Tag Archives: Cape Cod

Cape Cod in the Winter

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Over the holiday’s I was on the East Coast visiting with friends and family and doing my best to stay warm. A couple days after Christmas I drove from Connecticut to spend the next week with my family in Cape Cod.

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The above photo was taken mid route between Providence and Cape Cod (at Fall River). Don’t worry, I was in the passenger seat.

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This photo was taken going over the Bourne Bridge at Sunset. The drive out to Cape Cod is very beautiful.

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There’s really nothing like an East Coast Christmas. Cape Cod is such a beautiful place, even in the (extreme) cold.

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The above four photos were taken at Harding Beach in Chatham. It was a very cold and windy beach walk, but it makes for a fun adventure.

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The above four photos were taken at the Chatham Fish Pier, which is a great seal/shark lookout place in the summer and is also next to a tasty fish market. It’s a fun place to go and watch the fishing boats come in with their daily take. The fish attract the seals, and the seals attract the sharks.. circle of life.

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The above two photos are from Chatham Lighthouse and the beach accompanying it.

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The last stop at sunset was Cold Storage Beach in Dennis. If it weren’t so frigid and windy, this is a great walking beach to explore in the summer time. You can see these beach photos have WAY less snow, since this is the bay-side.

Every year people flock to Cape Cod in the summer time, and yet everything shuts down in the winter. I find the quite and stillness mixed with the snowy landscape just so beautiful in winter. If you have the chance to experience Cape Cod in the winter, it’s worth your time.

2012 Resolution Recap

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It’s that time! Time to see what I was able to get done over the last 365 days. I’ll start by going through my 2012 New Year Resolution List. (Sorry for another pictureless post)

Life Absorbed’s 2012 Resolution List

- Complete all 42 walks in “Secret Stairs, A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of LA”
I wasn’t able to finish the entire book due to some health issues, but I certainly did 80% and now I have the pleasure of enjoying the walks as I complete the rest in 2013.

- Go rock climbing! I got to go indoor rock climbing with Amber, Lindsey and Adam thanks to a groupon to Hangar 18. Despite my crazy fear of hieghts, I was actually pretty good and got into it. I’m no pro, but I would gladly go again.

- Do at least one “monster” walk in 2012. Use my new “Car-Free LA” book to find a good really long walk and make a day of it. This didn’t get to happen. I’ve done monster walks alone, but they are more fun with a friend and my walking buddy Michelle had a wild year of getting pregnant and giving birth to lovely Cole. This goal will have to pushed to my 2013 resolution list.

- Resume hikes from my hiking book! Give those new hike boots a work out. I wasn’t too successful completing a ton of new hikes from my hike book, although I did complete a handful from the book in 2012. Bigger than that, I hiked Mount Whitney! That’s a pretty big goal for 2012, in fact I was so concerned I wouldn’t follow through with it, I didn’t add it to my resolution list from 2012. And I did it! 

- Go camping! Camping happened for a few days around Mt. Whitney as well as on The Channel Islands and when I went tubing the Kern River. 

- Hike (or ski) Mt. Baldy. I got to complete this with weights as I was training for Mount Whitney. I actually found this to be more of a challenge. 

- Go back to Catalina! When my parents came to town in September, we got to take them to Catalina and took them parasailing. My sister and I had so much fun doing it last year, that when another groupon deal came up, we bought enough for all of us to go as an anniversary gift to them. 

- Keep filling my nights and weekends with fun activities, even if it means being tired the next day. It’s worth it! This is of course hard to gauge, but I think I did a really good job at going out a lot after work and on weekends. In fact I went out so much didn’t get a ton of my night walks in. It’s about finding a balance and I have to be better about that in 2013. 

- Visit Hearst Castle. Check! I got to go when my parents came to visit and loved it. As a family we took a weekend trip up there and drove back along the coast stopping at the small beach towns. 

