The Red Chair has continued on its journey of a Better Way to Stay in Cape Cod and has arrived at The Captain’s Manor inn in Falmouth.  What a wonderful time visiting some of Cape Cod’s great landmarks including lovely Inns , museums, eateries, beaches, and quaint villages such as Falmouth Village’s main street.

What I found as we chaperoned the chair is that it is famous !  When we went over to the Queens Buyway shops a local bicycle rider yelled out “Is that THE red chair” and we were happy to reply it sure is!  The next stop was Ben & Bill’s Chocolate emporium where one of the staff made a point of going to get the local paper and show the rest of her co-workers the article that had been written.  I had no sooner arrived at Highfield Hall and was taking the chair out for its picture in the sunken garden when two of my favorite people from the Hall, Janet and Pat,  came out and said they were just taking about the Red Chair the other day and saying wouldn’t it be great if it made a visit here.  Off to the Visitor Center where the cry went out “The Red Chair is here”.  My personal favorite was after taking some great shots over at the Nobska Lighthouse a gentlemen made a point of jogging over from across the street saying he just had to see what the fuss was about with THE Red Chair.

Some of our favorite pictures were at the Nobska Lighthouse and Highfield Hall.  Also check out our full gallery of pictures on facebook and our movie on youtube.  For a full story on the Red Chair Cape Cod journey you can go to the website dedicated to its story Red Chair Travels.

I am now getting really jealous of this red chair.  I mean Cape Cod is abso-freaking gorgeous in April!  What am I doing glued to my computer writing this blog!  I am so inspired by the chair and all it's glory...sigh.  Someday I too will explore the world.

Today, the chair was in Orleans at the Orleans Inn.  A lovely looking spot as you will see when you check out their website.  And read all about the visit on their blog. I especially like this one with the chair joining a few pals to look wistfully out to sea like mariners of yore.

Life at Gabriels in Provincetown is good.  With the red chair in tow, Elizabeth and Elizabeth (the innkeepers) had a blast exploring town on a warm April day.  I particularly love the view of the breakwater.  The last time I was in P-town, there were whales blowing out in that very water!  I hope the red chair spotted a few and got goosebumps like I did.  Read all about the visit on their blog...

        "Bless my red cotton socks what a simply splendid time I’m having exploring the cape and staying at all these wonderful inns. I do hope Beth realizes that I’m getting rather used to all this pampering, relaxation and service and that she’s already busy making the appropriate plans for my return home! Maybe I should hint that now that I’m a seasoned traveler with a growing fan club (oh yes did I mention that I have my own website! – not bad for someone whose school reports always said “Supportive personality but will never rise above the bottom of others”) that once I complete my “P-Town and Back” tour that I should Go West and explore more of this great nation. Well if you don’t ask, you don’t get and bed & breakfasts are a Better Way to Stay for sure, although I have to say that if I keep eating these scrumptious, gourmet breakfasts I’m going to be waking up to find I’ve gained some unwanted upholstery around my seat!
        Anyhoo I’ve moved on from charming Chatham to heavenly Harwich and arrived at The Platinum Pebble. I’ve been a bit nervous as it’s described as a “Boutique Inn” (I guess they must have a large gift shop) and is a contemporary cape cod bed and breakfast  so I’m hoping that an old-un like me won’t feel out of place. I needn’t have worried, I’m welcomed with a glass of wine, red of course, and shown to an exquisite room that is appointed in such a way that I fit in immediately.

        After a blissful night’s sleep I awake and make the executive decision to head-out for some early morning exercise at the Yoga & Pilates studio, Reaching Heart, located behind The Platinum Pebble.  I’ve always wondered whether Pilates was a medical condition brought on by drinking too many of those trendy milky coffees, so I’m going to play safe and give the Yoga a try. To get to the studio there’s a winding path cut through the woods and as I start my stroll I bump into a large, saxophone playing red ant called Vince. He tells me he performs regularly at an underground jazz club. I tell him I’m skeptical of how seriously people will take an ant playing a saxophone until he rightly reminds me that the same was said about a couple of beetles who picked up guitars back in the ‘60s in Liverpool. Vince is taking a short cut through the woods to the bus stop so that he can catch the bus to the hardware store. He wants to get some tick repellant as apparently Cape Cod is well-known for its ant-ticks, you can pick them up on the corner of nearly every street he tells me.

