Cape Cod: Week 2

Hello lovely blog readers,

I have been enjoying my second week of my summer holiday in Cape Cod (East Coast America) which has been as fun as, if not more fun than my first week.

My mother and I decided we needed to stop fooling around and start focusing all of our attention on tanning, much to the disgust of my super tanned and adventure-seeking Dad. So we've spent most of the week soaking up the sun at a big lake near our house. It's been great but I kept getting freaked out by the fish (/sharks/crocodiles/piranhas/Loch Ness monster) which are undoubtedly lurking in the water, despite what anyone says. With my anxiety levels high, a huge dragonfly flew into my face when I was reading on my inflatable, which made my book fly into the water and my screams alarm the entire population of Cape Cod. My book is still soggy to this day. NEVER MIND.

One evening we went to the local cinema, an original picture house built in the 1930's, to see a film called Fruitvale Station. It was so brilliant. It is based on a true story about a police shooting of an innocent civilian, much like the Trayvon Martin case. It was so well acted, the characters were perfectly built up but the ending was so devastating. Even so, I recommend you all watch it.

On Monday (once I had recovered from the emotional trauma of watching Fruitvale Station) we crossed the state border from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and drove to a cute harbour town called Newport. After a day of coffee, bagels and shopping, we went on a sunset cruise which was full of doe-eyed newly weds and loved-up couples, my parents and lonely little me. I was hoping there would at least be a sexy sailor boy to take my mind off all the love in the air, but sadly not (unless you like bearded 60 something cap'ns.) The cruise was beautiful nonetheless. We sailed past Jackie Kennedy's childhood home and the lighthouse built for her to play in (casual), amongst many other million dollar mansions perched above the sea. Then we ate a delicious mexican meal, followed by cookies and ice cream because it is essential that we all put on a minimum of... 10 stone. Any less and we wouldn't have lived the true American experience, now would we?

Pretty window display in a jewellery shop in Newport

Floral dress (worn as top): Zara, denim shorts: Levi

Looking at boats and ting

Pulled pork burrito? Go on then

What a happy little lobster!

The next morning we went to Belle Vue Avenue to see the mansions on the seafront up close, and we went on a tour of The Breakers, the Vanderbilt mansion (one of the richest families in American history.) It was fascinating. It was merely their "summer cottage" but it was so grand, it made Buckingham Palace look cheap. Every ceiling is decorated with real gold leaf, the walls are lined with platinum and there are crystals dangling from every corner. It was very ostentatious, VERY Gatsby, but a great time capsule of America's "Golden Age".

Lace jacket: h&m, silk top: Zara, pink leigh jeans: Topshop

 sparkly sandals: Topshop, necklace: little shop in Newport, watch: River Island

Today we took a boat across to Martha's Vineyard to meet Obama (who's on his holiday here) for a spot of lunch. He didn't turn up (strangely?!) but we had a lovely day anyway. It is such a beautiful island, similar to Nantucket but less polished. There is a great ethnic mix on the island, more so than anywhere else on Cape Cod, which adds character and soul. There are lots of great shops and restaurants that I wish I had more time to explore. We did grab a quick burger at "Nancys" on the seafront, where Obama had been photographed the night before when he was picking up his fish and chips!

Crop t-shirt: Primark, skater skirt: Topshop, 

necklace: as above, watch: Casio, beach bag: Urban Outfitters

Sparkly B! Made just for me.

Only a few days left in American until I come home :( But at least I get to see Baby Charlie Bee!

Have a great weekend!

Lots of love, 

Flora Bee 

x

p.s. This is my song of the week. He has the sexiest voice! Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_6kEa92Js

Cape Cod: Week 1

Hello everyone!

I’ve trotted across the globe on my family holiday to a CUTE little town on the east coast of America, called Dennis in Cape Cod. We have swapped houses with an American family so I’m currently writing this from the garden of an adorable seaside cottage.

