Chatham, Cape Cod

[weinoo]

Summertime on Cape Cod means, I'm told, tons and tons of tourists. Always getting in the way of the locals (if you happen to live on the Cape, please chime in as to whether I'm correct or not). And they can't wait for everyone to exit - which generally means they mark Labor Day on their calendars as the day when the Cape once again belongs to those who live there year round.

Well, last weekend Significant Eater and I, at the behest of family members, made our way to Chatham, which is where our relative's relative's relative lives - in a beautiful house, I might add. Immediately upon arriving, our niece and her husband (both much younger than us and both major food geeks, by the way) , took us down to the Chatham fish pier, located right down the block from said house. It's an active fishing port and trucks were loading up with their catch to bring to the Boston and NYC markets. Here's a boatload of dogfish shark ready to be unloaded...

The pier is also home to the strangely named Chatham Pier Fish Market, where the catch of the day and then some is offered for sale. We decided upon New England clam chowder and lobster rolls (like you'd order anything else!)...

The chowder was fine, loaded with meaty clams and not too rich. Just right, as a matter of fact. The lobster roll...

had perfectly cooked lobster in a sadly incorrect roll lined with lettuce and a bit too much celery, in my opinion. But at $19 for a good 6 oz. of lobster, fries and slaw, who can complain?

The real reason for the trip was fishing for striped bass, and Captain Jack and I ended up with a nice trio of keepers, along with a bluefish. Perfectly handled, blues are delicious on the grill.

On the day we were leaving, breakfast was at Chatham stalwart the Lazy Lobster. They're only open for breakfast and lunch, and only for about 7 months a year, but man do they serve a delicious breakfast. I had house-made corned beef hash with a couple of poached eggs (even the corned beef is made in-house!)...

If you're ever on the Cape, don't hesitate to swing by Chatham - the eating's good and so's the fishing. Full blog post here...Labor Day's Ovah.

Edited: To finish post.

Edited September 13, 2013 by weinoo (log)

[Shelby]

IMO, that lobster roll looks like it needs way bigger chunks of lobster? The chowdah ( ) looks delicious.

LOL about the locals....I grew up in a tourist town and it was a love/hate relationship with the tourists. Love because that's when the money was made. Hate because they really do take over. (hate might be too strong of a word, though )

edited to add : that breakfast just made my mouth water. I'm off to read the full blog!

Edited September 13, 2013 by Shelby (log)

[weinoo]

Yes, Shelby, I always wonder why the "locals" don't love the tourists - it's the tourist money that keeps those place in biz!

[Alex]

Yes, Shelby, I always wonder why the "locals" don't love the tourists - it's the tourist money that keeps those place in biz!

See here. A lifelong friend lived in Harwich, right next to Chatham, from junior high through high school. His mom was a Nickerson, as mentioned in the article. When I visited, we always ate at his house, so I have absolutely no memories of eating out, except for ice cream.

[weinoo]

That's a great piece, Alex. I promise I didn't read this before I wrote the above...

Cape Cod has always had a love-hate relationship with tourists. It's hard for us to live with our summer visitors, and also hard to live without them. With over 50 percent of our economy geared to the vacation trade, tourists are the reason that we can live here. And most Cape Codders, even if they grouse about some of the inconvenience, know it.