- Go cross-country skiing for the first time. I wasn’t able to complete this (due to lack of snow last winter) but the groupon was extended into 2013 which means I’ll be going this winter and already Big Bear has gotten some great snow. 

- Go white-water rafting. Another side-effect of no snow in the winter, is that the run-off over the summer is so depleted that there’s not enough water to make it “white water”. But in place of rafting, we got to enjoy tubing down the Kern. I’m looking forward to white water rafting in the summer of 2013!

- Go kayaking. I got to do this during my weekend excursion to the Channel Islands as well as doing it about 3 times when I was visiting my parents in Cape Cod this past summer. I love it.

- Try yoga. Did it repeatedly! I love the Core Power Yoga free Sunday noon class. Although I didn’t realize you needed to pay to borrow the mats, so I didn’t realize I was stealing every time I went. But now that I’ve realized it I will be investing in a yoga mat in 2013 :)

- Try spinning. I did not do that this year, although I really need to. I ended up canceling my gym membership this year, so now I’ll have to pay to go to a class but I still want to do this. The only reason I didn’t complete this goal was because I was busy, and frankly I forgot about it. This is why it’s good to do midyear resolution recaps, to remind myself what I still need to complete. 

- Make new recipes to last during the week. This I did only a few times. It’s hard to make meals for one. Also my job often provides meals that are around dinner time, so it’s nice to save money by eating that food and leave the cooking to the professionals. 

- Go to Chicago to visit my good friends and see a new city. CHECK! This was a really fun resolution. I got to lump a short stopover in Chicago onto my summer trip to Cape Cod. I had such a great time visiting friends and seeing the tourist sights (the FLW House!). 

- Keep up my nightly walks. An hour a day does so much. As I explained above, I did this but not as regular as I used to (since my walking buddy was busy having babies and I started doing more event stuff at night). But in 2013 I’m going to go back to doing this a solid 5 times a week, if not more. 

- Try new bars, restaurants and museums from my “L.A. Bizarro” book. (As Amber pointed out to me, we don’t have to see any of the porn-esque stuff and that is agreed). I got to do a bunch of these with Amber earlier in the year, although they did take a back seat to all of my other goals as the year went on. It’s worth digging this book out again and going more in 2013. 

- If someone says, “try this hike with me” or “lets do this sport” or any other physical activity, say yes! So far so good. Saying yes to life has only meant good things.

- “Grow a Pair!” In 2012 I need to face the little fears. I successfully faced giant fears in 2011, so this should be easy right? I’m always working on that, and that’ll continue into 2013. 

- As a part of “Growing A Pair”, I’m going to go on dates in 2011. It’s something Ive been putting off because I hate doing it, but why not? If it’s the worst, then oh well. If it’s great then maybe I get a new friend out of the deal. I’ve jumped out of a plane, I think I can handle a silly little date. So send your single, outdoorsy, male friends my way. This remains true in 2013. Also, I’ve decided that “date” is too scary a word, and only call them “friend meetups” in an attempt to making dating less scary. 

- And of course I will work hard to maintain you, Life Absorbed. I wish I had started you last Jan. 1st, so now I must make up for lost time. I feel like in one year I did a lot to improve the blog. I tried (and I’m always trying) to come up with new features like Font Friday and Do This Today. I try to blog 1 or 2 times daily midweek and once on the weekends. I also designed a business card for the blog and changed the layout a bit. The “Life Absorbed” logo photo shoots where fun, and I hope to do more in 2013. Now all my photos have watermarks and I really work hard to make improvements as I get feedback. I’ve gotten retweeted by Scott Aukerman this year. I’ve gotten “shared” on facebook by some of my favorite comedians and even CBS included me in an article about the Secret Stairs of LA. It’s been good progress and I’m looking forward to more improvements in 2013!

