Our Vacation- Day One (cont.)

 

Sam's wish-list is a list of traditions - places we’ve gone before and things we’ve done together - each holding fond memories. But we also have other traditions which aren’t always as apparent. One of these less-apparent traditions is going to the grocery store.

In years past, after the first day at the beach (or, in even earlier times, the playground) we would (finally) head over to the cottage and unpack. Then, we (or, some of “we”) would head over to the grocery store.

In those olden days, I used to bring most of our food - until one year, I (finally) wised up and realized I could actually buy food on the Cape(!). Even still, we would head out to buy a few more necessities, things like: a) all the things I forgot to pack and, b) a plethora of ice cream treats.

The result, like all those previous years, was our traditional first-night-on-vacation spaghetti dinner (with mushroom sauce) - plus Italian bread. 

This year, however, there were two differences from previous years. First, along with my gourmet dinner of spaghetti (with mushroom sauce) and (store bought) Italian bread, Rachael made salad to go on the side. 

And second, unlike all the past years, this year we weren't staying at our usual cottage. The reason for this is because, many years ago, without our consultation, the lovely woman who owned the cottage passed away and shortly thereafter, her son, also without our consultation, sold the cottage. 

Instead, this year we stayed at an Airbnb (thoughtfully rented by all the kids). (I was going to comment on how this Airbnb was far from a “cottage” and is, in fact, bigger than my house - but I won't bother because that would detract from whatever the point of this post.is supposed to be.)

So we had our aforementioned traditional first-night-on-vacation spaghetti dinner and afterwards, like most of our other first-night-on-vacation dinners, we headed out again - first stopping at a store which sells nothing but stuff we don't need (and some of us don't want), and then heading over to what we have always called the Windy Beach.

The Windy Beach, like its name subtly implies, is pretty windy - so much so that in several years past, we’ve flown kites at this beach. Not this year, though. (It wasn’t on the list.) But even though we were kite-less, this year, like every other year, we walked the beach - looking for shells and avoiding horseshoe craps.

Dusk at this beach is especially lovely (though I guess it is at most beaches). And it’s especially lovely this time of year, when autumn is approaching and the golden evening sunshine casts long, sharp shadows. 

So we walked the beach, staying longer than we did in the early years (the kids are now older and they, unlike me, are able to stay up later) but darkness fell quickly. It had been a full first day of vacation and some of us were tired (me), so we headed back to the "cottage" - and to those ice cream treats.