Friday, July 24, 2015

In Old Cape Cod


July is speeding by so quickly, isn't it?

How are you filling your July days?

Are you sunning by the seaside?

[McCall's July 1937]

It was always Myrtle Beach SC that our family went to except when I graduated
from high school. That summer we went to Miami Beach.
I wish I could remember the name of the hotel but it was a big one
with two olympic size swimming pools.
Almost no one was actually on the beach as it was not that pretty.
It was my first experience with a maid turning down our beds at night,
and leaving a chocolate on each pillow.

The beach I always wanted to visit was Cape Cod.
Why?
Because I loved Patti Page's "You're Sure to Fall in Love with Old Cape Cod"
that had been released a few years earlier.

It swept me away to an imaginary summer romance.




His parents would ask us to join them and his little brother for a picnic lunch
on their boat, but I wouldn't even know the mast from the keel.


[Woman's Home Companion July 1956]

We would pack our own lunch to share on the sand.

I would be a cute redhead, of course,
not sure if he was a blonde or brunette.
That's a little hazy.

[Woman's Home Companion August 1939]

Later I would shower and change into pink pedal pushers, and a white sleeveless
 cotton shirt over my sunburnt arms.

We would stand holding hands to watch a fiery sunset over a marshy beach,
sit side by side in a cafe booth eating lobster stew.
That night we would walk together on a silvery beach in the moonlight.

At the end of the week we would say goodbye,
for it was only a summer romance.

I can see, hear, and feel the ocean spray every time I hear that song.

31 comments:

  1. Awwwww... Love that old song!!!

    Nope, we are not sunning by the sea. We are at home, per usual.

    But High Season is beginning in our old Victorian city. And everything is fixed up, as pretty as possible. So it's a nice place, to wander around in.

    EARLY in the morning, that is!!! Locals try not to venture forth, during the busy days, and busy nights. ,-)

    Actually I just posted a post, about "getting ready"...

    Tessa

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  2. Okay, dear readers, major goof here! For some reason the song was published to a new post, not the one I had written. So I rushed to retype it again on this post, editing it over and over in minutes and updating it. Hope not many of you read it before I finally finished catching all the mistakes. I'm going back now and looking again!

    Dewena

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  3. Right now I am at the lake in Missouri where I spent some of the dbest summer days of my youth. I took a morning walk and spent time down by the beach remembering those long ago carefree days.

    I love your summer romance fantasy. Did all young girls dream of such things? I know I did.

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  4. I'm not a beach person. As a child, my parents had a house in Myrtle Beach and I hated going. We lived in Charleston, S.C. five years and never took the boys to M.B.. We did occasionally go to Kiawah. I do, however, love Cape Cod!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  5. July IS flying by, but it always does. I was just saying yesterday I need Summer to be just one more month longer, then I promise I won't complain (much).

    We went to Cape Cod last year with a rented RV. It's lovely there, but then again, most of New England is. ;)

    XXX

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  6. oh.
    dsm.
    i sat watching and listening. it gave me chills.
    it was one of my mother's favorite songs and she sang it often. and her voice was every bit as beautiful as patti's. tears welled with the chills. but it was all good.
    i was christened in a new england church with a steeple. it LOOKED like a church! which so many don't now.
    this brought memories of my gram and mother... light houses and widow's walks and porches with old wicker.
    how i love your posts. they have a richness. a depth. fantasy and reality and love. my loving memories and your young love... with sunburnt arms and pink pedal pushers! oh. i could see it all!
    thank you.

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  7. Ah, summer romance. Perhaps the imaginary one is better than real life for there's no heartbreak at the end. I've had a few of those.

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  8. Dewena, as I told you yesterday, so elegant and beautiful and lovely. What a beautiful song, I love Patti Page. And have always wanted to see Cape Cod myself. I have spent my summer traveling and getting to know sweet, wonderful, beautiful new friends!! :-)

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  9. No sunning by the sea here...the closest body of water is Lake Michigan in Chicago and we're about 45 miles away. Though I don't do any sunning-on-purpose anymore these days either...I have a very high risk for sun cancer since I am so fair and my mom has had several basal cell carcinomas cut out of her arm. Ahh...young summer romance. I had a couple of those when I was a teenager! Good memories.

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  10. What a beautiful story, magical melody and dreamy romance! What sweet (and savoury!) memories you have, my friend, of your fun family vacations in Myrtle Beach, SC, and that very special one in Miami.

    Patti Page has taken us to a very pretty, New England paradise, and one that I, myself, have dreamt of visiting, since I was a little girl, when my father used to tell us kids stories of the days when he worked as a waiter in several of the elegant restaurants on the Cape, back in the early 50s. No doubt, lobster stew was a speciality he served many, many times to those who were lucky enough to have spent such happy times there, on its shores.

