The Atlantic crashes on a coastline strewn with quaint harbors, windswept beaches, glorious dunes and blinking lighthouses. Explore Cape Cod National Seashore, bike past cranberry bogs on the Rail Trail or wander around Wellfleet. Many areas are architectural and culinary gems – full of weathered shingles, whaling captains’ mansions, chowder shacks and upscale dining delights.

The beaches in the National Seashore have powder white sand and big waves ideal for surfing.   There is an incredible nature walk through the National Seashore that shouldn’t be missed. You can spend a whole day traveling the Rail Trail Bike path.  Provincetown, located at the farthest tip of Cape Cod,  is an adventure and makes for a great day trip if you also go on a whale watch ( not to be missed) from one of the many excursions out of the harbor.  It looks like a quaint village on the outside but during the summer months  there are art events, shows and all sorts of other fun things to do.  Any visit to the Cape really isn’t complete without spending a summer day in P-Town people watching.

Unlike the National Seashore beaches,  the calm waters of Cape Cod Bay on the north side are wonderful for families. The tidal pools are safe for little ones and great to explore. At low tide, you can walk out on the flats for almost a mile in some places. At the end of the day, you’ll enjoy some of the most beautiful sunsets you’ve ever seen.

To read all about the  unique and fun activities on Cape Cod, no matter what your age, go to this link, where you can read information, stories and reviews from  people who have visited these special places. You’ll want to book your Cape Cod Vacation rental home right away so you can start planning your own Cape Cod Vacation experience.

Attention Golfers! Your next Cape Cod Vacation Rental at Ocean Edge is waiting for you and it includes a Golf membership! Rental of this loft townhouse at 6 Trevor Lane gives you access to the golf course and the ability to make tee times 30 days in advance. (Greens fees are not included).
Available to reserve online 24/7 , this Trevor Village Loft Townhouse  sleeps 6. This property also has Air Conditioning and includes pool privileges.

Enjoy playing the Nicklaus Designed, $8.5 million dollar golf course , a challenging Cape Cod golf course designed to be strategically appropriate for all levels of play. Open exclusively to Ocean Edge Club Members and Resort Guests.
After a day on the greens, relax with friends in the clubby atmosphere of Linx Tavern and Bar in the Golf Clubhouse. Enjoy indoor or alfresco dining overlooking the 18th hole. The Linx serves creative cocktails, fresh salads and grilled entrées including fresh local seafood, prime meats and distinctive chicken dishes. Also in the Clubhouse, you’ll find a fully stocked Golf Pro Shop featuring the latest Ocean Edge and Nicklaus Design logo gear.

This home has been updated and renovated – new furniture, flooring,and paint. The living and dining area have hardwood floors and opens up to your private patio. You have a choice to dine in or grill outdoors. The first floor bedroom has twin beds and bath. Spiral stairs lead to the loft which has two twin beds, and the private master with queen bed and private bath. There are flat screen TVs in the livingroom and master and  central air conditioning to keep you cool on warm evenings. WIFI has been added to make this home a perfect choice for your memorable Cape vacation.

This townhouse is nearby 5 others that we rent and would be ideal for a large gathering of family and friends.

Plan early and Book Now !

Click the photos to enlarge

Home, hope for the holidays

This week marks a shift in how you live. You enter a special province in time, leaving behind the mundane units of day, week, and month for the odd sensation of something called “the holidays.”

Rituals define you now. Travels to be with family and friends; the happy meal this Thursday; the mind turning then to pleasures and challenges of gift giving; the unbearable shortness of days; the pin-prick lights that transform bare trees into lacy white fingers; stores tricked out in the red-green of holly; seasonal music; open expressions of fellowship; raucous parties – all evoked by the word that once meant “holy day.”

As these last pages of the calendar turn, present time becomes imbued with the past, because you have marked all of these milestones of age before.The holidays take off from memory, so every experience comes accompanied with its twin from long ago – or last year.

Therefore, on Thursday, you won’t set the table, placing the good silver fork beside the fine china plate, without thinking of other Thanksgiving tables. You will see yourself as you were across time, and you will think, perhaps, of those who are not here this year. How is it possible that grandmother’s house is gone? Where did touch football games down by the river go? Much as you delight in who is coming for turkey, you can’t help seeing the faces of those who will be absent. That twinge of sadness is how you keep your love for them alive.

When you eat the traditional foods, part of what you will savor is the tradition itself. Repetition is how you learn acceptance. To come to the table this week is like reading journal entries aloud, so vividly recalling how you felt before that you feel it again.
That doubling of experience – the two dimensions of “then” and “now,” but held as one dimension – swings a door open to a larger realm of existence, which is why, even knowing it will exhaust you, you love this time of year.

The holidays offer a reprieve from episodic time, in favor of what philosophers might call narrative time. Stories abound, and at every table you will tell them. The year the decorated tree fell over, causing an earthquake in the living room. The time the water pipes froze, and ice ruined all the presents. The night the neighbor’s chimney caught fire. The day Santa Claus showed up uninvited, freaking out your daughter, whom you could not rescue because you were the one wearing the beard. All those evening strolls beneath the glistening lights of trees on Boston Common.
All of this could revolve around less fraught themes than light and dark, beginning and end, the crack in the stone of time. But your kind discovered long ago that the way for one generation to hand itself off to the next is the way each year does it – starting with the word thanksgiving.