This completes my resolution list for 2012. I can honestly say I gave it 110% and filled my time to capacity. There’s only so much time to get things done and I have no regrets with how my time was spent in 2012. I also want to share some things I did that weren’t on my 2012 resolution list:

A big Hawaii trip that included zip-lining, snorkeling, and hiking around an active volcano. Visiting the Queen Mary with my parents. Sitting in the UCB green room with Doug Benson and Zach Galifinakis (thanks Gabe!). The 1 million comedy shows I saw this year (I’m only exaggerating a little). Finally seeing David Cross do stand up! A fun weekend getaway to Palm Springs. My first hospital visit (not a good situation, but it could have been so much worse). Running the Denver Turkey Trot and getting to enjoy Denver fun. Getting to be Shari Lewis for the day. Doing all my DIY projects. Brunches with the girls. Visiting the JPL and going to about 5 neighborhood festivals. Doing the Color Run with Lindsey. Having my celebrity crush, Harris Wittels, comment on my blog. Tubing Mt. Baldy with Michelle and Lindsey. A weekend getaway to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear. Visiting the horse racing park for Tom’s birthday. Going to a Beer Collaboration event. Magic Castle with the girls. Celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown. Gosh, this has been a busy year!

Cape Cod Kayaking Adventures

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This is my last post about my Cape Cod trip. I’ve talked with people who were confused about all the timing, but I assure you I’m back in LA and up to my usual tricks. When I travel I can’t give you the lengthy posts that require a lot of time and attention, so I usually write them once I’m back on Los Angeles soil. So sure enough, I’m back and as of tomorrow I’ll be back to my usual postings. Infact, tomorrow is Wednesday which means it’s time for Comedy Wednesdays! That’s right, I have Comedy Bang Bang tickets tonight, so expect a full report.

Now, back to a topic I love, kayaking in Cape Cod. I did this twice while on my last trip and each of these makes for a great afternoon activity. It also gives my arms an excellent workout, which often get ignored on my stair walks.

These photos were taken mid-kayak on Seymour Pond. The photo above makes it look very still, which it was at times, but don’t take that for granted. All it takes is a big gust of wind to feel yourself swiftly moving in a direction you don’t want to go. In the below photo you can see my dad waving behind me.

While on the opposite end of the pond the clouds rolled in and before we knew it, we could hear thunder. You can guess, we high-tailed it back to shore. It got pretty dark after that, but these intermittent thunderstorms are common on the Cape.

Our next kayaking adventure (on a different day with sunny skies) took place at Scargo Lake. This gorgeous lake had extremely warm, clear water. This was such a joy. We often paddled with our feet over the sides of the kayak. We are not residents of Denis, so we are not permitted to park in the beach lot (see the beach way on the opposite side of the lake?), so instead we park in a public area on the opposite shore. Here they have a boat launch and small shorefront.

This day was perfect for kayaking. So still, so it wasn’t much of a workout but such a delightful glide around the lake.

Teens were practicing their boating skills in the center while us kayakers were doing loops around the perimeter of the lake.

You can even see the tower over looking the lake along the tree-line on the right side of the photo.

So calm. If I didn’t have a flight to catch later that afternoon, I would have stayed here all day. If you own kayaks, or want to even go swimming, visit Scargo Lake!

Cape Cod: Sandwiches in Sandwich + a Biking the Canals

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One day trip we did while in Cape Cod, was lunch in the adorable town of Sandwich (spot A on the map) and then a long bike ride up and down the Cape Cod Canal (spot B on the map).

We got a sandwich to go at a local shop and brought it to some benches along Shawme Lake.

What a great snacking spot, am I right? A turtle swam near us while we ate. Truly a delight.

After our food break we decided to walk around the town of Sandwich. We walked along their Main Street looking at cute shops. They have a surprising number of renovated churches.. that still look like churches.. but aren’t churches. It’s a little odd. As I sang to my parents, it looks like “we’ve got trouble, right here in River City!” You probably don’t get that reference, because you’re normal and I’m weird.

