Longest Summer Ever

Like a lot of Cape Codders, I live in an area that tends to have dips in population. During the summer, you have to be a little bit more careful when you cross the road, the lines are longer at the post office, and there are more options to eat out. By late fall, everything’s a little bit quieter, some businesses have closed their doors with the owners excited to enjoy their vacation, and I take walks down roads without sidewalks again. But this year (wait for the phrase) everything is different.

I noticed in late March/early April that the streets that were normally quiet until at least Memorial Day where busy. There were people outside enjoying the early spring weather. I remember saying hello to a group of women having drinks, six feet apart, in folding chairs on the front lawn, very much enjoying an early trip to the Cape. There were many more people riding bikes around the neighborhood. And then I started seeing a lot more kids. Young families who previously lived in cities where “working from home” at Mom and Dad’s on the Cape.

Labor Day is supposedly the unofficial end of the summer. Although families may stop coming to the Cape for week-long vacations, a different type of tourist arrives. Usually, for the next two months, I have to be careful crossing my road because it’s now a route for busloads of tourists coming from all over. I don’t expect to see as many of those this year but it does appear that we are entering second summer.

With many schools going virtual and the flexibility of working of home, I’m seeing more people extend their stays on Cape Cod. In fact, I’ve seen quite a few posts online of people who decided to pull the trigger and buy a home here. One of my friends is a real estate agent and she can’t keep up with the number of houses that are under contract in less than 48 hours.

I can’t blame them. Commuting to work online means you could live anywhere. And if you’re going to choose where you can be, then wouldn’t you choose Cape Cod? It would be wonderful for our local businesses who saw a slower start to their traditional summer season make up for it in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see, as “second summer” progresses, how many seasonal residents convert to long term, how many additional people decide to drive down to the Cape rather than fly out of Logan for a shoulder season vacay, and how many young families decide the slower pace of life is where it’s at!

About Rebecca Romo

Rebecca Romo hosts Feel Good Mornings weekday mornings from 6-10 am on 99.9 The Q. Originally from New Orleans, she moved to Cape to be with her husband a second generation Cape Codder.



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