It started with the desire to snap a picture of the pretty orange bushes.
Click on any gallery photo for a description. Click and hold on the photo to the right for an enlarged slide show.
So as our pre-tourist boom week in the Happy Cottage of Cape Cod wound to its close, we gently tugged Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle in the opposite direction than our usual route. After snapped the two stages of bloom so I can ask you good gardeners my usual what is that, we continued our exploring ways and turned right instead of left.
Oh, what we saw.
There was an honor-honey stand next to a million-dollar house. The guy I presume to be the owner got done selling two five-buck jars and asked me if I wanted to buy his house as we walked past. No thank you, sir.
We made a couple more turns and then spotted a clearing at the end of a residential street.
Even Ellie B perked up at the smell of it.
Karen and I couldn’t believe we’d been coming here five years and this was our first whiff of what was a mile, and most, in this direction from the Happy Cottage.
A new Traditions List item had been discovered. By mistake.
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever stumbled upon during a vacation, and why? What’s your favorite pond or lake, and why? Which is your favorite photo, and why?
Did you buy any honey? I’d have loved to buy his house! My favorite is Dog Sense because both Karen and Ellie are so cute!
LikeLike
We did not buy any honey. I can’t eat it, and Karen said it looked like store bought anyway! Yeah, that house is pretty cool, Rachel, and Karen and Ellie do look pretty cute together in that one. 😉
LikeLike
Lovely pics, Mark–I enjoyed them. Looks like you had a great time!
LikeLike
Thanks, Ermine. Cape Cod brings it, for sure. I just had to push the little white button. 🙂
LikeLike
i have no idea what it is exactly, but it is beautiful ) i like finding little out of the way places while on vacation too )
LikeLike
Yes, I don’t know and don’t care but for it’s beauty, Beth!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Everybody is flattering, but I’ll tell the truth: you’re a menace with that camera, bub. A menace. How the hell am I supposed to get anything done now that I have to look at all these pictures. Get it under control, man. I’ve got things to do.
LikeLike
Sorry for the time grab, Chuck. I understand my fragile standing!
LikeLike
It’s beautiful Mark!
LikeLike
Every lake in British Columbia is my favourite lake and I gotta say I love the ocean, any ocean, Mark. Your vacation spot is very beautiful too. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Oh, my great friend Diana. A waterbug, are you? ❤
LikeLike
I love water Mark! It’s soothing, cooling, refreshing and visually stunning!
LikeLike
You make it sound so appealing, Diana. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha I can’t take the credit for water! 😉
LikeLike
But you can write and produce the advertising! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a beautiful tree! Love it.
LikeLike
It’s a warm one, Kerbey. I hope your June is OK. I’m worrying about Bill and other bad Texas weather I’m hearing about down your way, my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, we did just see the darkest clouds ever, but they seem to be rolling past us. Barely any rain in NW Austin, but downtown it’s pouring. We’re in a vortex.
LikeLike
Keep the cars circling your cul-de-sac, Kerbey, and the vortex of good will keep you safe. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool. Treading the familiar paths is comforting so straying from the routine occasionally can bring such delights. I bypass the nearby marina to head just further down the coast for our regular sunday dog walks. Then one day I was carless and had to rely on public transport and the train took me straight to the marina I had ignored and suddenly I was introduced to a brand new vista of delights. so now we alternate.
LikeLike
The alternating plan sounds like a marvelous choice of action, Roy. Old and new can live together peacefully, my friend. 🙂
LikeLike
oh, and you have started something with this quote challenge – it is sending me down all sorts of interesting paths by introducing me to all sorts of fascinating blogs.
LikeLike
I’m here to be a conduit of good things, Roy. Intentionally or by good fortune, we’re all a click away from incredibly interesting people.
LikeLike
Fabulous pictures! 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, Tess. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are welcome, Mark.