Arsty-fartsy.

After our walk around town it was time to get to the Cape Cod Canal to get our bike-on! We parked on a side lot along the Scenic Highway, Route 6, closer to the Sagamore Bridge side.

We ended up biking almost the entire length of the canal and back. We thought the rail-bridge was where the path ended, but according to the maps, we could’ve headed just a tad more south ending at the Maritime Academy. Oh well. We still got a great workout that day.

While we were doing a photoshoot next to the Sagamore Bridge, a tanker(?) came through, so I had to share.

The Bourne Bridge looked pretty similar to the Sagamore bridge.. and I was getting tired, so I didn’t take as many photos. I did snap this shot of the rail-bridge (below), dressed in it’s holiday best.

Great exercise, beautiful weather, and free activities make for an awesome day.

Cape Cod: Falmouth and Woods Hole

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While in Cape Cod this past week, we decided to spend the day getting lunch in Falmouth along the adorable Main Street and then drive a little further to the bike trail that leads down to Woods Hole.

Below is Main Street in Falmouth. We parked in the public (free) lot just behind Main St., by the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce which has a lovely public restroom. This cute downtown center has plenty of food options for dine-in or take-out to brig to the beach. They also have cutesy stores, so plan time to do a loop along the drag. 

While headed to the place we want to grab lunch, I noticed this “Obey” street art sticker. Even Cape Cod has street art, very cool.

Beautiful right?

We decided to grab a bite at the cute Pop Kitchen. We had a delicious meal, but the only complaint was that the food took a long time to come out. I’m not sure if they are short staffed or need a bigger kitchen, but on yelp a few reviewers had the same problem. I highly recommend this place if you have time for a leisurely meal. We were anxious to hit the road to start biking, so our patience was lacking.

The decor is very different from the other more gourmet looking options on the street. It was kitschy and fun, like a main street brunch place should be.

Next stop, Nobska Lighthouse!

There isn’t much parking here, but if you can grab one of the four spots, you can climb the hill to the lighthouse and see some gorgeous views. Also, across the street is a little path leading down to a bench and then further on to the beach.

We jumped back in the car to get to our last car destination, the bike path near Woods Hole. We were able to park right along the path, which happened to be right next to the water. What a view! Exercise and getting to look at that? Only on vacation!

Here’s me in my goofy helmet.

We biked down to the center of Wood Hole, where they have their own cute little downtown. We parked our bikes and explored. In the summer time the bridge in town goes up every hour.

Woods Hole has a fun aquarium (small but all about local marine-life) which unfortunately closed by the time we got there. But we did get to see the seals they keep in an inclosure out front. We spent a while walking around town until the skies turned dark and we decided to bike back.

By the time we got back to the car, the clouds had lifted and we took a break to dip our toes in the water. What a delightful day in Cape Cod.

Cape Cod Beer Tour

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If you’ve been following my Chicago trip, it was time to move along and instead of heading back to Los Angeles I continued on to the East Coast. The next and final leg of my trip is a week spent in Cape Cod, MA with my parents.

There will be four installments detailing great day trips you can take around the Cape, but the first starts with one of my favorite things, a brewery tour. Hyannis is home to Cape Cod Beer. On Saturdays and Tuesdays in the summer they do brewery tours. Since it’s basically one room, it was less of a tour and more of an open house with a lesson all about how beer is made. I loved it! Each round of describing the brewing process came with a dixi cup taste of their unique brews. Did I mention it’s all FREE! Given that it was the week of the 4th of July (the busiest week on the Cape) it was a full house.

See all the people? I love that it was packed, because it means people are interested. It was a lovely day, which means these people all had to forgo a morning of beaching to attend this. It was also 11am, so an early hour for free beer samples.

Above is the woman giving the lesson on beer. She really knew her stuff and based on a comment she made, I think she’s married to the owner.

This whiteboard is where they keep track of the vats and the brewing process.

