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Except for a two-hour conference call tomorrow, in return for which I will leave work very early one day soon, I am so on vacation. I’ve got a massage scheduled in the morning, some minor shopping, some laundry, some casual ironing, some packing (actually all of it, but I’m just throwing it into the car in an organized manner), and then I pick J up at work and we’re out of here. Thanks to the car cover, I don’t even have to have the car washed.

I have probably wanted this vacation more, but I don’t think so. Or at least I can’t remember having done so. No work.
We go to P-town (Provincetown, Mass.) every summer, fall and, lately, New Year’s, but I love it the same or more every time. I can relax there. I’m not an employee there. I don’t have to pretend I tolerate children and/or straight guys (they tend to overlap). I can be my version of flamboyant (think banker/computer geek flamboyant), which usually means buying expensive shirts. I can go naked on the beach.

I love being naked on the beach (only in summer; fall and winter are not ideal). The sun (under my 15-30 SPF) is fab. It’s freeing. Most guys don’t get around to noticing my love handles.

Technically it’s illegal, but all you have to do is listen for the cry “Ranger”–it moves in a wave down the beach–and slip a bathing suit on. Twenty minutes later an actual Park Ranger might actually mosey on by. He/she might really give you a ticket if she/he sees your personals, but if it takes you that long to get them on, you drank too much last night. If you want to go natural, guys, btw, stick to the far left end of the beach.
Where we stay: The Grandview Inn, always. Tom & Mike, who run the place have been good friends since they bought the place. They’re Chicago boys and really welcoming. They get a good mix of guests, though we seem to run into the same ones every year or so. The two decks have superb views: there’s the harbor and the guys headed up to the gym at the top of the hill.
Where we eat: Chester’s – great food and service. Do the whole cocktails/appetizers/main course/dessert/coffee/port thing; it’s worth it. Jackson’s – great food and service, more casual. Lorraine’s – more than passable Mexican and good margaritas, the only good margaritas in town. The service can be touchy, though. Edwige at Night – J adores the three milk cake, and Rocco, one of the owners, is adorable (can’t be said of Lorraine’s, sadly). The food’s good too. Edwige for lunch is actually a different restaurant in the same location and is a good brunch spot, with good Bloody Marys, which we all know can be oh so important on a Sunday morn. Fanizzi’s (SP?), all the way down in the other end of the town, practically Boston on foot, has a good affordable burger and other goodies and bigger Sunday brunch than I could possibly eat.
I decided what knitting to take. I’m working on Backyard Leaves from ScarfStyle, but in the Debbie Bliss cashmerino olive I have leftover from the scarf I made for my niece and which apparently never arrived. It could be wider, but I love the pattern. I’m actually getting the hang of reading a chart. I’m also taking the Lorna’s Laces Shepherd’s Sock in Camouflage to work on while on the deck waiting for the rest of the world to wake up. I still get up at 6 while on vacation, which is why I usually make it through a dozen books in a nine-day vacation. I’ll take some lace-weight too to practice on.

Here’s Backyard Leaves:

The pic’s a bit fuzzy. The camera’s my new toy, a Nikon Coolpix 5600, and I haven’t yet got the hang of it.

No knitting on the beach, though. Sweat, sand and sunscreen probably aren’t amenable to yarn.
Later. I might be on again before we leave, but otherwise, back a week from Monday.