My bike at the top of the path leading up from the beach.
I spent this past July 4th up in Dennis, Cape Cod where my grandparents spend their summer. I have been lucky enough to have spent pretty much every summer up there since my first birthday. Every weekend or so my mother and father and I pack up our bags and throw them in our Ford Explorer, along with my Yellow Lab, Casey, and head up to what we consider the land of ultimate relaxation. We have always said that as soon as you cross the bridge and go across the Cape Cod Canal you leave all your troubles behind you.
Corporation Beach at sunset.
I doesn’t seem like a far fetched idea if you take a look at some of the pictures I was able to take. You might think that a good photographer can make any place look magical, but the truth is Cape Cod makes everyone seems like a professional when it comes to picture taking. All I had to do was ride my bicycle down to the beach, pull out my camera and take a picture from any angle, in any direction. They all looked beautiful. Capturing the evening was effortless.
One particular location on Cape Cod that my family and I have treasured for years is Gina’s by the Sea. It’s a quaint and rustic old building that serves the best garlic bread I have ever had. If you get there after 6:30 P.M. chances are you won’t be able to get a table until after 8:30P.M. I love the place so much that I even wrote about it for an English assignment when I was fourteen. It reads:
“My favorite restaurant is a little place up in Cape Cod called Gina’s by the Sea. As soon as you step in through the door its special magic surrounds you. You can almost feel it in the walls and the crooked floorboards. Everywhere you look, all you can see is the smiling faces of everyone there and the soft murmuring of their voices. Everyone there is so friendly and you’ll be sure to see a welcoming wave from the bartender when you walk in. The building is really quite small, but every room is filled with the same mouthwatering smell of garlic bread and pasta. The restaurant’s windows are always open and throughout dinner you can feel a cool refreshing nights breeze brush across your shoulders. When you take a bite of your food, the warmth envelops your body and the wonderful taste soaks into your mouth. As you look across your table you see your friends and family and it makes you so happy to share such a wonderful place and to be there with them.”
That essay is now framed and sits proudly on their wall with the other eclectic memorabilia. I gave it to them as a gift one year and it’s been out for customers to see ever since. If you ever get a chance to visit, look for it on the right when you walk in.
Ross is the bartender who would always welcome us with a warm smile framed by his bushy salt and pepper mustache. He lovingly referred to me as “The Boss” and always fixed me a Shirley Temple, my favorite childhood drink, when we arrived. One time he even sent a pitcher of them to our table for a special occasion.
Being an only child I would usually get to bring my best friend up to Cape Cod with us. The restaurant holds lots of fond memories for the both of us. After years of Shirley Temples at the bar, we made the decision that we wanted our first legal alcoholic drinks to be at Gina’s by the Sea served by Ross. We went as far to decide that we would drive up from our university in September when she turned twenty one so we wouldn’t have to wait.
The First Vodka Tonic at Gina's
Unfortunately, Ross died of cancer and now there is a new bartender. It was probably one of the biggest losses I felt as a teenager, not having had lost anyone that I truly loved and always looked forward to seeing. So, this past Fourth of July I had my first drink at Gina’s in his honor. I chose a Vodka Tonic, a drink my father always says tastes better on Cape Cod. Notice in the picture the wonderful Native American wood carving. It’s just that kind of place; it always has been and it always will be. And it will always be a part of my life story.
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