    I, myself, am longing for the salty suds of my beloved Aegean, where makeshift tables and chairs, set up on its pebbly coastline, all in expectation of hungry swimmers and lounging sun worshippers, beckon with the aroma of fresh, barbequed fish, French fries, and refreshing Greek salads!

    Like you, 'I can see, hear, and feel the ocean spray', the rhythm of its waves, playing in my mind, a song that I listen to, often.

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories, stories for us, that soothe our soul.

    xoxo
    Poppy



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  11. I really enjoyed those wonderful vintage pictures. I never heard of that song, but I loved that picturesque video. So far, I've been enjoying the season, but I do agree that it's going by way too fast. Have a lovely weekend... :)

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  12. It's heating up here and I just came in from outside...I'd love to feel that ocean spray :)

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  13. What a Cape Cod summer picture you painted. I love that song! My sisters and I stayed at a Bed and breakfast out on the Cape. We loved our ferry trip to Martha's Vinyard. That was my third trip there. Twice with my hubby. Love the area.

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  14. Oh, what a nice story, Dewena, and I was entranced until the end. :~) I've never been to Cape Cod either, but sounds dreamy. It sounds like you had some fun summers with your family at Myrtle Beach. Around here, there's Huntington Beach, Santa Cruz, and Carmel by the Sea. Have you ever heard of any of them? A lovely post today, Dewena, about dreaming and reminiscing.

    love, ~Sheri

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  15. Perfect. :-)
    I like how you picked to be a red head. :-))

    It is getting hot and humid here in Wisconsin. Some time on the water would be nice. :-))
    Carla

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  16. And I am back again!!!!!!

    For a delightful imaginary trip.

    Never mind mistakes. I have an awful time, trying to imbed songs, into my posts. A-w-f-u-l. And some people seem to do it, easy as pie. -pout-

    Happily, we spent a few days, year after year after year, on Cape Cod. And went to most the Beach at Orleans. Because Gladys Taber had her Still Cove home there, and wrote so much, about there. :-)

    And we even got as close as we could, to Still Cove. But it was privately owned so we couldn't intrude. But we went-all-around and saw it, as much as humanly possible!!!! -grin-

    And at lunch at that restaurant where they always ate... :-)))))

    Hugs, tessa

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  17. You write so beautifully! Your words are a treasure to read.
    Brenda

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  18. You had me caught up in your romantic/story/serenade! I had the same summertime romance ideas as you when I was a teen. Even now---I've read a few of Mary Kay Andrews novels, (very light reading), which take place along the southern east coast and involve love stories of women in their thirties, forties and up, finding love for the first or second time with the backdrop of the lovely ocean!! Total fantasy!!!

    Jane x

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  19. Wonderful thoughts and images. Greetings!

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  20. Oh, I love the romance of that make-believe vintage summer.
    Amalia
    xo

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  21. Funny how a song... or a scent... can transport us... Enjoyed sharing your memory... blessings ~ tanna

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  22. That was a lovely story. It is wonderful when a memory of time-gone-by is triggered. A summer romance is something I wish I had experienced.
    You have a lovely blog. This is the first time I have read it and am going to go back and read them all.
    Hope you are having a nice weekend.
    Deb

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  23. My only summer romance story is from a tiny little bit of sand on a Minnesota lake with my girlfriends! We could lie on the sand and dream ourselves away while Pat Boone sang, "Love Letters in the Sand" :) That's as good as it got for me :)

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  24. What a nice post - i totally enjoyed it. I always love reading someone's memories of a special time. I am going to borrow that youtube for my blog - really loved it!

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  25. So perfect to read this while listening to/watching the video! You have a gift, Dewena, of actually making us feel right there in the middle of those pictures Going on this imaginary journey back in the day, was as delightful as being there for real.

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  26. Dewena,
    Cape Cod is a favorite vacation spot for us and we went practically every year when the kids were growing up. I had never heard of this song before so I had to take a listen....it's all true! "If you spend a night, you'll want to stay!" and "you're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod." We also fell in love with Martha's Vineyard! I enjoyed this post, the vintage pictures, your story and the song.
    Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
    Linda

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  27. Oh i loved this post! That was just lovely!

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  28. Such lovely vintage pictures and reminiscing......wonderful images. My summer is busy.....I have so much that needs to get done....and so little time left.

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  29. How lovely, Dewena. The song, the imaginary romance, the beach... I miss the water. Hopefully soon I'll see the ocean again.

    I've never been to Cape Cod, but I know it's beautiful.

    xo

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  30. Sweet xx oo

    I have never been to Cape Cod, I would love to visit someday. We are blessed to live less than two hours away from Lake Superior. I love our days visiting Lake Superior because the moods of Lake Superior can change and it just captures me.
    Carla

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