"Cape Cod Shark attacks (Part I) have the tourism industry worried" — So We Went to Cape Cod Anyway, SUP'd, Windsurfed ...

We were in abject need of a few days on the Cape ...

It had been way too long — 2 years, so XXXL sharks be damned* (the asterisk * is for scroll to bottom / Cap Cod Times News Article / not amusing carcharodon carcharias stuff).

Bikes packed, teenage mutant ninja turtle packed, a SUP and a couple of paddles packed, dog and dog gear packed, and most of the Windsurfing gear packed. By the way, *cough* Most experienced windsurfers know that "most of" doesn't cut it. All of it may not be necessary, but certain essential parts, are, well essential (but more on that in another embarrassing and possibly heartwarming post).

A light breeze, here, has it's advantages: Natural a/c keeps the gnats off.
Walking the dawg before SUP.  Charlie and his friend paddle by.
I am probably not far behi'. 

Anyway, once you have been bitten by the Cape it's hard, if not futile, to try to get it out of you. There are other plenty of other places I'd happily holiday; a trip to that other Cape down Hatteras way is always welcome. But we generally keep gravitating back to to the one named after the flavorsome fish. And besides, it's a lot quicker drive, especially when you are lucky enough to miss any significant traffic.

Shanny likes it, too.

So up we went, and within the time it takes to drive to Conn. rest stop #2**/walk the dog, drive on, grab a bite at a Wendy's in Rhode Island, and drive the stretch run to RT28 and Nathan Ellis Hwy, Sandwich Rd, Brick Kiln to Oxbow to Teaticket Hwy and Seacoast Shores, we were there. It seemed faster than ever. Or is that because we're older than ever? I dunno. It was like an old familiar home, although we hadn't been there for two years.

P.S. I'll let ya into a secret, if you're in the area; there's this little pizza joint in East Falnmouth called Pizza 1 Subs 2 that does terrific pizza even by New York standards, and has all the sandwich options your grumpy child and teenage fellow holiday makers could wish for ... and Adults, too. Plus, in the same strip mall is Kenyon's Market, where you can pick up all the sundries, beer, candles for use in the occasional passing tropical storm (yes, there was a power outage one year), Maalox, margarita mix (ask the proprietor if you can't find the regular mix).

And then you're good to go catch an evening paddle session, or maybe just maybe the end of evening blow at Kalmus, or just walk the dog and enjoy the carpet of stars laid out in the sky, the likes of which you forget existed back in New York.

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*Shark attacks in Cape Cod have the tourism industry worried

Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times Jul 15, 2013 4:29 am

... Gustafson, owner of Fun Seekers, the oldest surf school on Cape Cod, has been in business for 21 years in Wellfleet.

“When the phones did ring, it was somebody calling to cancel their lesson,” he said.

One shark attack in 76 years does not make a trend, but scientists say it’s inevitable there will be a second or third great white attack — possibly a fatality — as the local seal population explodes in areas near popular Cape beaches. And that has business owners worried.

“God forbid, if there was another. We’d see a reversal to last summer, but more intense,” said Josh Smith, manager at Sickday Surf & Skate, a Wellfleet shop. The store’s surf lessons dropped off the cliff after Myers was attacked last summer, Smith said.

Some people, however, who have studied or seen the repercussions of shark attacks in other communities, say the public’s ability to put such events in context is underestimated and the economic fallout rarely extends beyond a few weeks.

There’s no question a lot of money is at stake.

Barnstable County ranks fourth of 14 counties in the state for tourism expenditures with nearly $852 billion spent by visitors in 2011. Of that, more than $217 million went to payrolls.

** Conn rest stop #1 is under reconstruction. As of this printing there are no facilities.