Ho Ho Ho & a Bottle of Rum!

It's that time of year again everyone.  The time of year when we pull out all the Christmas decorations, play some steel drum holiday songs, find our finest Christmas attire and wrap little gifts for our beloved friends.  The weekend we have been waiting for all year is finally here. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Cape Christmas time!

Totally normal family picture....

Midnight crab hunt

A few things have changed in the core Cape Crew over the past years.  It's pretty amazing what a difference a year makes.  We grew from five people to nine for Cape Christmas 2014. For the first time ever, we had a baby joining us at Cape Christmas! Instead of just Winston having full reign of the Cape, we had TWO beach-ready pups!  Instead of a lovely three day weekend, we extended this year from Thursday into the following Monday!  And rather than a caravan of cars driving in from various locations in New York City, our attendees this year arrived over two days from THREE different states.  All of these little tweaks and developments of Cape Christmas were sure to promise an eventful and exciting trip for all of us.

Even though we had a few personnel developments this year, we stuck to the same fantastic traditions that have made so many memories for us and our friends in the past.  We had our themed costume nights (albeit a little toned down as to not scare off some of the newbies) this year, we made our regular visit to Wood's Hole on a rainy day for dark and stormys, we stuffed our faces with steamers & lobster rolls, we played our made-up games on the sand at the beach, we went for a midnight beach walk through the foggy/haunted neighborhood, we enjoyed refreshing sunset and invigorating morning swims in the ocean,  and we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning playing games and hosting sing-a-longs.

 

Boys on Cape Christmas

Ladies on Cape Christmas!

Despite the continued traditions, there were a few highlights this year that were particularly special, and a little bit different.  Over the past few Cape Christmases, we have enjoyed a ferry ride over to Martha's Vineyard.  But this year, we called an audible and took a day trip to Nantucket instead!  And my GOODNESS what a festive and adorable little town.  We were not lucky enough to have a day full of sun, and we battled the elements slightly with some rain, but the cobblestone streets and stores upon stores of nautical treasures entertained us for hours!  And like every other year, we came home with a few unique little gifts for our apartment!

 
We added a new tradition this year, by heading out to a local restaurant for sunset on our first night while we awaited the arrival of the rest of our team.  The landscape offered some pretty spectacular views as we sipped on our Mount Gay and tonics and world famous mudslides from weathered Adirondack chairs.  We didn't have the full crew at this point, but it was a gorgeous sunset with a pretty amazing group of friends that was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

As always, one of the most memorable parts of our trip is the actual night of Cape Christmas.  My friends never cease to amaze me with the costumes they are able to procure for our made-up holiday.  Even our littlest member of the Cape Christmas Crew had some festive attire. And while it was the 4th annual celebration of our summer Christmas, it just doesn't get old.  Singing Jimmy Buffet holiday songs, selecting our choice of lobsters for dinner, cooking together in the kitchen, dancing with oven mitts on, setting the table for our group, wishing the neighbors a Merry Christmas as they walk by the house, trimming our hot pink tree with tropical ornaments & staying out late on the patio to play games - none of that will ever get old.

This Cape Christmas ended with a few more tears than the other ones. I'm always a bit sad when the weekend comes to a close, especially since it's this weekend that actually gets us through the brutal winters every year.  It's like Cape Christmas is the light at the end of the winter tunnel.  But this year was a little bit harder for us because this was the end of the East Coast road for some of our best friends who were moving to Austin.  The end of Cape Christmas meant the end of them living just 1 mile away from us.  The end of us calling them up to go have lobster rolls and sit outside and drink a bottle of Chardonn-yay.  The end of us running in to them at the bar during football season.  The end of our impromptu dinners Chez Buck complete with a home cooked meal & steel drums.  The end of our random meet-ups in Princeton.  So it was an emotional departure for us to lose a little part of our New York family when they flew home to Austin instead of riding home with us to their apartment in Tribeca.

Two of our friends have moved halfway across the country, we have a baby for the first time in our group of friends, and we have grown the Cape Christmas family by almost double - but I find the greatest happiness in knowing that despite all of these life changes, this weekend never fails to exceed expectations.  Even as we "grow up" and even if some of us move to different states, this is a tradition that all of us are committed to keeping and improving each year that we plan it.  Yes - weddings, babies, and moves may change everything else, but they won't change Cape Christmas - they'll only make it better! Thank you to our gracious host for having us out to your home. And to my friends - I love you guys.  I really, REALLY love you all, and thank YOU for another year of memories. I'm already starting the countdown until Cape Christmas 2015.