We got to Falmouth around 3:00 p.m. and checked into the hotel. To say it was awful is an understatement. I've stayed in a lot of hotels that allowed pets, and none were as foul as this place. The hotel itself looked ok from the outside, but our room smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke and cat urine. Even Rennie gave me a look that seemed to suggest contempt. If you've ever seen a Yorkshire terrier, you know that they're very good at this look.

Considering we were only planning to spend one night, though, we decided to just deal with it and hope for the best. Dad called his friend Bonnie to get directions, and we then went for a walk in Falmouth center before heading to dinner.

We had a nice little stroll through Falmouth and went into a number of shops, including the Happy Puppy doggie bakery & gift shop. I tried unsuccessfully to get Rennie to try on a doggie raincoat - we are moving to Oregon, after all! - and picked up a happy birthday cookie for Rennie's birthday this Thursday. I also picked up a "Corgi Cannoli" because, well, they were just so funny. The lady behind the counter thought Rennie was so cute, she took several photos of her and now her doggie visage is forever nailed to the wall of the store. Rennie's legacy lives on... ;-)

Anyway, after our shopping expedition, we headed to Bonnie's for dinner. She has a beautiful little house with a big back yard about a mile from the water, and we ate salmon and salad sitting out on the back porch. Rennie had a great time running around and sniffing and I had a less great time getting a number of bugbites, including the Biggest Bug Bite Ever on my right knee - through my jeans, even!!! Still, I was happy to finally get to know Bonnie a bit and hear about my dad's escapades in highschool. Dad and Bonnie dated when they were in high school, and Bonnie showed me a bunch of pictures of my dad and his band, It's Us, that I'd never seen before. I'd been hearing about Bonnie for years, so it was nice to finally meet her and get a chance to get to know her a bit. She is lovely.

After dinner, Bonnie took us into Hyannis to Harry's Blues Bar to hear her ex-boyfriend's band. Because they were late going on stage, we ended up sitting there for some time chatting and drinking and I ended up talking with an older gentleman friend of Bonnie's - a painter named David - who was born in Wales, educated at Oxford and now lives on the Cape.

David and I had a nice chat about Bach and Brahms and classical music, which resulted in a dinner invitation for me. I was obliged to decline the invitation, but had I been able to I might actually have taken David up on the dinner offer. Sure, he was a LOT older than me, but he was very interesting to talk with and you can never have too many friends, right?? It's always nice to be thought interesting, you know?

I then made it a point to get myself a Harry's of Cape Cod shirt - which all the waitresses were wearing. I could even have gotten it for free had I been willing to take off my shirt in front of the entire bar to try on the Harry's tank. Had my father not been present I might have given it a second thought, but as it was, I handed over my $20 and scampered off with my new tank top.

Following our adventures at Harry's, we headed back to Bonnie's to pick up Rennie and head back to the hotel.

Our night in the stinky hotel is best left largely undescribed. In addition to the smell, Rennie had a hard time sleeping due to all the different noises and woke up regularly to let dad and I know that there was something or someone outside. Shushing her and giving her a bone to chew on and trying to calm her down did little to shut her up and I finally handed her over to dad to see if he could get her to settle down. He finally did, around 4 a.m., I think.

Needless to say, we both woke up rather late and scurried around to get out of the hotel as quickly as possible. We headed up the Cape to Provincetown and spent some time there before turning around and heading back into Boston. P-town is kinda cool, and I'm glad we took the time to visit, but it reminded me of a cross between Cannon Beach and Seaside in Oregon. Nothing too out of the ordinary, and we didn't stay long before heading home to Boston.

The drive back was uneventful, as was Monday night. I dropped Dad off at the airport this morning. It was hard to see him go, but this time, I know I'll be seeing him again soon! I'm SO looking forward to seeing everyone again!