Walk from the inn to : The Old Yarmouth Inn, one of our absolute favourite places to enjoy either a casual meal in the tavern, or a special dinner in the Red Room or the main dining room; The Optimist Cafe, where you can grab a tasty lunch or afternoon tea in quirky, cool surroundings; The Lyric Restaurant, where in contemporary surroundings you can enjoy chic Med-style cuisine, piano music (sometimes with a singer) and the feeling that you are in a trendy New York eatery. 

Drive a few minutes to some more of our favourites: Blue Moon Bistro, in Dennis village, where the creative chef/owner Peter Hyde and his wife Lisa make your meal VERY personal and special, in lovely intimate surroundings; The Red Pheasant Inn, also in Dennis village, where you can dine in a converted 200-year old barn with wide-planked floors, exposed beams and open fireplaces. Enjoy a drink at the wine bar, or a casual meal in the bistro, as well a more formal meal in the main resaturant; The Naked Oyster, in Hyannis, where you can get all types of oysters and other seafoods, (and lots more besides) all deliciously prepared,  in a setting which we think of as “sophisticated trendy”, and we LOVE it!

So, having named just a few of the fantastic restaurants who are participating in next week’s event, we hope we have enticed you to take a trip to Cape Cod (staying in our inn, of course – why not choose your room here?). Hope to see you soon!

This month you can take some direct action to support their wonderful efforts by taking part in their 5K Walk/Run, which takes place on Saturday May 15th. The walk starts at 9.15 am at Hyannis Village Green, and the organisers hope to raise funds and awareness for the disabled people they help every day. So why not plan a trip to Cape Cod, stay at our bed and breakfast inn, and help support a very worthy cause – hope to see you soon!

The Old Yarmouth Inn nextdoor to our Bed and Breakfast, was built in 1697 and later became an important stage coach stop for Cape Cod. In 1830, our magnificent building, originally built as a private residence, opened as the grand Sears Hotel, providing accomodation for weary travelers on their way to Boston, Provincetown and Chatham. The above painting portrays how things might have looked in the 19th century, with the stagecoach in front of the Sears Hotel and the tavern to the left of it. Both these properties remained under the same ownership until the late 20th century, and still continue to serve the public : The Old Yarmouth Inn is now a much acclaimed restaurant, whilst we endeavour to continue the tradition of fine hospitality nextdoor at our Inn, albeit under the changed name of The Inn At Cape Cod.

When our guests are looking for a break from the beach this summer, many will spend a morning or two on a self guided tour of our quaint little village. From art galleries to antiques and gift shops, from museums to historic sea captains homes, there is much to see. And for those guests at our inn who may be light sleepers despite all the day’s exhausting adventures, we have the perfect rooms to offer them, Sears and Caudalie, as both are equiped with second doors so that guests are not disturbed by the noise of the stagecoach!

Of course, a bonus of being in Brewster for the day is that you can spend some time exploring the fantastic Brewster Store, where you will be transported back to your childhood of candy jars, home made fudge, odd buttons in old-fashioned drawers, war posters and many many other goodies. Plus you can find your special, cute, Cape Cod gifts to take home for your family & friends.   

And if you feel like dining along 6A in Brewster, we have two favourites to choose from: Chillingsworth Bistro or the Brewster Fish House, both completely different, but alike in that you will have a tasty, freshly prepared meal in a delightful setting.

So why not plan a few days on Cape Cod, staying at our inn, and maybe taking advantage of one of our great  packages? Hope to see you soon!

 

Despite Smugglers being our favourite source of ice cream, we now and then try somewhere else in another area of the Cape, and have rarely been disappointed. For example, you cannot talk about ice cream without mentioning the very popular Four Seas in Centerville or Dennisport’s Sundae School. In both cases, expect to wait in line out the door on those hot summer days in July and August, but it will be worth it – my favourite flavors at Sundae School are the banana (made with real bananas) and the Bass River Mud : coffee, roasted almonds, choc. chip with fudge stripe……..just scrummy !

In the meantime, back in our neighborhood, you will find Yarmouth Port’s very own Hallets Store, run by the same family for 150 years.The store looks little changed in the last 50 and remains a local attraction. Here we find the chocolate frappes hard to beat. A little further down Route 6A, inbetween our village and the village of Dennis, you can try famous Captain Frosty’s ice cream – you may of course be tempted to start with some fish n’ chips !