I never realized that there were so many walking trails on Cape Cod. In September, we decided that each weekend, we’d find a new trail. We used this great list that we found online.

Our first hike was at Fort Hill in Eastham. It was a beautiful day in late September. The light jackets we wore came off in the first few minutes. The Red Maple Swamp trail was closed for maintenance that day. It’s a trail that has a boardwalk winding through a canopy of trees. We would save it for another day.

The trail begins through shallow woods and twisty trees. We came across several bunnies on the trail who seemed to take no notice of us. It was peaceful and quiet except for a family of birds screaming and chasing  a red tailed hawk as he circled above. They were successful in convincing him to try somewhere else for lunch.

As we rounded a bend, it opened up to the marsh and the ocean views beyond. There was no sign to tell us, but this was definitely a time to pause and enjoy the scenic vista. It looked like a painting in a museum. We stood together with fellow hikers, strangers bound by a shared experience. Silent except for a murmured “wow”.

The walk  continued along the marsh and we stopped for photos and to explore the shore. Sandpipers scuttled past, foraging for bugs in the grass and debris that gathers at the  water’s edge.
We finished by walking up the hill ( it’s called Fort Hill for a reason) to the parking area where you can always find several cars parked with folks enjoying the panoramic vista. Although we weren’t too winded after such a short hike, we took advantage of the bench that looks out over this beautiful Nauset Marsh to take in the sights and sounds of Cape Cod nature at it’s finest, silently giving thanks that we are lucky enough to live in such a place.

The Cape offers plenty of activities and things to do in a relaxed environment. Some members of the group want to try and do everything when on vacation, however many are just as happy doing nothing at all. A day at the beach can mean either plenty of exercise swimming or running or a day where the most strenuous activity is turning the page of a best seller.

You will want to find activities that include the kids but are also appealing to the adults. Lying on warm sand under a brilliant blue sky works for just about any age group. Even toddlers and five year olds need a mid-day break. Most adults will be happy anywhere as long as they have a good book, Kindle or a I-Phone. Historical sites become more interesting to kids when there is a picnic or super snack involved. The Cape Cod Rail Trail is one of the finest bicycle paths in New England and runs right through the middle of the Cape.

It will be possible to sample the local nightlife when the group is willing to take turns babysitting. One little boy told me last year that his favorite pastime on the Cape was lying in the back yard of their summer rental and watching the stars. He was mesmerized by the night sky because they do not have stars where he lives in Manhattan.

Blended families and single parents especially benefit from this communal brand of vacation. Having other adults around for conversation and recreation is delightful. And having your children witness the intimate mechanics of discipline in other families can be pretty eye-opening for them. Most members of the Boomer generation fondly remember family vacations with aunts, uncles and tons of cousins. Some of our most important life lessons were learned during those summers. Now many kids spend their summer at sleep away camp. There are important life lessons to be learned at camp but the benefits of a multi-generational group of friends vacationing together can’t be duplicated at camp.

To make sure your Togethering Vacations is a success there are a couple of guidelines to consider. A group of small or medium sized homes or vacation condos close together is better an one big house. Just like good fences make good neighbors, plenty of bathrooms make for great vacations.

Our guests have been enjoying vacationing together at Ocean Edge for years. The resort is an ideal destination for families who want to share special time together while still having plenty of privacy. Each family chooses their own vacation rental from among the large inventory of condos and townhouses. Size and price range can be personalized to fit the needs of each family while everyone in the group can use the pools and recreational facilities. This allows everyone to spend time together without the problems that come with too much togetherness!

However, it is very difficult to find accommodations that will satisfy everyone, but if you follow these tips it may make the process easier. Appoint one person to represent the entire group and agree in advance to abide by his or her decision. Good places rent quickly so there rarely is time for everyone to view the property and offer an opinion. Instead, make a list of the four or five most important features and the price range. As long as the rental has those all important features and falls within the budget, the person in change of this year’s family vacation is authorized to rent it.

If the group just cannot let one person be in charge, then it best for everyone to find their own rental. Pick an area and let everyone search and book on their own. It will probably not be possible to find homes in close proximity, but if you are all going to be near the same beach you can arrange to meet there each morning.

It is a daunting task to try to coordinate a family vacation. Often there are hard feeling and sometimes tears if the advanced planning is not sufficiently detailed. The location of the property should be the most important feature, amenities second, and the decor far down the list. Sure, everyone wants to stay in a pretty vacation property, but you are renting it, not buying it. Granite counter tops may be attractive but will not add that much pleasure to your vacation. Instead look for multiple TV’s, air conditioning, a sound system, a spacious yard with a great deck or patio and plenty of room to BBQ. The outdoor living area of your vacation home is as important as the inside. Skip rentals that offer double or full beds instead of queens or kings. Either the rooms are too small to accommodate the larger beds or the property owner is not willing to invest in new bedding. It is likely that the new queen bed went home with him and the double bed with to the rental property.