"Do you know the way to The Platinum Pebble? No, but you hum it and I’ll play it"

        Yoga with Melissa at the studio allows me time for some reflection on my trip thus far.  It also allows me to try out some new yoga poses – the downward facing dog and, my particular favorite, the forward facing chair.

"Show off – now try it with four legs in the air”)

        Sticking with a healthy theme (well this year is Healthy in Harwich), The Platinum Pebble had kindly arranged for the rest of my morning to be a tour of one of the famous Harwich cranberry bogs. Harwich is the original home of cranberry farming and the beautiful crimson colors flood the landscape during the harvest season. As I stand here a solitary red chair surrounded by a field of red cranberry vines, I think it’s apt that in so many world cultures red is a symbol of good fortune and joy, both words that perfectly describe my emotions and my trip.

"Oh I can almost feel the Ocean Spray"

        All this yoga and wandering in fields taking in the fresh Cape Cod air has left me a wee bit peckish.  So after heading back I grab a packed lunch from the inn (Annabelle & Simon had asked my dietary preference in advance – I’d told them I was always happy with Polish food as it helps to keep my complexion shiny) and hitch a ride with Simon down to the nearby conservation area at Bell’s Neck. This is so peaceful, sitting by the edge of the lake watching for ospreys, cormorants and swans. It is still amazing me that there are so many hidden places on Cape Cod that offer such serenity and solitude. The tranquility of the area has a very Zen feel, although the way lead-foot Simon drove down the bumpy track getting here it could well have been Zen & the Art of Chair Maintenance!

“maybe life is a picnic."

        Fully re-energized after lunch I’ve been invited to throw the first pitch at Spring training at the Harwich Mariners baseball game. Our family’s sporting tradition was more inclined to soccer, where we had a history of producing some impressive wing backs but I was more than willing to take the hot seat on the pitching mound at the home of the current champions of the Cape Cod baseball league. The Cape Cod league is one if the few remaining amateur leagues that, like the professional leagues, use wooden baseball bats so they clearly understand the benefits of working with a quality material.  What’s more as the All-Stars game for this summer was moving from Fenway Park to Harwich it seemed only right that somebody with not two but four Red Sox was out there throwing down the first pitch.

“Pretty as a pitcher”

        Checking the time I realize I have to dash over to Harwich Junior Theatre where I’m auditioning for a possible role this summer in an armchair thriller they’re producing. If I do get the role I’ll be filling the four shoes of my actor grand-father who had a supporting role under Henry Fonda in “Twelve Angry Men” and my great-uncle who gave an electrifying performance that left Jimmy Cagney for dead in “Angels with Dirty Faces”.  It is fun being on the stage, my red coat gleaming in the bright glare of the spotlight. I manage some time to also chat to a couple of other chairs positioned next to the wings. I think they must just be extras and not competition for my role as their acting is decidedly wooden.

"Yes, it's all about me..."

        Hard to believe but it’s time for food again and I’m off to the end of the road to experience one of the premier dining spots on Cape Cod, The Ocean House restaurant. They’ve saved me a window table so that I can look out across the blue waters of Nantucket Sound and catch the sun setting on another perfect day on my red chair travels.

“Red is the new black"

        After dinner and having returned to The Platinum Pebble, I briefly chat with a couple of French chairs, Louis and his twin Louis. They witter on about philosophy, Sartre and existentialism, but I can see right through these two poseurs. So I excuse myself and head for bed.

