Happy Anniversary, Mr. Bale!

Happy New Year! The Christmas holidays are a busy time for our family. Of course, there's Christmas and New Year's day, but there also is TSO's and my wedding anniversary on December 30th, as well as Christina's birthday on January 7th. With all of that now behind me, I can return to writing about life in Sandwich, as well as Massachusetts at large. 

I adore the Cape. With the passage of time, I like it more and more. As for Massachusetts at large, the passage of time has caused me to like it less and less. This has come as quite a shock for me. After all, I always believed there was so much to love about the Commonwealth. I now realize that what I really love about Massachusetts is its role in the formation of our country -- the Mayflower, Thanksgiving, that glorious 18th century hotbed of liberty (or sedition, depending on your point of view, of course) known as Boston, my dear John Adams, the oldest written state constitution still in effect, things of that nature. Twenty-first century day-to-day reality is a different story. This topic is for another post.

In the late 90s, I began watching a British sitcom on a Philadelphia PBS station. The program was called "As Time Goes By," and it starred Dame Judi Dench as Jean Pargetter and Geoffrey Palmer as Lionel Hardcastle, a couple somewhere between middle and early old age, who were reunited after a decades-long separation, which began when Lionel went off to fight in the Korean War. At some point, Jean and Lionel reunited in London and later wound up with a second home in the country that came with a housekeeper named Mrs. Bale, who had a "Plantagenet face" and was obsessed with the shipping and weather forecasts. Anyway, one of Mrs. Bale's quirks was to repeat the shipping and weather forecasts, as well as the times of high and low tides, when she entered the room. 

It seems that, I too, have someone in my life who is obsessed with the tides -- my spouse. Just like Mrs. Bale, TSO is prone to announcing, on a daily basis, the time of low tide and high tide. As high tide approaches, he walks down the street to Craven's Landing to check it out, and he walks along the beach during low tide. Hence, I call him Mr. Bale.

Craven's Landing at High Tide
(Mr. Bale Was Right There For It!)

 

Craven's Landing at Low Tide
(Mr. Bale Was Right There For It!)

As our wedding anniversary approached, I was hard-pressed to determine what kind of gift to give him. The Giants of Sandwich helped me out in that regard. When we rode around that night, looking at the Giants, we, of course, came across Old Man Winter. I looked at the storefront underneath it and saw a sign that read "The Weather Store." Aha! I decided to check out the shop when the time came. 

The Weather Store
Sandwich, Massachusetts

Sure enough, I was able to find a beautiful tide clock at the store! Perfecto mundo!!

The Tide Clock on our Wall

To celebrate our anniversary, Mr. Bale and I spent the weekend at the Dan'l Webster Inn & Spa in Sandwich. First things first, he LOVED his tide clock, which now hangs on the wall in our beach house.

Dan'l Webster Inn & Spa
Sandwich, Massachusetts

The inn was built more than 300 years ago. We stayed in a lovely room with a king size canopy bed, desk, sitting area, dressing room, and bathroom.

The Bed

TSO Sitting at the Desk

The Sitting Area

We first visited the Cape in 2015. Our first day here that year happened to be TSO's 50th birthday. In advance of our trip, I had researched restaurants and selected the Belfry Inn & Bistro in Sandwich where we had a lovely dinner with Christina, Lou, Penny, and Michael. The minute we rolled into Sandwich, I fell in love with the village. That was a very special evening, and Sandwich entered a very special place in my heart that evening where it has obviously remained ever since.

Belfry Inn & Bistro
Sandwich, Massachusetts

The Belfry is a former Catholic Church, which, in addition to the restaurant has a number of guest rooms. I don't know. There's just something about being in bed with TSO while, for example, Saint Gabriel the Archangel watches over us that's just too creepy -- perhaps even sacrilegious -- for me. Even if the room is nice! We haven't chosen to stay there yet.

Belfry Inn
Friday Room

During our weekend anniversary, we had our anniversary dinner at the Belfry Inn & Bistro, which was just around the corner. The mild temperature made for a lovely walk from the Dan'l Webster Inn to the restaurant, although the mist created a sense of other-worldliness to our travels. The conversion of the building from a church to a restaurant was tastefully done, if that's possible. The dining room is very warm and cozy due to all the beautiful wood that once comprised the inside of the church, as well as the fireplace that's been installed.  

Our anniversary dinner was delicious. TSO enjoyed Wild Shrimp Fra Diavolo, and I had Seared New Bedford Scallops. For dessert, we shared Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. Yum!

On Saturday morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the Conservatory of the Dan'l Webster Inn.

Dan'l Webster Inn & Spa
Conservatory Dining Room
Sandwich, Massachusetts

The atmosphere was lovely, and I imagine that it's really delightful when the weather is warm, and the trees are green with leaves. 

We had massages in the afternoon, and then visited the Conservatory Dining Room, once again, for an early New Year's Eve dinner. I enjoyed Cape Cod lobster chowder and prime rib. TSO had Wok Fired Atlantic Salmon. For dessert, we went back to our room and consumed individual apple tarts that we had picked up earlier in the day at The Brown Jug, a gourmet food, wine, and pizza shop. It's a fascinating collection of various goodies, including beautiful French tea towels.

We understood that the adult First Night activities were canceled in Sandwich, so we spent the evening mostly watching my guys, Andy and Anderson, and even stayed awake long enough to watch the ball drop.

Happy New Year!