mind walking back. Ridesharing eliminates parking problems completely.

The idea of a multi-town or Cape-wide pass is rooted above sea level. A recent trend in the ski industry is the evolution of a multi-resort, “all-access” season or frequency pass. If you are a skier or rider, think Epic/Ikon (season pass) or Indy/Mountain Collective (frequency pass).

A season pass could offer unlimited or limited access to beaches in participating Cape Cod towns. Just look at The Cape Cod National Seashore annual pass as an example. For $60, you have unlimited access to six beaches in four Cape Cod towns. For Cape Cod standards, what a deal!

A frequency pass offers a set amount of days (say, two or three days) to visit beaches in participating towns, with or without restrictions. Just like holiday “black out” dates in December and February at ski areas, the Fourth of July or Labor Day weekends could have restricted access.

Such programs give passholders more options/incentives to visit different places and have new experiences while host communities reap the benefit of increased exposure and related economic activity and hopefully, return shoppers (beachgoers).

Town parking policies would not have to change. A multi-town season or frequency parking pass would still not guarantee a parking space. Parking lot access would still be first-come, first serve. Towns can also dictate which beach(es) participate, so locals only beaches can be preserved. No refunds can still be the policy.

The concept is based on increased value (slight discount, enhanced access, etc.) in exchange for upfront commitment by customers (resident or tourist passholders). Payouts could be distributed equally among participating towns based on passes sold, or by redemptions, meaning each town gets paid when a passholder visits one of their beaches. Technology makes tracking usage seamless.

Snacks bars, food or ice cream trucks, equipment rental shops, and area businesses would gain exposure to new visitors (again, resident or tourist passholders) who would otherwise not have a reason to visit the area. A multi-town beach pass could also make a great gift, especially for those looking to give the gift of experiences rather than stuff.

Finally, Cape Cod has a history of collaboration. From regionalization of schools to recreation trails to wild life management – even beaches. That’s right, precedent for a multi-town beach pass exists in the Upper Cape. Bourne and Sandwich have a reciprocal agreement that grants season passholders access to certain beaches in each town, though there are caps and restrictions.

Summer on Cape Cod can be magical. The parades, baseball games, band concerts, clambakes, are just a few cherished summer traditions that define summer on Cape Cod. The beaches also tend to be part of that story, many of which are consistently ranked in “Top 10” lists nationally.

Let’s make visiting them possible and affordable.