“A rose between 2 thorns"

        Morning arrives and it’s time to leave Harwich and head to the Outer Cape. As the Cape Cod Rail Trail passes right by the inn, I decide to join a couple of new friends and cycle along the trail winding our way through the kettle ponds and cranberry bogs of Harwich and up to Wellfleet and then to my next inn-stop in Truro. So I bid farewell to The Platinum Pebble and ride off into the sun. 

        As The Platinum Pebble subscribes to the Cape Cod Islands & Green initiative, we have tried where possible to use only recycled jokes in the writing of this blog.  Many thanks to Harwich Junior Theater, The Ocean House Restaurant, Harwich Chamber of Commerce, Harwich Mariners, Reaching Heart Studio and Gingras Cranberry Farms for supporting the Red Chair on its travels.

When we were invited to host the red chair, I have to admit, my initial reaction was, "how random, but okay, I'll be a sport and take some pictures of it." It wasn't until we took the chair on its first photo shoot, that I started getting a little attached to it. The more I asked shop owners and restaurateurs for permission to take pictures, the more enthusiastic I became. Complete strangers approached me on the beach wondering what I was up to. I made friends at local pubs and felt a little like a celebrity as we paraded the chair through Chatham. I felt like I was back in high school toting around a bag of flower which was supposed to represent a baby (which, as a side note, is a very, very bad comparison). The red chair took on a personality in a way, and boy did we have fun with this.

Here are a few of our favorite shots. To see the complete album, check out our facebook page and to read about the chairs complete journeys, visit the Red Chair Travels website (you are on it!).

-- Jill and James of the Captain's House Inn in Chatham, MA

Beth Colt, owner and innkeeper of the Woods Hole Inn was inspired by a little red chair that she found in her local swap shop. Over the cold winter months she took a picture of this red chair perched out on a frozen pond in Woods Hole and posted it on Facebook. This simple image journeyed all over cyberspace, and landed in the in-box of a California-based photographer, who was inspired to come visit the Woods Hole Inn in the off season.  Since then the red chair has become a symbol, a metaphor for connections made across invisible boundaries. For Beth, the red chair was an invitation to come explore yourself in a quiet and beautiful place.  It is an open seat at the table of relaxation.  It is the beckoning hand of civilization, marking the edge of the wildness of nature.  It is the dialogue between artists and innkeepers, dreamers and shop-girls, lost travelers and those that welcome them into warm beds.

Beth decided to share her symbolic chair with many other innkeepers so that the many beautiful parts of Cape Cod can be seen in a unique prospective. And so this spring, the red chair will travel from Woods Hole to Provincetown and back.  The journey will be chronicled on a web site that Beth is updating (that is right here!).  In each B&B, the red chair will be treated as an honored guest.  Innkeepers all over Cape Cod and the Islands will share with you the unique landscape that the red chair will be fortunate enough to enjoy.

And so, the little red chair came to stay with us at Brewster by the Sea and the Captain Freeman Inn this past week. Since my husband has become quite the accomplished photographer, we were very excited to take our new found friend to all of the lovely spots in Brewster and to catch his perspective of the chair with nature.  You can see our travels and pictures on Byron’s blog.

After two fun filled days, we knew it was time to pass on the symbolic chair to it’s new destination in Chatham with our innkeeper friends, Jill and James at the Captain’s House Inn. We were thankful that this little chair allowed us to take some time together and to appreciate all of the beautiful nature we have surrounding us on Cape Cod. As it happens too often in life, we get so involved in our day to day tasks that we don’t take time to “smell the roses”…thank you little red chair for giving us the opportunity to appreciate all of the beauty we have around us on Cape Cod.

Here is an inspired short story from innkeeper Tom Dott, of the Lamb and Lion in Barnstable: 

“Tell me again!” Office Chair playfully demanded.
Flower Seat, a dainty little upright, wiped tears from her eyes, which were still watering from the last time. “I don’t understand it!” Office Chair said, sounding more defensive, but it was hard to hide his grin. They were all looking toward Old Man Cane--a rickety antique who wore his intricate woven features proudly, in spite of a few frays—all waiting for his joke to wind up again from the very beginning. That’s the way they liked it, from the beginning.  It was the joke about the ottoman and the area rug—the one that never failed to keep them in stitches, but Poor Office Chair could never get his head around the punch line.