One interesting thing she brought up is that the most expensive part of selling the beer in the packaging of a 6 pack. Not only do you have to print the labels for the bottels but also the cardboard container that holds the beer. They do a lot of their business via kegs in local establishments. This is cost effective and better for the environment. I never really thought about the money and time that goes into creating a 6-pack verse a keg, which doesn’t even have a label nd gets reused.

For you home brewers, their gift shop has more than just stickers and tee-shirts. They also have ingredients for you to make your own. How many breweries encourage you to make your own? Not many. Cape Cod Beer isn’t looking to take over the world, infact they want to only stay local, and you can tell they do it because they love it! They also care alot about the community. Check out their website to see a list of all the events they have going on this summer.

Back in LA-LA Land

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I’m back from my whirlwind trip. I’m sitting here blogging, enjoying my new hydrangea plant, and listening to the Barry Manilow radio station on Pandora. What a great way to phase back from vacation mode to reality. “Oh, Mandy”.

One thing I like to do after a vacation is take something from the trip that I can add into my everyday life. Sometimes it’s a new food, a scent, a new type of music, or anything that creates a sense-memory. The hydrangea plant is a great tool for this, because when I look at it it’ll remind me of relaxation and vacation freedom. It has a great calming affect. Plus it’s a pretty magenta color.

One great thing about traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast is that the time difference has me waking up early and getting a great jump start on the day. By 9:15am I finished all my grocery shopping for a long while, watered the plants and I’m now unpacking/cleaning. I feel so productive.

I just wanted to check-in with you, and let you know the last Chicago post will be out later today. After that I’ll have some Secret Stair posts for you this week as well as several posts about Cape Cod.

Happy 4th!

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Greetings from the Cape! I’m taking a day off from Chicago posts to wish you a happy 4th of July! Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll get back on my path of telling you about my Chicago adventures. In the meantime I’ve had a very East Coast style week (aka very patriotic). Now get the sparklers out, grab a cold one and chow down on some (soy)dogs, Life Absorbed style!

Halfway Through 2012 (almost)

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As of June 30th we will be halfway through 2012. HALFWAY THROUGH 2012?! This year has gone by so fast. I think it’s time to take a look at my 2012 resolutions and see how I’m doing. I can’t stress enough how important goals are, and how taking time to evaluate what you’ve done (and still need to do) is a great use of time. As I’ve said before, this is more for me than for you. It’s also not about scolding myself for uncompleted tasks, but just to be a reminder of the tasks I’d hope to complete in 2012. Let’s get to it!

Life Absorbed’s 2012 Resolution List

- Complete all 42 walks in “Secret Stairs, A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of LA”
This has gotten away from me, as I have 10 more to do to be where I should be by June 30th. Thankfully I’m looking into this now, and I see I have 3 weeks to do 10 walks which would put me back on track. In fact, I plan on doing one today. See how reflecting on the resolution list is helpful?

- Go rock climbing!
Completed!

- Do at least one “monster” walk in 2012. Use my new “Car-Free LA” book to find a good really long walk and make a day of it.
I haven’t gotten to do this yet, and it’ll happen before I take another job. I went on a long walk the other day, and I ached for an epic walk. Soon, soon.

- Resume hikes from my hiking book!
I need to train for Mt. Whitney, so more hikes are coming. I’ve been doing Fryman Canyon a lot, but I need to step it up. Next week I’m thinking of driving to Yosemite and hiking around there. Which brings me to my next resolution…

- Go camping!
Next week! I can’t wait. I have so much awesome gear from Christmas and I can’t wait to use it all! And Yosemite! It’s going to be amazing.

- Hike (or ski) Mt. Baldy.
I still have my groupon for the chairlift an this is a great hiking place to get ready for Whitney. I’ll be hiking it soon!

- Go back to Catalina!
The plan is to make a day trip in September. More on that later.

