Housing that is Affordable on Cape Cod

By Bob Surrette

Food, shelter and clothing, the three necessities of life. Food on the Cape is abundant. You can buy it, dig for it or pull it out of the water. Clothing in the high season is primarily beach wear. Shelter, well, shelter, housing, is another matter.

They say we don't have enough housing. We have plenty of houses on the Cape. But much of it lies fallow for much of the year. It's seasonal, either built that way or is that way by choice of the owner.

What they mean is we don't have enough housing that is affordable. Not just affordable in the legal sense of affordable housing, but affordable for people who work here. There is a mismatch between the wages people earn here and what it costs to live here. Many of us have to have two or three jobs or have to live with two or more other wage earners to stay afloat.

Several cities on the mainland have successfully introduced innovative programs to encourage existing home owners to build small mini-homes in their own back yards that they can rent out.   It allows homeowners to invest in a project that appreciates over time; it creates a new class of landlords, also known as small business people; and it greatly increases the supply of housing that is affordable.

There are countless reasons why this would not work on the Cape, from Title Five septic-system waste-water concerns to our renown for “300 years of history unimpeded by progress.” But it is worth a try, don’t you think? A way ahead would be for the Cape Cod Commission to appoint a Housing that is Affordable Tzar and set them loose amongst our towns.  Who better than the Commission to turn the tables on their preservationist ways and lead us out of the shortage of housing that is affordable and into the land of a roof over every head.

Cape Cod Water

By Bob Surrette  (photo by Ken VanTassell)

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One of the best things about the Cape is the water, especially the salt water. People come here to enjoy our access to the Bay, the Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, all filled with salt water from top to bottom. While there are some fresh water ponds here and there and almost everywhere, a lot of our in-land puddles are tidal, filled and emptied by tidal estuaries that start and end at the ocean's edge.

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Most of my clan that visited the Cape on vacation over the last seven decades just scratched the surface of our waters. They came, they beached for a week, then went home.  The rule of thumb for my siblings was to not venture further out off the beach and into the sea than we could stand with our heads above water. This was a great formula as it aged well without Mom having to develop an age specific rule of thumb as we grew, both in numbers and in statute.

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I learned to swim in a pool at the Y and practiced in the freshwater lake near where I grew up in the outer suburbs of a major mid-Massachusetts municipality.  I preferred to swim in fresh water back then, especially when I accidentally took a mouthful. Fresh water frolicking also had the lucky strike extra of allowing us to skip our baths that night. But in my later years I learned to greatly enjoy the extra buoyancy that salt water provides me. Sadly, it is only temporary and gravity had its way with me when I eventually had to waddle back on shore.

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Like my clan back then, many visitors to the Cape today only to get enjoy the views of our littoral waters from the shore line as I did for fifty years or so. I never stepped on a boat until my much younger brother convinced me to go out on his sloop one blustery day.  I got to practice my salt water swimming that day when the wind conspired with a rogue wave to topple us. My brother laughed it off; I haven't been on a small boat since.

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 There are many people who are lucky enough to be Cape Cod boat people, they own them or ride on boats of others.  They get to see the Cape from the water to the shore, and a very pretty picture it can be, as you can see from this photo. This picture was taken from the ferry on the way back from Nantucket. Postcard perfect, no?

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The Secret Life of Boats on Cape Cod

By Bob Surrette  (photo by Ken VanTassell)

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We all want our personal water craft to create a hole in the water for us when we are at sea, in a pond or on flowing water in a tidal estuary or another waterway. However, when we are done and it's time to drag our floatation device on shore and leave it until later, we don't want it to hold water. So, we tip it over, turning it bottom up to the elements and the sky above. I am sure these vessels are not happy, not only out of their element, H20, but now not putting their prettiest side forward for passer-bys to see.

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Many have their bows and sterns unceremoniously stuck in the sand. Some have homes on custom racks. My canoe sits on two pallets I got from a "Free" pile on the side of Great Western Road at the end of the season last year. With great difficulty, I had wrapped it in one of those ubiquitous blue tarps. I didn't do a very good job as the tarp gushed water this spring when I freed the bungee cords holding in in place. The good news is that I didn't find that any critters, such as raccoons, had taken up residence in there, away from the elements.