Red Chair knew the overnight in Barnstable Village was going to be a stop along the journey, and a perfect place to get the old gang back together again. “Alright everyone, let’s stay focused” was the shout from Patio Chair, who they lovingly referred to as “Deck”, because that’s where he always hung out. “This has been great, but I have a birthday party to get to today, and I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of time under Mrs. Jenkin’s over-sized, cake-loving ass—tell the joke again so I can get home!” Old Man Cane couldn’t contain himself and nearly splintered, and the whole gang erupted in laughter once again—even Office Chair. It was now day break and they had been up all night in fits of playful giddiness, in spite of all their legs being numb from the night’s chill. “That Jenkins, she gonna be the death of you!” shouted Old Man Cane.

When the laughter finally subsided, Red Chair thoughtfully spoke up. “This has been amazing everyone. Maybe the best part of my trip so far”. “So where ya headin’ next?” asked Old Man Cane. “I’m heading further east to meet new friends,” said Red Chair, “But I’ll be back--you know we’ll always find each other.” “Amen to that,” Old Man Cane softly confirmed.

Then they all quietly sat, and sat, and sat, and sat a little longer, listening to the distant coo of a single morning dove. “All right, let’s get this over with” Deck finally chimed in, rolling his eyes. “OH YEAH!!!” Flower Seat exclaimed, vibrating her feet in the grass with anticipation. “One more time, PLEASE!” she squealed. Old Man Cane gave a slow creak and carefully cleared his throat. “OK! Here goes”, he announced, “But you have to keep it down. I tol’ ya, nobody needs to be hearin’ the ottoman and the area rug joke ‘cept us!” He said. “Beside, nobody ‘cept us would even get it—just like ol' Office Chair here!” The laughter erupted once again. Office Chair knew when Old Man Cane was setting him up, but it didn't matter--he loved the chairs--especially the Old Man, and being teased by them was just part of being in their family. “OK, here goes,” Old Main Cane said again, and then he continued to tell the joke about the ottoman and the area rug, and better than the any of the other countless times he told it (and without making it too obvious, he slowed it down, just a tad, for his friend Office Chair).

“….So that’s what they mean when they talk about cleaning the carpet!” came the classic punch line. Red Chair was watching Office Chair for a sign—actually they all were, and then Office Chair—finally--got the joke. He started to giggle…and then giggle a little harder…and then he laughed, and laughed and laughed. He laughed so hard that he started to swivel and spin uncontrollably. Flower Seat was chuckling right along, celebrating Old Man Cane’s most perfect delivery. The rest just watched Office Chair's reaction. The more he laughed and spun, the more they lost it, and round and round, like a game of musical chairs, they laughed themselves to tears---and then the craziest thing that could have happened, happened—Office Chair laughed so hard he bounced off of his wheels and fell back onto the wet, spring grass.

For a split second they gasped in disbelief, and then they roared in hysterics until they all gasped for air. Eventually, one by one, each gained their composure, and finally Deck chimed up, “Man, that joke of yours is funnier than an Ikea Chippendale,” he said, quietly shaking his head as he motioned toward home. “Yep, I guess that’s a wrap!” announced Old Man Cane. “Yep, a wrap!” mimicked Flower Seat, who was helping Office Chair back onto his wheels, and they all said their goodbyes and headed toward their perspective homes. But Red Chair wasn’t thinking about home. There was too much to see out in the world. The warm and foggy morning was now dead silent, with the exception of that one distant morning dove singing about its travels. Red Chair, with all four legs planted firmly on the ground, couldn't help but wonder what the day’s adventures would bring.  The End.