You probably haven’t given the cranberry a second thought at family gatherings in the past, but this summer while vacationing on Cape Cod, you could learn a thing or two about the tasty treat and its homegrown start.

The sandy soil of Cape Cod makes this the perfect location to harvest cranberries. In fact, it was in Dennis (the neighboring town to Brewster) that the cranberry was first cultivated. According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Grower’s Association, in 1816 Captain Henry Hall of Dennis noticed that his wild cranberries grew better when sand blew over them. He began to transplant his cranberry vines, fence them in and pour sand over them, as did everybody else.

If you’ve never seen a cranberry bog harvest, you’re truly missing out. Besides being a spectacular visual display, the process is fascinating with beater tractors, the corralling of the berries and a berry pump to bring the cranberries from the bogs to the distribution trucks.

Whether you’re on Cape Cod in the spring, summer or fall, there’s always something to see at the local bog. Visit the Cape Cod Cranberry Grower’s Association Web site to download a harvest guide and visit a local cranberry bog… and don’t forget your camera!

Want more of a family outing? Visit Cape Farm and Cranberry Company in Harwich (just 15 minutes from Brewster) for a guided tour of a working cranberry bog. Learn about the 12-month operation, see some of the equipment and visit with farm animals all in one fun, family trip. Reservations are required. Call 508-430-0790 for more details or to schedule a visit.

It was just shy of 100 years ago when the first cranberry sauce was marketed to the public in Hanson, Massachusetts in 1912. And as you scoop the slippery sweet sauce into your probably-already-too-full belly you can have one more thing to be grateful for this Thanksgiving: the countdown to your summer vacation.

Planning family vacations is complicated. However, when those vacations become a mini reunion or a multi-family get together it can easily escalate to a nightmare for the person in charge. If you’re been selected to make the plans this year or actually volunteered to take on the job of finding the perfect vacation rental, I have a few tips.

Keep a notebook. A simple three ring binder with a few pockets can eliminate a lot of frustration down the line. Make a page for each family or individual who will be involved with the decision making. It’s important to focus on who will need to be consulted. If Mom and Dad are paying for the entire family, then they are ones with the final say. Discuss options with them alone if possible. If not, keep a brief record of conversations with other family members throughout the process. Entries like Told Jane and Tom on Tuesday that we must all have our deposits in by the end of the week are sufficient.

Make a time line and stick to it. Determine that you are going to spend two or three weeks searching for the perfect places to stay and then make your reservations when that time is up. Most families will never agree about which house to choose. You can start a year in advance and still not find a vacation rental that suits everyone. Limit your search to a reasonable amount of time and then book it.

Find a good rental agent and let her do most of the work. We know how to help you plan the best family reunion you’ve ever had. Tell us what you need and let us find it for you. However, being realistic about your needs is important. A house for 20 people on the beach with central air conditioning and a 60″ plasma for under three thousand dollars isn’t realistic.

Know what you want. The most frustrating part of our job is trying to assist a guest who does not know what she or he wants. We need to know exactly how many people you need to sleep, not an estimate. Your budget is also a very important part of the formula.

Abandon the notion that everyone will be pleased with the final arrangements. No matter how hard you work, how much research you do and how detailed you are about the descriptions, someone will be unhappy. For the moment. Memories tend to blur with time. Once the vacation is over, everyone will remember the good times you all shared.

The medical importance of taking regular vacation has been in the news for a couple years. Taking time to relax and refresh can add years to your life. However, I think there should be a distinction between travel and vacations. Our bookkeeper Marcey just came back from two weeks in Italy. She was traveling. It was a whirlwind trip that she found exhilarating, but staying in six hotels during the fourteen days left her exhausted. Travel is great for the mind and soul, but can be tough on the body. Vacations however should be easy on the body, mind and soul.

We sell vacations. Renting a home or a condo in a beautiful place for a week or preferably two, is probably one of the easiest and worry-free vacations around. You need to get from home to here and that’s about the only requirement. You are free from schedules, tour directors, endless tipping and overly friendly fellow travelers.

There will be a few required tasks on your vacation. You will have to measure the coffee and push down the toaster, but when you have completed making breakfast you are free to take it out to the patio and enjoy the peaceful sounds of grass growing. The rest of day does not require much more exertion – lying on the beach or by the pool. Sitting on a bar stool or meandering around town after someone else has served you dinner. If you need to work out try turning the pages of a best seller. That’s a vacation.

I find that many people are plagued by the need to make every moment if life productive. They are inclined to over-schedule their vacation like they do the rest of their lives. They look a little crazed when they check-in and always inquire about availability of Wi-Fi. By the time they check-out, they are smiling, loose and blissfully relaxed.

If you are looking to add a little happiness to your life, give us a call. We can’t promise that you will be able to take six weeks of vacation this year, but we can make sure that the one or two weeks that you get are wonderful.