November on the Cape

Located directly on Old Silver Beach, this year-round resort has a lot to offer. My friend Cindy and I came here for a genealogy conference and had such a positive response that we can’t wait to come back with our respective spouses.

Getting here can be a bit tricky. As you go around the rotary on route 28 coming from Bourne, you will take the first road on the right. This is route 151. Take it to the light then go left onto route 28A. Less than a mile down the road on the right, you will see the signs for Seacrest.

Reception is easy to spot--it is in the building straight ahead as you pull in. Your room might be more of a challenge. We had requested a fireplace room, and we were located in the 800 building, which is right across the parking lot from the main reception building. Our room was not exceptional to look at; it had a king-size bed with a floral spread that matched the curtains. The rug was red and didn’t quite match. The bathroom was tiny, with tan tiles and tan-striped wallpaper. Nothing to get excited about at first glance.

First glances can be so deceiving. The bathroom was indeed small, but we had a hair dryer, plenty of towels, and a small amenities basket. The main room had a couch, which opened into a bed, a coffee table with an ice bucket, a dresser with a coffeepot, and as much complimentary coffee as we wanted. The closet was huge and had an iron and ironing board, as well as extra pillows and an extra blanket. The room also had a desk and a small refrigerator. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the gas fireplace? It turned out to be one very comfortable room. The mattress was firm, and the heat was easy to regulate: a big plus in November.

What really sold us on this resort was the staff, especially housekeeping. They were fabulous. We are big coffee drinkers, and after one request, they remembered every day to give us extra coffee in our room. The staff at the front desk was also great at giving us printed directions to local restaurants and supplying any toiletries we might have forgotten.

Oscars, their casual deli restaurant, made a great chicken Caesar salad, and our only gripe all weekend was that the buffet breakfast was terrible. We had it the first day and never repeated that mistake again.

After you finish your fabulous dinners out, be sure to come back and enjoy the indoor pool or a quick soak in the hot tub. If you want to exercise, there are resistance machines, as well as a separate room of low-impact machines. You can even play table tennis. This is a place the whole family will enjoy, or just you and your significant other.

This restaurant no longer exists.

Breakfast, the meal that gets you going for the day. It can color your whole attitude. I certainly smile all day after I have breakfast here. I am willing to bet that you will too.

From the outside, it is a nondescript gray building like many others along route 28A.

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Inside, the atmosphere is warm and cozy, with wooded booths, chairs, and season decorations. We were immediately seated - okay, on Saturday we were the first ones to arrive at 7am, but on Sunday, our service was just as good, and it was already a hopping place. I love the fact that coffee is brought out right away even before you have time to peruse the menu.

I recommend that you check the specials board first. On the days we were there, the choices were Death by Chocolate waffles, cranberry nut pancakes, and French toast and green monster benny. On day one, I had the cranberry pancakes and Cindy had the benny. Oh baby, "monster" is the definitive word. That sucker took up the whole plate and then some.

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The green in the monster benny was spinach, zucchini, and asparagus. It was served on a giant sweat roll with a ton of home fries and of course Hollandaise sauce.
Not to imply that my three giant pancakes covered with cranberries were not much more than enough for me to eat. I loved that it was served with its own little bottle of real maple syrup and I asked for and got extra butter. The cranberries were not only on the top, by the way; they were also cooked into the pancake.

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These meals are a little pricey, but the servings are mammoth.

Sunday I had a 3-egg omelet with bacon, Swiss, and asparagus. For my toast, I had Portuguese sweet bread. Cindy had a green monster omelet with the sweet roll again. I am seriously impressed. I have never seen so much chopped asparagus stuffed into an omelet before, and probably never will again. Cindy even got a side of Hollandaise sauce with her omelet.

We didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the choices this restaurant has to offer. There are Portuguese sweet bread French toast, pancakes with your choice of bananas, strawberries, blueberries, or chocolate chips on top, 20 omelet choices, waffles with the same on-top choices as pancakes, and a whole lot more. I can honestly say that I am going to have to return. This is the best breakfast I have had in a very long time.

This low-lying gray building along route 28A is obviously a local favorite. We never passed by without the parking lot being full of cars. When we asked the desk staff at Seacrest where to eat, this was the restaurant they suggested. We suspected as we left the restaurant that they must have a deal with the resort because so many of our fellow conventioneers were already there.

You will be welcomed by the sound of live music as you enter the front door. The décor was typical of Cape Cod, with a fishing theme, buoys, sea prints, and fishing lanterns. There is a piano player in the lounge, and when we arrived, our hostess immediately seated us at a booth right near the piano. Unfortunately, she forgot to ask if we minded being choked by smoke, because you can still smoke in a restaurant lounge in MA, unlike smoke-free CT. She wasn’t too happy with us, but nevertheless, we were moved to the dining room. I will get it off my chest right here and say our waitress never seemed too happy with us either - I don’t know, maybe she was just tired, but I really hate feeling like an imposition when I eat out. We had to wait longer than the number of diners warranted, and she never asked if we liked our food or needed anything, just took the order and dropped the food. Okay, now to the bright side: the food is good here.

