Provincetown, the "Outer Cape," and Wellfleet Too

liamsaunt · August 16, 2022

I'm not really sure what the purpose of cream cheese is in sushi. I used to only see it in salmon rolls called "Philadelphia roll" which mimicked a bagel I guess, but now it seems to be in a lot of different ones. She likes it though, and I wasn't eating it, so it was OK with me!

I cooked at the house last night. My brother grilled tuna for himself and my husband, but my niece did not want any since she had tuna for dinner the prior evening. She picked out a piece of salmon at the market, so I ate that with her. I just did it on a sheet pan with some summer squash and zucchini and an oyster sauce glaze. I also cooked a pot of rice. I made corn on the cob and a tomato salad for my husband to have with his tuna, but I only took a picture of the salmon

Here are some photos of last night's sunset.

Afterglow

liamsaunt · August 17, 2022

The weather has taken a temporary downturn. We are having a nor'easter and are under a gale warning. The waves and wind are supposed to pick up by the afternoon. We'll be generally staying at the house today.

Last night we ventured back to Mac's Shack. If anything, it was even busier last night than it was on Saturday night! Where are all these people coming from haha. Drinks for my brother and husband:

We shared some littlenecks steamed in garlic, ginger, scallions and soy as an appetizer. These were delicious, and I wished we had something on the table to soak the broth up with, or at least a spoon.

Niece got sushi again. A salmon poke bowl this time

And then she ordered another roll with cream cheese in it. I guess that's the way she likes her sushi. This is the Philly roll.

Brother ordered fish and chips. The cole slaw went untouched of course.

Husband ordered halibut with mashed potatoes in lobster broth

and I had swordfish with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Not sure what we are doing for dinner today--I am pretty sure I am cooking, though I doubt the fishing boats went out last night. We'll see what the market has. If it's not too crowded I will take some pictures of the counters in there today.

TicTac · August 17, 2022

Do you ever head down to the boats themselves to buy straight from the fisherman?

We did that while staying in Aruba and it was an absolute riot...

liamsaunt · August 18, 2022

19 hours ago, TicTac said:

Do you ever head down to the boats themselves to buy straight from the fisherman?

We did that while staying in Aruba and it was an absolute riot...

As far as I have been able to find out, the fishermen do not sell directly from the boats in Wellfleet. I am just guessing here, but I am guessing that is because the state requires everything to be inspected before sale. We often rent homes that are beachfront on the harbor, where most of the oyster farms are. The homes all have signs in them telling you not to approach the oystermen to ask you to sell you their product. That said, there are options right in almost every Cape Cod town to buy the locally caught fish. Mac's and Hatch's are the two in Wellfleet. I like them both, so go to whichever is most convenient for what else I am doing that day. Yesterday I went to Mac's because I knew I wanted shucked lobster meat, and Hatch's doesn't always have shucked meat. Here is a picture of the fish counter.

The fish with the signs that slipped behind are bluefin tuna, salmon (obviously) and cod. There is a counter with shellfish to the left, and prepared foods to the right. Yesterday I purchased shucked lobster meat ($52.99/lb, much lower than at the start of the summer) and some sea scallops for me since I dislike lobster.

Here's the breakfast I made my husband. I brought that big beefsteak tomato from home.

Yesterday was a washout due to a storm. The storm actually missed us, but the ocean was still stirred up. The water came all the way up to the edge of the dune the house sits on. I went over to the stairs down to the beach to take some pictures. This one shows how tall the dune is. Those are the beach chairs that go with the house all the way down there at the bottom. Normally the beach is very wide. Not yesterday.

Stormy day. The sea was pretty calm when I took this picture. The waves got huge a couple of hours later. There were some crazy people surfing out there. It's back to being calm and sunny today.

Husband wanted to eat at home, so I cooked dinner. Husband wanted warm lobster rolls.

Sister and brother hate warm lobster rolls and wanted cold lobster rolls. Easy enough. Brother picked out the cucumber from his as a concession to my not having to make two separate batches of lobster salad (we use cucumber instead of celery because nobody likes celery)

I had some leftover rice in the fridge from the other night, and niece does not like scallops or lobster, so she agreed to fried rice for dinner. She asked for eggs on top

I had fried rice too, but with scallops on top

Anna N · August 18, 2022

What gorgeous looking eggs. Your willingness to accommodate so many likes and dislikes sometimes amazes me. I don’t think I could be quite so easy-going.