LikeLike
Fantastic find bro Mark. I loved taking the road less graveled when I could travel. Back-roads, country roads, anything but the highways suit me best. Ditto travel by bus rather than flying or Amtrak. You see the sights most people miss. My fave pic is Karen and Ellie B up to their knees in the water. It looks so cool and peaceful. You should always make it a point to turn in the opposite direction from the crowd no matter where you are. Great treasures lie in undisclosed locations.
LikeLike
The road less graveled! That’s a beautiful statement right there, sis Angie. And philosophy in life, too, I shall say to you. ❤
LikeLike
That was actually the title of a book of poetry I had at one time bro Mark. Loved the title, and the accompanying poem by the same name, plus lots of the others, but the title sold me. I’ve used it several times since then, so hope the copy right is up. Another of my favorite titles is “If I Had Killed Him When I Met Him I’d Be Out Of Jail By Now”. Title and book didn’t match at all, but it “spoke” to me from the shelf anyway. Now you know the truth. My life is summed up by book titles.
LikeLike
Aren’t we all, though, sis Angie, if we look in the library or Amazon long enough? ❤
LikeLike
Even at our most frequented destinations, there’s always something new to see. Glad you found a new spot, and a beautiful one at that.
LikeLike
Thanks, Me Who. I’m glad you are always dicovering new delights. 🙂
LikeLike
The honor honey is my favorite picture, because I love honey, and I would like to stroll down the street to buy some! His house is adorable tho…
I’ll share my discovery of water post for Labor Day-ish 🙂
LikeLike
I look forward to the water discovery post Joey! By the way, I have to ask of your garden knowledge, do you have an idea on the orange-flowered plant/bush/trees that drew us down that way in the first place?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I dunno, Mark. I can’t see the flowers very well. At first glance it looks like an azalea..or a specific dogwood. It’s easier to say what it’s not.
Any chance you could photograph the flower up close?
email me at joeyfullystated@gmail if you do.
LikeLike
I’ll crop in and email you what I have, Joey. I can’t take anymore this year. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vacay-who has time for that??? Seriously for our 12th anniversary in April (this year) we went to Greece. The Acropolis/Parthenon had a great impact on me emotionally. Soon I recovered and realized it was built in 437 BC and the Goddess Athena was nowhere to be found. We hit the restaurant next. Yes really…
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary, Florida Goddess. The big dozen. Wooooo-Hoooooo! Only a few centuries to go to catch up to those crazy Greek architects. You’re a peer with the chefs now, though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, exactly…
LikeLike
When I was married and actually could afford a vacation we used to go to the Outer Banks, NC a lot. I knew those islands like my own home town. One year while exploring around I located this hole in the wall cafe that served the best crab cake I’ve ever had. I still dream about them every day. Glad you found yourself a new tradition also, loving the photos!
LikeLike
Finding local food that you can’t get at home is so much fun, Skippah. I didn’t post this year about our one trip to The Pancake Man, a breakfast joint in Cape Cod that makes the lightest, fluffiest, best-tasting pancakes I’ve had anywhere, any time. Hey, the Outer Banks seems to be a great place to get a crab cake. Loads of blue shells in those waters, I would imagine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right, not sure how the Itty Bitty would feel about that one. I like the one of Karen and Ellie near the ‘plant life’. Nice one!
LikeLike
Thanks, Marissa. Those two and their water walks. 🙂
LikeLike
It’s nice.
LikeLike
Vacation traditions – this is a first!! The one memory I have is of a bomb blast so not cool – but something that stands out.
Otherwise I remember this moment when at 14000 feet we stumbled upon a mini stall selling hot instant noodles. Oh la la!!
LikeLike
Sorry to hear about the bomb blast, my friend. Ouch.
But so happy that you had an oh-la-la with hot instant noodles sold at 14,000 feet, Prajakta. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice! I love discovering new places while on vacations. This year we will be taking a ferry to Nantucket to visit brickhouse son! That should be fun! 🙂
LikeLike
The ferry to an island, Mrs. B! And son time, too. You two will be quite happy that day, I know. 🙂
LikeLike
You should buy the house. Just imagine all the friends who would come to visit.
