This morning, we got up and got ready to meet a handful of family members down in the breakfast room. It ended up that Panna and I would be going to Cape Cod and everyone else would be doing other things. Panna suggested going way down south to the elbow region, where the Woods Hole region is. We took I-495 south to Hwy 25 to cross the Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal and take Hwy 28A down south.

We tried to find the better beaches located out of the way off 28A, but we didn't and was routed back onto Hwy 28, which becomes Woods Hole Road near the end. While we were going through the stretches of the road with large trees providing shade and that enclosed, forested feeling while in the car, I couldn't help but feel as if it were an old comfortable feeling of familiarity which might mean either I had lived here in another life, or it reminded me of the time of the arrival at Princeton University for the first European tour in high school, riding on the bus through similarly forest-covered roads and stepping out onto the tree-covered campus with that anticipation of adventure, something new, unforeseen.

We decided to make an adventure of finding Stoney Beach on the west side of Woods Hole.

Panna parked at NOAA's parking lot (since it was Sunday, parking was FREE) of all places!! It never occurred to me during the hurricane season when I would see the NOAA's icon on hurricane reports, that I would be standing in front of their buildings in Cape Cod!

We walked to find a place to eat and take a bathroom break at Captain Kidd's Restaurant, a very nice place with very dark, well-worn-but-varnished wooden floors, timber construction in the rafters above, old furnishings including powder and wine/beer kegs of the old wooden barrel style as seats, and fish nets hanging from the ceiling. You'd think we had stepped back in time to the pirate days! I wonder where the missing piece of the "Adventurer" sign disappeared to...

We sat at the rear deck, which faces Eel Pond (it connects to Great Harbor to the south on the east side of it). We had a sea gull fly right up to just a walkway's width from the table onto the railing, and I got close-up photos of the bird. We were just wondering what it was like to be the homeowners with yacht slips in the backyards and sailing when you wanted. It was beautiful and delicious! A moment of relaxation from the hectic pace we had today.

The bag of chips from Cape Cod! It got away from me per my request to Panna.

Afterwards, we went by the NOAA aquarium, which was closed, unfortunately. But we were there! We continued on, walking from there to Stoney Beach on the south end of Buzzard's Bay. It was a small beach, not overcrowded. You folks know what I love dearly, so I leave that to your imagination. ;-) Anyway, it's sand mixed in with very small smooth stones.

I took a photo of Panna at the Atlantic Ocean. She had been in the area for three months in 1961 for WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). I asked earlier during the drive down if the area had changed a lot since then, and of course, she said yes.

Down through Cape Cod and walking in Woods Hole, we saw some unique houses all along the way. I can't imagine what it cost to live there, especially in the exclusive area that you can only access by permit!

Anyhow, I stepped into the Atlantic Ocean at 1 28 PM on Sunday, August 1st, 2010. I did it! I had reached my destination! I washed my arms with the ocean and smelled the water. No signs anywhere of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf Coast. I was relieved that I got to see the beach and ocean as is.

I dipped a cup of water from the ocean and a cup of dry sand with a few rocks of different colors for added effect to take home.

And then it became a bit of a bittersweet moment, as the long journey home began barefooted in the water, out onto the sand, and then put my sandals back on at the edge of the beach for the long walk back to Panna's car. The rest of the journey home would be interesting, as I had not seen parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and part of Arkansas during the night drive up to Ohio.

We got back up to Sheldonville as quickly as we could so we wouldn't miss what was left of the open mic evening at the house. I wished we had gotten back sooner! BUT I did get to see cousin Jenni sing, which I didn't know she did. She has a wonderful voice. And of course there was Rick playing his guitar like a lap steel guitar and playing a mandolin as well. Pam plays acoustic bass guitar as well. Music was being performed by several people, including friends of Rick and Pam's. In the last part, people just got together and started playing and singing bluegrass music. There are really good musicians here! I recognized several musicians from the black photo book that Rick had shown me earlier in the weekend. As Jenni stepped off the stage, she gave me a friendship bracelet and a hug. A cousin bracelet! I will always remember that!

After the open mic came to an end, I talked with several of the musicians. Very down-to-earth people with no pretensions, very friendly. Especially Mike, a tall, lanky man playing left-handed guitar. He learned to play well rapidly in his later years in life. Panna told me that he had gone to the hospital to visit Rick when he was dealing with cancer, and brought guitars over to help Rick speed up and make bearable the recovery process. People there were cheered by the music, including nurses and staff standing in the doorway listening in when they could. Rick told me this evening after the open mic that music is what kept him going in the hospital and during the recovery since then.

We saw off more family going back home.

I helped with the tables, chairs, and rugs to help wrap up the event so that Rick could rest and have a few moments to enjoy some quality moments with family in the smaller living room with the wood stove, which Rosemary (wife of my cousin, Richard, Rick's son) felt wasn't warm enough for her during the winter visits. Panna, Heidi (Rick's daughter), the grandchildren, and myself were there to see Rick open a few gifts. We discussed departure plans.