It seems unfair not to mention the many other notable ice cream parlors on the Cape, but we can let you make your own minds up as to your favourite. Perhaps you might care to share your ice cream discoveries with us this summer – until then, The Inn At Cape Cod wishes you happy hunting!

We were told yesterday, when we visited the museum (by the way, it’s the sort of place you can lose yourself in for quite some time – and find gems of gifts in the fantastic shop) that Siobhan learned the alphabet reciting the names of the 26 Gashlycrumb Tinies (A-Z). Her Mom is a huge Gorey fan, too. The museum is probably Cape Cod’s quirkiest, and certainly is one to keep you coming back for more, as we do. So why not check out the opening hours of the museum, and tie them in with one of our “Spring Fling” packages, which include FREE entry to the museum. Hope to see you soon!

Running our Bed and Breakfast is a 24/7 affair, which we get an enormous amount of enjoyment from, and it is often difficult finding time to explore the Cape Cod paradise that surrounds us. We get frequent glimpses of Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic southern shore, just in our daily running errands, but now and again we make a little time to have lunch somewhere overlooking the water. This week we chose the warmest day to grab a bite at the yacht club and then walk along the beach at Hyannisport. We went as far as Kalmus Beach, which is just beyond the headland entrance to the harbour, an area that we had not been to before. The white sand, sparkling blue ocean and warm sunshine made it easy to imagine the long summer days ahead – and families picnicing in the shade of the pine trees overlooking the beach. This is indeed a spot we would recommend to our guests, as it is only a few minutes from our Inn on the open Atlantic southern shore.

Incidentally, our walk along the ocean shore would have brought us to the Kennedy family compound had we continued a little further – there is a harbour cruise run by Hyline during the summer season, which gives visitors a glimpse of this world famous residence along with other interesting homes of well known people.

The masterminds behind this gallery/tea-room,  Kathy & Bob Borsari, are charming, welcoming and whole-heartedly dedicated to the project in hand. The barn has been lovingly restored to create a relaxing and warm atmosphere where you can easily while away a couple of hours, chatting, enjoying the ambience, and imagining a place in your home for your favourite piece of art.

If you ever find yourself in the area, you would be very well advised to visit this wonderful gallery - but please make sure you have room for a spot of tea!

We arrived just in time to find a table outside on the small terrace, and we then enjoyed a sandwich and coke each. We were impressed by the friendly and prompt service as well as the quality of our food. We also appreciated being able to sit in the sunshine – the tables overlook a small courtyard, which also provides ample parking for cafe customers.

Pain d’ Avignon is located near the airport just 10 minutes from our historic bed and breakfast in Yarmouth Port. We were impressed enough to want to return and try the dinner menu. The restaurant must rely heavily on ” bouche a l’ oreille ” ( word of mouth ) for attracting its following – it was certainly bustling with people when we were there, even at 2.30 in the afternoon. As for Avignon itself, it remains one of our favourite French towns, where this Cape Cod cafe could in our opinion, more than hold its own in the quality of its pastries alone! The only disappointment was the absence of France’s most popular pastry, found in every bakery from Calais to Narbonne ,” le pain aux raisins” – nevermind, perhaps the pastry chef can be persuaded to add this to his repertoire.

Route 6A is beautiful at any time of year, but it is hard to beat those vistas of vivid spring colours set against  a background of fresh green leaf and meadow, and the deep blue of the ocean. The daffodils, tulips and forsythia are all in full bloom; the cherry blossom in our gardens is in heavy bud,  and the flowers of  those wondrous magnolias that one sees every so often along the highway,are opening. One can almost hear nature breathing a sigh of relief that winter is firmly behind us. Add that wonderful whiff of the ocean air that often greets us on our way to work each morning and not to forget the perfect sunset at the boardwalk that we can never resist, and there you have it, the spring fling ingredients to whet your appetite. The rest is up to you of course, but we are confident that we can tempt you even further with one of the hot deals we are offering our guests this spring.

Just what are the attractions of staying at our luxury inn – well we like to think that a simple visit to our website will be all you may need to convince you that they are considerable. There you will also find information including maps, detailing the wealth of attractions that are on our doorstep, including the world class dining that three great restaurants offer, all within a short walk of our inn.

So go ahead and plan that break to our Cape Cod Bay paradise. If you cannot make it this year or end up staying somewhere else on the Cape, we would love to show you around anyway, provided you can spare a few minutes in passing. In the meantime, if we can help you further with your vacation plans please do not hesitate to call or email us.