Finally a relaxing vacation! We don't do much of these, but when our friends asked us if we wanted to stay with them in the Cape for a week, we had to say yes. In the era of working from anywhere, we were able to have a perfect vacation of working from the house most days, and enjoying Cape Cod at night (and most mornings).
We stayed in Falmouth, which was so far my favorite location in the Cape (I've been here 2 times before in other areas). We were very close to the Main street/downtown- about a 6 min drive- which had a lot of great shopping and dining options, as well as the beach and Shining Sea Bikeway trail which we all used almost daily for morning runs, walks, and/or long bike rides.
The majority of the week, like I mentioned, we spent exercising in the morning, working during the day and then going out for walks before dinner, then dining in town.
Recommended restaurants in Falmouth/Main St area:
Quarterdeck: a little pricey, however great seafood selections, patio in the back, live music while we had dinner, took reservations online
Cucina del Mare: classic italian, think eggplant parm, red sauce, veal, etc. Took reservations online
Osteria La Civetta: Northern italian, a little more upscale than Cucina de Mare, took reservations online
Anejo: Upscale Mexican food, huge margaritas, nice patio in the front for outdoor dining, gets crowded later in the night with a good bar scene (most places close pretty early with the exception of Anejo it seemed like). Had to call ahead to put ourselves on the waiting list
Closer to the ferry to Martha's Vineyard- we also dined at Landfall-which had amazing seafood, nice patios both in the front and rear of the restaurant, and a packed bar scene.
We also spent one night in Poppanesset- and we had dinner at Poppanesset Market which had the most amazing clam chowder, quahogs and lobster rolls. You don't even look at the menu, just order these and thank me later. This place does not take reservations- just be prepared to wait! They have a few bars in the complex so you'll be fine.
A few activities we did besides eat out at restaurants:
- SUPed in the ocean across the street from the house. The ocean was pretty calm so it made for an easy paddleboarding session. Going to these beaches in the future- I will wear water shoes, they are less sand/more rock than mid-atlantic beaches.
- Did an outdoor spin class at B/Spoke in Mashpee- this was super fun. They gave you headphones and a bunch of bikes were set up under a tent across the street from the actual spin studio (by the local library). I hadn't been to a spin class in so long I really enjoyed it!
- Took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard for the day. They leave from Falmouth a few times a day (you can look up the schedule online). Tickets are cheap and you buy them at the ferry terminal. There is no parking there (we learned that the hard way), so we actually drove back to the house and ubered, otherwise we would have had to park far away and take a 20min shuttle to the terminal. 45 min boat ride to Vineyard Haven (you can also go to Oak Bluffs). We landed at Vineyard haven and rented bikes at the port - and rode to Oak Bluffs. The plan was to bike from their to Edgartown, but we ran out of time. It seems like most people ride from Oak bluffs to Edgartown- they have a designated bike trail set up for that. However biking from VH to OB we were on the side of the road a lot which was a little stressful at times. The majority of the ride was not bad though, nice views of the water and beautiful homes. In Oak Bluffs we had lunch at Nancy's which had some pretty good seafood (expensive for lunch, worth it though).
- Took the ferry to Nantucket for a day: The terminal is a pretty far drive from Falmouth, closer to Mashpee, but still about a 20min ride from there. Same deal with tickets, you buy them there. They did however, have plenty of parking across the street, for about $30 for the day. And the tickets were way more expensive ($81 round trip per person). However Nantucket is pretty high end so that should be expected I guess. The boat ride was about an hour. When we arrived we walked through the old town, about 2.5 miles to Cisco Brewers which was a really cool scene. A big outdoor live music spot with a brewery, distillery and winery, lots of food options, a great place to spend the day eating and drinking. On the walk back we stopped at the Gaslight in town for happy hour and a few asian-fusion small plates- the food was amazing- go there for lunch or dinner if you have the option.
2022: We did it all again (well almost)- a week in Falmouth, and this time we did an overnight in Nantucket. A brief overview of some restaurants:
Back to the Poppanesset Market Raw Bar- still amazing, had all the classics - just double the price this time. Worth it still yes, but just be prepared, no deals to be had here anymore!
Falmouth Spots:
Bean and Cod- small market with sandwiches and soups to go, good spot for a quick lunch grab
Estia- we grabbed bar seats here before our dinner at the Glass Onion, split some hummus (which was great), food looked really good too this would make a good dinner option
Glass Onion- overpriced. Nice ambiance, but charged for extra/not-fabulous bread, and my halibut was flavorless. Kind of a let down
Nantucket:
We stayed overnight at the Nantucket Inn (honestly we booked pretty last minute so the options were slim and the prices were batshit for most hotels). Nantucket Inn was nice though, it ran a free shuttle from the port to the hotel every hour which was super handy, the rooms were pretty big, and we got to enjoy the amazing pool before checking in our first day. The location is right across from the airport, so you are not really close to much, but again the shuttle downtown and they had a shuttle to the nearest beach was clutch. We also got a free buffet style breakfast the next morning which was decent (very Hilton or Marriott style/classic hotel breakfast buffet). A couple of notes- the "pool bar" served bagged chips, granola bars, and wine/beer- that was it. Also the bar inside had a small menu of munchies they put out around 5pm, but when my husband tried to order food, they said he had to buy drinks to get any? Weird set up for a hotel. Where we had breakfast upstairs also had a separate bar so maybe there is more going on up there? No idea. Bottom line, it cost us $600 for one night- not worth it IMO but not sure if there is anything better for cheaper in Nantucket in August.
Dinner in Nantucket- Happy hour at Cru wine bar. Holy crap this place was expensive. Amazing location right at the end of the port, and definitely a scene, but damn $4 per oyster and $33 for a GLASS of wine (and that was the cheapest option). Go for one, then move along, which is what we did. Then we walked to dinner at Breeze. Also pretty pricey, but pretty good. This restaurant was in a hotel and recommended, but not really somewhere you are going to stay for a long period of time. After dinner we grabbed some ice cream across the street (there was an extremely large line that they cut off right at 10pm, so don't go last minute) and once you place your order you wait around the corner for another 20mins. Not the best system, but dessert was needed. We then got some quick drinks at Rose and Crown, which was doing some terrible karaoke (the bar was pretty empty, Thursday nights aren't exactly lit I guess), kind of a dive, good place to end the night.