- Keep filling my nights and weekends with fun activities, even if it means being tired the next day. It’s worth it!
I’ve certainly been doing this. Ive seen so many comedy shows lately and I love it. I recently went to the Silver Lake Jubilee (post on that to come this weekend), the Franklin Fair, and this weekend I have a jazz event downtown. I’ve been doing super well with this.

- Visit Hearst Castle.
When Mom and Dad visit we will go up north over LAbor Day weekend. I’m so excited for this trip. I’ve been saving this weekend trip for them.

- Go cross-country skiing for the first time.
This will have to happen in December or in 2013 because we didn’t get enough snow this year. Unfortunately, that was out of my control.

- Go white-water rafting.
Spring/summertime!

- Go kayaking.
I’m going to visit Cape Cod soon, and you can bet I’ll be kayaking a lot (and cycling too).

- Try yoga.
I did it! I’ve been to the Corepower Yoga in Sherman Oaks for their free intro class. It’s every Sunday at noon and they even have free mat rentals. It’s been a challenge but fun. I hope to go back soon.

- Try spinning.
I still need to do this, and I won’t lie, I’m intimated by this.

- Make new recipes to last during the week.
I tried my s’more recipe recently (see that post here), and I have plans to make soup today. It’s not exciting but it’s something.

- Go to Chicago to visit my good friends and see a new city.
Soon :) I’ve got the ball rolling on this, and I’m looking up tickets today. I feel really good about this.

- Keep up my nightly walks. An hour a day does so much.
Since unemployment, my night walks haven’t happened as much. I need to get back into the routine. I’ve done morning walks, but I need to set a time and say “now it’s walk time” and commit to it.

- Try new bars, restaurants and museums from my “L.A. Bizarro” book. (As Amber pointed out to me, we don’t have to see any of the porn-esque stuff and that is agreed).
I haven’t done much lately from the book, but that’s because I’ve been so busy.

- If someone says, “try this hike with me” or “lets do this sport” or any other physical activity, say yes!
I’ve been saying yes to life! I don’t think I’ve said “no” in a while, and I like it.

- “Grow a Pair!” In 2012 I need to face the little fears. I successfully faced giant fears in 2011, so this should be easy right?
I’m always trying to work on this. It’s nice to go through this again and remind myself of these mantras.

- As a part of “Growing A Pair”, I’m going to go on dates in 2012.
I’m working on it, I’m working on it.

- And of course I will work hard to maintain you, Life Absorbed. I wish I had started you last Jan. 1st, so now I must make up for lost time.
I’ve been working on you a ton! I’ve even started taking web design classes so I can learn code and make you even more awesome than ever!

I have a few added goals for the year that I call my secret resolutions, because Im worried I wont have time for them in 2012. One of which is taking a knitting class to successfully make something (I’ve already bought a “how to knit” book!). Let me know if you know of a great beginner knitting class!

I’m really proud of where I’m so far in my goals. It’ll feel so great to reach my goal of 10 Secret Stair walks by the end of the month. At that point I’ll feel like I’m really at the halfway point of all my goals. Alright, time to get outside!

Portlandia

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So we made it back to Connecticut from Cape Cod last night. The above photo was taken from the passenger seat on the beautiful drive home. It’s always sad saying goodbye to Cape Cod but hopefully I will be back this summer to layout on the beaches, ride bikes, and get some kayaking in. The winter will fly by and I’ll be back before I know it.

So you know me pretty well, I’m not one to sit inside and watch tv but if you’re looking for a funny new show check out Portlandia. My 93 year old Grandma got me hooked on it, and I LOVE it. It’s a great skit-esque show, that you need to check out. It airs on IFC (a channel I don’t get) but they just added season 1 to instant Netflix. Check out this clip below:

They are touring and coming to the Echo Plex (how ironic considering the show makes fun of hipsters). Did you get your tickets? Click the link above for ticket info!