It all began a week ago when we woke up at the crack of dawn to get our morning flight to Boston, however it was more dramatic than expected because my sister in law gave birth to my GORGEOUS nephew, Charlie, after being overdue for 10 days. So instead of rolling out of bed and straight into the car with no chat exchanged (I’m not much of a morning person), my dad ran into my bedroom at the tender hour of 5.30 in the morning shouting, “Baby!!!!!” We all jumped into the car and zoomed to the hospital for a drive-by squidge of the bambino on our way to the airport. It was very hard to say goodbye to them all but we were going on holiday so we couldn’t complain.

Have you ever seen anything so cute? Little Charlie Bee

After a delicious breakfast at Gordon Ramsey's "Plane Food" restaurant at Terminal 5, I bought some anti-sickness pills as recommended by my friend Bianca because they help you sleep (which is the biggest understatement in the WORLD.) I popped one right before I got on the plane and I genuinely don’t remember anything else.  It knocked me out! I slept throughout the entire seven hour flight, I fell asleep on the curb outside Boston airport waiting for the coach, and then for the whole 2 hour coach journey. It was amazing. I’m a sleepy person but that was impressive even by my standards.

Most days have consisted of eating a BIG breakfast at a local place called Grumpys, and then walking to a beautiful white sandy beach and staying there until wine o'clock (also known to some as sunset I believe).

Going to the beach

Playsuit: H&M

However my poor Dad can’t sit still so we have to have alternate activity days to keep him happy. One day we drove to a nearby town called Hyannis, which is where the Kennedy’s have their summer “compound”. However, to my horror, the weather took a turn for the worse and it was grey, raining and not how I imagined Hyannis port to be. How dare it rain when I’m on holiday? So I don’t know whether my judgement was clouded by… well, clouds, or if it really is a dump, but it felt like any old rundown seaside down. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a Woolworths there or a Poundland. There was also an irritating boy playing a pipe. How dare he play his pipe? But all was well when we got back to our trusty beach and the sun came out.

NO FEAR, Daddy Bee packed a cagoule for me! What not to wear: "a cag in a bag"

My Dad loves a car shot. THUNDERBIRD! 

Floral cami: Forever 21. Lace shorts (or chicken knickers as my Dad calls them): from a little shop in Chatham (Cape Cod). Sparkly sandals: Topshop.

Back at the beach!

A more successful day trip was to Provincetown, which is known as the Brighton of the East Coast. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we walked along the colourful Main Street. We were bobbing in and out of the shops and had to regularly stop to rehydrate and focus all of our attention on the people watching.  There was one man cycling along the street in an orange dress, singing and throwing confetti. How joyous!

Beach in Provincetown

Hawaiian shirt: H&M, Denim shorts: Topshop, Watch: Casio

Yesterday, we took a boat trip from Hyannis to Nantucket, which is a small island with a cobbled main street, beautiful clapboard shops and huge yachts all around. We thought it would be nice to hire bikes and explore the island that way. How wrong we were! I forgot how much I loathed cycling. Our ride began on a high road, with us cycling on the wrong side of the road, oblivious to the other cyclists on the nice, safe cycle path. Even when the cars were pointing to the cycle path, we thought they were waving. “Hello! Well, aren’t all the motorists friendly!” It wasn’t until a truck stopped next to us and shouted, “Get on the cycle path!” that we realised there was a queue of traffic waiting for us while we were blissfully unaware. I wasn’t blissful, I was out of breath and aching, but we cycled to the beautiful Madeket beach eventually, where I slept solidly for two hours. After the horrendous journey back to Main Street, we settled at a waterside bar called CRU and that was blissful. We ate a delicious dinner at "Met on Main" and had a gorgeous waiter with an accent we couldn't place at first, but after interrogation from my overly friendly Dad, it turned out that he was from Yorkshire!

Orange dress: H&M, Sparkly sandals: Topshop

Ring: Cow (Digbeth, Birmingham)

Note to self: Never get on a bike again.

Perfect spot for nap time!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely week.

Here is one of the songs I’ve been listening to again and again on the beach. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWGyuluedpM

Lots of love,

Flora Bee

x