The Perfect Cape Cod Vacation....with Melissa

    

Cape Cod Seals not Rocks

            For the past couple of years, I have dreamed about traveling with my girlfriend, Melissa. Over the years, I have had loads of fun and learned so much seeing so many fascinating places and I couldn't wait to share these adventures with her. It took a while for everything to work out, but finally our first trip together became a reality. Where did we go you might ask? We went to beautiful Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  I went there only once as a toddler, but I don't remember too much about it. Melissa on the other hand, gets to go every year to visit her family and enjoy all the attractions. She even goes at Christmas, when I can imagine the seaside is decorated beautifully. 

Go-Kart Fun

  

What did we do in Cape Cod? Our days were filled with awesome activities. We arrived on August 7th but Melissa arrived two days earlier because she and her family went to her cousin's wedding. We kicked off our vacation in high gear, driving fun go-karts. Melissa and I raced my dad and won! 

        Next, we bounced on air trampolines. Melissa's older brother, Chris, especially loves to jump on those and he can do amazing tricks like landing on his rear and getting back on his feet again. He's much better than we are. 

Speed Boat 

        In the afternoon, we had a thrilling ride on a speed boat in Nantucket Sound. It went crashing over the waves and did doughnuts which was so much fun because it felt as if it were going on its side and spill us into the water. We were screaming and laughing all at once. We saw the Kennedy compound, which is the private homes of the Kennedy family when they stay in Cape Cod. The captain played classic rock songs including Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd's, "Gimmie Three Steps" and much more. I was air drumming while trying to holding on tight all at the  same time.  

Kennedy Museum

On the second day, we started out by driving not go-karts, but bumper cars that look like rubber rafts. We also went to the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis. Inside the museum, there was lots of cool stuff like old films of his family on Cape Cod, newspaper and magazine clippings, a tribute to his younger brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and even the Kennedy family tree which is very large. I learned that he had a sister, Rosemary, who had special needs. His sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, started Special Olympics, in honor of her. Melissa is a terrific Special Olympian in both summer and winter sports.

Day three was a soaring one. Melissa and I went to new heights. We went parasailing! I did that also when I was little, but yet again I don't remember it too much. Melissa did it too when she was younger but she did it in the Bahamas. How high did we go you wonder? We soared 800 feet. We could see great scenery even though it was a bit cloudy. We didn't see any fish because we were up so high. We recommend you try it as long as you're not afraid of heights. Always consider giving something new a try. 

Up, Up and Away

 

Cape Cod Lighthouse

 

    Later that day, Melissa came to our hotel and we had fun swimming in the cool pool. My mom took us to the famous Chatham lighthouse which is still working. We learned that the Mayflower ship went there in 1620. We enjoyed a beautiful stroll along the beach. Before returning Melissa to her family, we had a dinner of delicious pizza, but boy it was hard to find because every place was so crowded! 

The fourth day was very special. We went on another boat excursion, this time

Seal Mission 

 to Monomoy Island to see cute seals and we went pretty fast on the way back. Melissa, her brother and I sat on the bow so we got to enjoy the choppy water. We tried to find some great white sharks but we were out of luck. That night, I finally had the big chance to meet a lot of Melissa's wonderful and lovely family at a dinner at her Aunt Donna's house. The best part of the evening was that Melissa and I sang the classic duet "Shallow" from the movie "A Star is Born." Everybody loved it.  They gave us a big round of applause and waved streamers. We plan to perform more duets! 

Cape Cod Central Railroad 

        The last day of the trip was very relaxing. We went on the Cape Cod Central Railroad and enjoyed spectacular scenery. Some of the interesting sights included marshes, cranberry bogs, a sailboat yacht and a US Coast Guard ship on the Cape Cod Canal. We learned a lot about these things too, like that the canal was dug by hand and construction was started in 1909 and finished in 1914. It was financed by August Belmont Jr. who also financed the original New York City subway system. 

 

Cape Cod Canal 

        That was one of my best vacations! I can't wait until we have the opportunity to travel with Melissa again. If you ask me what my favorite part was, well that's a tough one because all of it was fun and exciting. We recommend you go explore and enjoy Cape Cod yourself!