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Little bigger boats are trailered to driveways or backyards and protected from the elements as best their owners can. Usually turning them upside down is not an option. Commercial boat yards offer the option of sealing even relatively large boats in white plastic. How do they breathe in there?

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Very few boats spend the winter in the water. Some commercial fisherpeople must work the off-season, no? And the ferries run all year except when the weather or mechanical glitches shut them down.

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I met a couple on one of our islands a few years ago who live on their boat. It wasn't very big but neither were they. They told me they spend the fall motoring down the East Coast in search of warmer waters for the winter. In the spring these boat people reverse course, arriving back in the islands just as the high season starts. Now, there's a boat that has to be happy year around, don't you think?

Lobster for your thoughts?

By Bob Surrette (photo by Ken VanTassell)

Residents and visitors alike on the Cape have a summer fling with eating lobsters, whole, mixed in or on a roll. We even have a boat named Lobster Roll, which I have been on when it was rocking and rolling quite vigorously. Many land-based places also have lobster in their name, a not so subtle hint at what you'll find there.

The newspaper even shows us the prices per pound for the little beasts from time to time, current, last week, last year, as they do prices for a gallon of precious gas for our cars or cod for scrod.

Many eateries don't post their prices for lobster. In the price column is the word, "Market." You already know it's expensive sea meat. If you have to ask how much when you see that m-word, does that mean you shouldn't be buying it?

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So, in spite of the price, why do so many of us buy and enjoy so much of it. My theory is that we are in a bit of an expensive mode of living when we are on the Cape in the high season. How else do we justify paying a month's rent for our house back home for a week here in a cottage that is certainly quaint and not at all palatial?

Google tells me about half the tons of lobster we consume around here come from Maine, something I've always suspected in my heart but without any specificity as to percentages in my brain. Many are delivered live to a lobster pot on your stove for their final fling. I remember sitting next to a bloke on a plane out of Logan years ago who had a live one under his seat on its one-way ticket to Virginia. Can you still do that?

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I don't really have a great appreciation for lobster. I do not believe the flavor is worth the work of coaxing the meat out of the shell if I have to do it myself. My preference, if I have to eat it, is to order Lobster Newberg (Newburg?), lobster meat swimming in real butter, heavy cream, a splash of cognac or a shot of sherry or a dash of ground nutmeg to taste, strictly fresh eggs and perhaps just-in-time ground pepper, if you like. But then, am I really tasting the seafood or is its flavor overwhelmed by the other ingredients. What do you think?

Poutine on Cape Cod

By Ken VanTassell

Cape Cod gets it's fair share of Canadian tourists due to our proximity and the warmer water and beaches (it's all relative !). With this in mind I present as a service to all the Canadian Cape Cod tourists a list of Cape Restaurants that serve poutine.

What is this thing called Poutine you ask ? Originating in the Province of Quebec, traditional Poutine is French Fries, Cheese Curds, and Brown Gravy. In Canada everyone sells Poutine, it is a regular menu item on most fast food chain restaurants. Lately some restaurants have been taking license to add other ingredients to this basic formula.

If you would like to see a video on how Poutine is constructed, Canadian YouTube food reviewer Ken Domik has you covered in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTeLfRLpSnU

Thanks to Ken Domik for the Poutine Action Shot!

Cape Cod Restaurants with Poutine on the Menu. (4/2017)  - This list is not necessarily all encompassing, if you find an omission please email me and I will update the list (kenwvt@outlook.com).

Enjoy !

https://www.facebook.com/TheCleatandAnchor/ (Anchor Poutine - Tots)
http://www.theportsidetavern.com  (Traditional)
http://www.tapcitygrille.com/food-menu/  (Duck Trio Poutine)
http://www.bearinboots.com/menu.html  (Duck Confit)
http://orleansbowlingcenter.com/Appetizers.html  (Pulled Port Poutine)
https://www.doghousedennis.com/menu.shtml  (Cape Cod Poutine - Pepper Jack Cheese)  (Seasonal)
http://madminnow.com/menu  (Somewhat traditional)
http://www.gotofathers.com/#menu-section  (topped with beer braised beef)
https://www.hearthnkettle.com (traditional)

Mid Cape Highway

South Dennis Post Office