Katie Meadow · August 18, 2022

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

What gorgeous looking eggs. Your willingness to accommodate so many likes and dislikes sometimes amazes me. I don’t think I could be quite so easy-going.

I know I'm not. Yes, those red yolks are fabulous. @liamsauntyou must have boundless energy. I am endlessly envious of all the east coast seafood. We have an ocean over here but clam varieties are limited. What I wouldn't give for a bowl of steamers.

TicTac · August 18, 2022

Thank you @liamsaunt for taking the shots of the fish counter - love seeing local fish mongers/butchers.

You can see the glisten from the fish's flesh, that's how fresh it looks!

You might be right with the state regulations, I have a feeling it is a $ topic in the end. Too bad, as cutting out the middle man would make the fisherman a lot more money and probably save you a chunk too!

weinoo · August 18, 2022

3 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

That said, there are options right in almost every Cape Cod town to buy the locally caught fish.

Have you ever been to the nice one in Orleans? I was extremely envious of the product they were selling, as I wasn't cooking and was unable to use it!

But I like Hatch's (and Mac's); I think i've purchased some really nice smoked fish (blue for sure, maybe haddock?) at Hatch's before heading home.

weinoo · August 18, 2022

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

I don’t think I could be quite so easy-going.

Don't underestimate yourself.

Anna N · August 18, 2022

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Don't underestimate yourself.

As soon as my kids could handle solid food they knew how to make a peanut butter sandwich to cover those occasions when they found fried liver etc., unsuitable for their delicate palates. I am not @liamsaunt. 😂

weinoo · August 18, 2022

Just now, Anna N said:

I am not @liamsaunt. 😂

WE are not!

gfweb · August 18, 2022

38 minutes ago, Anna N said:

As soon as my kids could handle solid food they knew how to make a peanut butter sandwich to cover those occasions when they found fried liver etc., unsuitable for their delicate palates. I am not @liamsaunt. 😂

No, @liamsaunt wouldn't do fried liver

liamsaunt · August 19, 2022

19 hours ago, weinoo said:

Have you ever been to the nice one in Orleans? I was extremely envious of the product they were selling, as I wasn't cooking and was unable to use it!

Nauset Fish and Lobster Pool. Yes, that is a fabulous market. I am stopping there tomorrow actually, to get some fish to take home. (We are going home tomorrow and then coming back again next Saturday). I'll try and get a picture of their counter too.

Yesterday my sister, niece and I went out to breakfast. Husband had to work so I brought him takeout. We chose the Fox and Crow. Here's their menu

My niece got the Fox sandwich

My sister chose the avocado toast

and I had the mezze plate. The toum was my favorite part, but I was basically breathing garlic fire for the rest of the day

While out and about we noticed a sign for a new bagel shop on Route 6

It was close to their closing time for the day, so I ordered some discounted bagels to take with us for the freezer.

My brother asked to go to dinner at the Beachcomber, which is Wellfleet's most famous destination. It's located in an old Coast Guard lifesaving station that's been pulled back from the edge of the dune

Here's the beach below, Cahoon Hollow beach, and the packed dune trail to get up and down

Visitors were greeted by this sign at the top. It originally said "no lifeguard" but some smarty pants erased the "no". I can confirm the high level of shark activity. We have been monitoring the shark detection buoy in near the beach on the Sharktivity app and it has been busy.

People were swimming anyway

Back to the food. Here's a beachcomber margarita

and a mezcal grapefruit drink. My husband did not seem to like this one much.

We ordered fried clams to share

My brother got fish and chips. The potion was enough for at least two people

Niece got the same steak sandwich she had last time

I ordered a salad with shrimp on it

My sister and husband both got the oyster po boy. It was huge

Here's a couple of sunset photos to close out the day

We got a West Virginia license plate in the sunset beach's parking lot, bringing our remaining license plates for the 2022 contest to five--we still need both Dakotas, Hawaii (not going to happen) Alaska, and Nevada to complete our yearly search for every license plate in the country on Cape Cod.