LikeLike
And buy a pencil out of my tin cup at the end of the driveway, too, Scott?
LikeLike
Yeah, I’ll buy a pencil over the course of a long weekend. It’s a deal.
LikeLike
Two gross of No. 2s for the Scott clan … Three boys to take all those standardized tests, you know. I’m already on the upsell. 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, but the locals were trying to keep that park to themselves. Now the secret is out. 🙂
LikeLike
Yes, all of us congregate there next June during our annual Vacay, CM. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds good to me,
LikeLike
Yay new vacation traditions.
LikeLike
Yup! Yay. Share yours, Jay. Come on, now …
LikeLike
Cool post Mark. I used to come across amazing stuff serendipitously all the time. Ha! I was running an illegal load from British Columbia to Toronto one July 4th weekend and decided to run to through the US – as the holiday would mean most of the highway scales and enforcement would be on vacation. I plotted my route to minimize exposure to scales,so I was out on the back roads of Washington state ,aiming for Spokane,when I crested a hill and came face to face with the Grand Coulee Dam.Holy Moly! One of the largest concrete structures in the world and one of the largest hydro-electric dams in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Grand_Coulee_Dam It was scary driving across that little steel bridge at the base of the dam.Whew.
Another time, I had the family downtown NYC visiting the Statue of Liberty and the little girl had to use the bathroom. There was a club nearby and we took her in there. The concierge directed her to the women’s room and while we waited, I looked around the lobby. Lo and behold there sat the Heisman Trophy! It was the Manhattan Club where the trophy is kept off season. I couldn’t believe it- we had accidentally wandered into the Manhattan Club and were standing in front of the Heisman Trophy,entirely by luck. Amazing.
Anyway,I’m not a stranger to serendipitous finds. Enjoyed the post and pictures Mark. ThankYou
LikeLike
That is a scary drive and fantastic find, Paul. Wow. Very Grand Coulee, I’d say.
And the Heisman Trophy by mistake would be a forever memory for me as well, what with Syracuse’s late and great Ernie Davis forever being the first African American player to win that honor. Five or so years back they made a big Hollywood production film of Ernie’s life, with a lot of on-scene filming here. I got to cover the world premiere at our local Landmark Theatre and watch celebrities walk in on the red carpet. Cheering locals gawked outside the ropes a la Tinsel Town, but I was inside the ropes, part of a teeming media pool. I felt as if that was serendipitous for me as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I stumble upon cool things all the time, Mark. I’m glad I stumbled upon this post today, of course.
LikeLike
Thank you, wandering Ann.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The tree looks like a Pink Dogwood from its leaves. How great to find a beach so close! There is a pond a short 10 minute walk from where I live that I visit most days. Great place to see wildlife and sit and take in nature
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s pretty great to visit a place of serenity daily, Lisa. Indeed.
Pink dogwood. The flowers are orange. Interesting. 🙂
LikeLike
oh they looked pink- but the shape looked like dogwood hmmmm.
LikeLike
That is a nice house. A million bucks?! Yikes. Will have to sell a bunch of honey. I love those semi circular flag pennants. They always make me nostalgic.
LikeLike
I was guessing on the house price, Benson, but if anything I’d now estimate that I may have come in low. The Cape is red hot, and that house is pretty sweet. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you like stumbling upon off the beaten path, try geocaching. On a vacation at Long Beach Island New Jersey I was going after a geocache on a portion of the island that I never saw. There was a huge abandoned bridge, canals that moved to the mainland and some of the biggest striped bass that I’ve ever fished for. Geocaching has taken me to breathtaking vistas, hikes to places I didn’t know existed, real ghost towns and caves deep in the earth.
LikeLike
Wow! Thank for the “point-to” GC. They all sound like wonderful places to recharge for that food truck of yours. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gotta recharge the batteries some time… If you look on the map and it’s in the center of a Walmart parking lot,skip it. But if it looks like you have to go on a hike to get there, check it out.
LikeLike
Great advice, GC.
LikeLike