The menu is large and varied. You can choose from steamed mussels with wine and garlic, prime rib, crab legs, barbecue ribs, swordfish, and lots more. I had blackened sirloin steak with coleslaw in place of the baked potato, and Cindy had clam chowder and seafood casserole. The steak was very tender and perfectly cooked. The Cajun spices gave the steak some extra punch, and the coleslaw was crisp and tasty. Cindy’s chowder was thick with potatoes and chunks of clam. The seafood casserole was wonderful, with shrimp, scallops, scrod, and lobster in a light butter sauce covered with crumbs. The only weak spot was the salad - it was pedestrian, with only the one lone cherry tomato to break up the boring green, and the Caesar dressing I got was wimpy and too thin.

Dessert did get my attention, though; they had fresh strawberries with whipped cream. Plain, but oh so satisfying. Cindy had cheesecake, which was heavy and rich, exactly what you would want. Don’t order the coffee here - it was horrible. A weaker, more insipid brew I have never tasted. I was actually grateful not to be offered a second cup. I enjoyed my meal here, and the piano player was good. I was disappointed with the service, and the coffee needs work. I would give them another try before writing them off.

Have you ever found a restaurant so good that you're afraid to tell anyone for fear you will never be able to get a table again? In West Falmouth, that place is Jillians. We dined at Silver Lounge our first night. Friday night, we headed over to Jillians. We had trouble finding the parking lot in the dark. They have their own lot across the street. Please be very careful crossing route 151 - there is a crosswalk and we were surprised to see nearly everyone stop as soon as they saw us approaching it.

We not only ate here Friday night, we returned Saturday; it was that good. Not only the food was great, but all the staff, from the hostess to both our servers, was very friendly and efficient - thanks, Michelle. Friday evening, we arrived quite early and had no trouble getting a table; Saturday, it was mobbed, but we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. Believe me, it’s worth the wait. You can while away the time sitting by the fireplace in the bar (or last Saturday, you could be outside watching the lunar eclipse).

We perused the menus while sipping our glasses of wine and munching on crackers and breadsticks dipped in a tasty vegetable dip. We began with a seafood sampler one night and French onion soup the other

. The sampler is four bacon-wrapped scallops, a superb crab cake, and two clams casino, perfect for sharing. The onion soup was luscious, and they made it for me without the bread. You do, however, get a bread basket with hot, crispy rolls in it. Meals come with either a Caesar or a green salad; both were exceptional.

Their menu has something for everyone. We had seafood stew,

cod francaise, lazymans lobster, and surf and turf between our two visits. I personally ate the cod and lobster, and they were both fabulous. The lobster was tail and claw meat broiled in a light seafood broth covered with ritz crumbs and served with drawn butter. The cod was the freshest filet possible in a light lemon sauce. Instead of the offered potato, I had double vegetable, broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, and beans lightly seasoned and steamed. The surf and turf is a filet or sirloin with stuffed shrimp. The portions are large. Cindy raved about the seafood stew, redolent with clams, mussels, cod, shrimp, and scallops in a tomato-based broth.

Lest you think we couldn't fit in dessert, think again. I had strawberry shortcake

and Cindy had a chocolate and coconut bar. Excellent is the word that comes to mind - also, free. Because service was a little slow, they gave us coffee and dessert on the house. I’m in love, but don't tell anyone else about this place.

As many restaurant finds are, this one was purely accidental. We were trying to find downtown Falmouth and an Irish Pub when we ended up on Water Street in Woods Hole. Yes, I know, wrong town, but luckily for us, great restaurant.

Parking on Water Street is a problem. It was not easy in November; I can’t even fathom what it would be like in July. I leave it to you to solve this dilemma, but be warned, as we were by a local: the parking authorities are vigilant here. You only get 15 minutes per quarter in the meter; be sure you put enough in, or you will get a ticket. Resist the temptation to park in the loading zone - your fate will be even worse.

"A Century Old Bar Overlooking the Water" a very apt description. You walk in through the bar, and if you need to check you e-mail, stop by one of the free Internet access laptops located on the tables. Your hostess will seat you in either of the inside dining rooms, or in the nice weather, on the waterfront deck. We had a window seat, so we could still enjoy the harbor view. The theme, as usual, was nautical, and the décor simple, with wooden tables and chairs and paper tablecloths. Here again, seafood was offered in abundance, as well as all kinds of sandwiches. The soup of the day was chicken vegetable, which I had, and the ever-present New England clam chowder, which Cindy had. Both were excellent, but the vegetable was the chunkiest I have ever had and just loaded with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery, and a hint of tarragon.

I had lobster salad for my entrée.

I couldn’t resist the temptation. It was served with a large serving of coleslaw and French fries. The salad itself was large chunks of claw and tail meat held together with a little mayonnaise and celery served in a large roll. The coleslaw was a real hit with the unusual addition of celery seeds. Excellent is the word that comes to mind, really excellent. Cindy had the salmon with barbecue sauce and rated it excellent. Our waitress was great - she was so overextended I felt bad for her, but she never let us down and was always smiling.

The help here all wear the same T-shirt with the skull-and-crossbones logo. Make sure you check out the Captain Kidd fresco

in the bar it sets the mood for the whole place.