Edited August 19, 2022 by liamsaunt (log)

heidih · August 19, 2022

As always everything looks like I'd enjoy it. I've noticed on the beach trips you wonderfully document that fried tortillas make frequent apperances. Funny with ceviche to me as in Mexico I've generally seen saltine crackers (yes in the plastic wrapper) served. Personally I would prefer the chips.

weinoo · August 19, 2022

Yeah, Mexico and the outer Cape are probably a little different in style.

heidih · August 19, 2022

48 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Yeah, Mexico and the outer Cape are probably a little different in style.

Duh but one associated tortillas and ceviche separately with Mexico. Why the saltines always struck me as odd but ever present down there.

Katie Meadow · August 19, 2022

2 hours ago, heidih said:

As always everything looks like I'd enjoy it. I've noticed on the beach trips you wonderfully document that fried tortillas make frequent apperances. Funny with ceviche to me as in Mexico I've generally seen saltine crackers (yes in the plastic wrapper) served. Personally I would prefer the chips.

Or they could go the extra mile and serve oyster crackers.

heidih · August 19, 2022

34 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Or they could go the extra mile and serve oyster crackers.

The way I've seen it eaten the ceviche gets piled on the cracker so oyster too tiny?

liamsaunt · August 20, 2022

18 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Or they could go the extra mile and serve oyster crackers.

Oyster crackers are more of a chowder thing. I am really picky about my chowder and almost never order it in a restaurant. At home, I usually make popovers to go with chowder.

So yesterday we had to backtrack to Eastham to pick up my weekly delivery from my farm share. We are lucky that they will bring it to the Cape in the summer months, but you do have to go to one of two pickup locations as opposed to doorstep delivery. The closest one to us was Mac's Seafood Eastham market. Of course, when we got there, the veggies had not been delivered yet. Yay for Cape traffic. While waiting, I took some pictures of the market.

Board with today's available fish prices

Finfish

Shellfish

We waited about half an hour, and then gave up temporarily and went to dinner in Eastham since everyone was completely starving. My brother was a bit grumpy because this was not the original plan, but he got over it quickly. He does not like it when his routines are disrupted. We went to Casa del Cabo because it was the closest restaurant to Mac's. It was early enough that we were able to walk in without a reservation, though we had to agree to give up the table by a certain time. That was fine because we had to go back to get the vegetable box. Here's the food menu

And the cocktail menu

When we were first seated, there was only one other table in the place with people at it, and they were next to us. They would NOT stop complaining! They were angry that the restaurant did not offer free chips and salsa. They loudly complained about it through their whole meal! They were even still complaining at dessert! It must be terrible to be able to get so angry over something so small. Sheesh.

Anyway, here is a margarita

It was happy hour so we ordered a dozen $1 oysters. They were good, very briny

Some (not free!) chips and seveche. To circle back to the chips vs. crackers discussion above, I think the chips hold up better to the liquidy seveche than saltines since you pile the seveche on to eat it.

My niece ordered pork tacos with poblano peppers. She liked these a lot

I ordered the shrimp tacos. They were messy but tasty

Sister and brother ordered the swordfish. Sister liked it, brother did not.

Husband had a grilled monkfish special with romanesco sauce and artichoke hearts. He really liked this

Only niece ordered dessert. She got the chocolate churro bread pudding with ice cream, and devoured it.

Later that night, only my husband and I wanted to go to the sunset. We stopped off at my favorite Gelato Joy for a quick dessert. Menu

And our choices, blueberry and coffee

And that's it for this week. We are heading back home today, then returning here for two more weeks starting next Saturday. The next group will be minus my brother, but plus my husband's brother, for at least part of the time. See you on the dinner thread!

Anna N · August 20, 2022

19 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

See you on the dinner thread!

Always happy to see you on the dinner thread!

rotuts · August 20, 2022

@liamsaunt

thank you for sharing .

wonderful looking food , and

interesting menus.

looking forward to your next trip.

Edited August 21, 2022 by rotuts (log)

blue_dolphin · August 20, 2022

Thanks for taking us along once again, @liamsaunt! Your photos make me swoon at the freshest of fish and the beautiful views as I marvel at your equilibrium in pleasing the different tastes in your group!

kayb · August 21, 2022

Thanks for another lovely trip!

**MaryIsobel** · August 21, 2022

I very much enjoy your posts, as I have never been to the east coast of the U.S.A. It's definitely on my bucket list, thanks to you.

**TdeV** · August 21, 2022

Thanks muchly.

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