Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast - Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa

How do our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast Guests find good dining? The short answer is that we send them our restaurant list painstakingly built over the last 6 years and that we modify at least twice a year. We quickly realized that a getaway anywhere is not happy if your dining experiences do not meet your expectations and soon after that we learned that while most of our guests expectations are similar, a few people require a little more attention. Donna and I believe we give excellent service to our guests that stay with us as we can spend time with them to make sure that their individual expectations are met.

What would you do if you were not staying at Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa?This post is really a review, from our perspective, of the google results for Cape Cod Dining and for Cape Cod Dining Reviews.



Trip Advisor - This site is fascinating to use in the context of dining. The very top rated restaurants are often Clam Shacks, Ice Cream Joints and the like. Very good restaurants are often nailed to the wall with bad reviews that ask how could any restaurant not have a child's menu or not serve French Fries. The good news, from our perspective is that a user can cut through this type of noise fairly easy to get at reviews that will better answer questions. The fact that Trip Advisor works so well for the Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast industry is somewhat easy to explain. B & B afficionados are typically, in New England, well aware of minimum standards and they are the ones that write the reviews.


Cape Coddster is a great site built by a community of users that love Cape Cod. There is no pay to play, no chance to game the system without it being called out. Think of this website as gigantic set of bulletin boards where you can hold public discussions with other people that love the Cape.   The example pertinent to our current posting is the good to excellent dining on Cape Cod forum.

Cape Cod Times Online You will find just a few professionally written reviews of restaurants here. For the general user this is not very useful, but for us local Cape Codders we may find a useful nugget in the offseason. An example is this review of Chatham Bars Inn Tavern in the off season. This is the kind of Dining we would recommend to our Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa guests.

The rest of the examples given below are less useful. Please feel free to give me pointers on finding high quality reviews of dining on Cape Cod!!!!

Concierge
This site does allow reviews. The link provided above only shows 5 restaurants in the Lower Cape. Abba is definitely on our list and the link here to Abba shows their style. Not many restaurants listed, few reviews, you must sign up to the service to use if fully and restaurants probably have to pay to be on the site.




Cape Cod Dining - is collecting a good overview of dining spots, They break up the list of restaurants by region, although it looks like they wish to break it up by town in the future. It looks like the restaurant must purchase links back to their websites and to have additional detailed information. Did not see any user reviews. Future additions to the site will include videos, meet the chefs and probably more.
Cape Cod Dining Guide is similar to the above site in that there are no reviews and that it is clearly a pay to list upon site. It allows for a nominal search for food type and Breakfast / dinner etc. Many of our favorite (finer dining) restaurants were not on this list.


Cape Cod Restaurants is a again a pay to play site. A little better design in that maps and itemized details are easily had. Again, if the restaurant has not paid, they will not show up well on this.

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Byron and I are innkeepers on Cape Cod and we are continually amazed at the many different  hats we wear to make our inn successful. We are dedicated cooks, hosts, servers, plumbers, computer wizards, decorators, event planners, ... just to name a few. A favorite hat is helping couples plan a romantic getaway for their sweetheart to Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa !



February is special to us and this description gives a great idea of why!!

The February birth flower is the iris. The warm, deep color of the iris is a harbringer of the luxuries of spring, as we know February has long been a month known for romance and love. The iris comes in a few colors including cool blue and snowy white, remembrances of winter. The iris flower meaning are faith, wisdom, and hope.  

We make every single day of February our Valentines day and our special package for the month is called " February is for Lovers".  This helps many of our guests plan their romantic time away throughout the entire month. This year we created a fun new package that includes a couples massage with a chocolate theme. What Valentine's Gift would be complete without chocolate!

Cape Cod has many additional attractions throughout the month for our guests to enjoy. On February 6th, Osterville becomes the “Chocolate Capital of Cape Cod” as it's picturesque Main Street plays host to the third annual Chocolate Fest. Anchored by chocolate art and tasty exhibits, store raffles, sales and promotions and featuring the “Great Chocolate Dessert Contest”, the entire village is preparing once again to yield to the temptation, fun and pleasure of chocolate in all its varieties and flavors. The Osterville Chocolate Fest offers tempting events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is sponsored by the Osterville Business & Professional Association.

The SheArt Network is sponsoring a  Valentine’s Day Art and Fine Craft Sale on Saturday February 6th from 10-3 at the Old Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans. Items for sale by Cape Cod Women Artists include paintings, jewelry, pottery, photography, textile designs, knitwear, prints, and paper creations. Find that special Valentine's gift or just something for yourself! 

Chatham is sponsoring a fun event called Paint the town Red. where local merchants decorate their shops with a paint the town red theme.


We would love to hear about your special Valentine's day tradition.   Send us a note.  

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Donna and Byron are going to talk sweet. hot and spicy here, but first a word on our breakfasts.  They are a special time at our Cape Cod Inn and Spa, and we are continually testing new things to keep our menu fresh and creative. We do keep a lot of the tried and true menu items, however, we find a lot of fun in merging new finds into the mix! This post is a little twist on how we are both sweet and spicy! Follow us over the fold for the quest to find out who is sweet and who is spicy. 





Donna - Perhaps I am the old fashion sweet one and my husband is the spicy, hot and adventurous one.  Byron - Perhaps I am the really sweet one and my wife is the spicy hot one, except we are talking about food, right??!!
Donna - Even as a child, I remember the family raspberry patch. We had a summer tradition of harvesting the berries and making jam and pies for everyone to enjoy. I almost took the berries for granted and never noticed what a small container of raspberries cost at the grocery store. When we purchased our inn 6 years ago my mother offered to donate all of the raspberry jam she had in the freezer for our guests to enjoy. We  realized that we did not have enough supply when she decided to sell her home back in the Berkshires and to move in with us. Byron  quickly ran back to the Berkshires and started digging up the raspberry bushes in order to transplant them in our back yard.  We now have had our very own BBTS vintage Raspberry Jams since 2007. Since Raspberry plants take a few years to start producing in any quantity......let me say in a nutshell, we rationed our supply....Hopefully not disappointing our repeat guests that kept asking us to sell them jars to take home.   I am happy to report that we now have in our freezer Vintage 2009 and a nice big raspberry patch that we hope will produce many jars of jam this summer. So now on to the spicy....

Byron - two notes about the spicy side of things here on Cape Cod.  We went to a restaurant, now closed, that featured coastal cooking including New Orleans style food.  I thought, YEAH, and asked for Jalapeno Peppers.  Fifteen minutes later the waitress comes back and says they do not know what they are, but are these peppers close?     THEY WERE SWEET FOR GOODNESS SAKES.    Well, we know that New Englanders are generally reserved, including their food of course, and I resigned myself to just a little store bought tobassco sauce and seldom even asked our guests if they wanted a little spice in their life, oops, I mean on their food.  Then one day a long haired 60 year old hippie with a pony tail to his waist is eating breakfast at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast and he surreptitiously whips out a bottle from his back pocket and douses the eggs and potatoes with it.  Oh dear, is it possible?   He is the mad food chemist from Mechanicsville New York with Pre Apocalyptic and Armageddon hot sauces.  and our absolute favorite, "The Smoking Habs". This is an incredible mole style Habanero sauce. So we now keep a a case of the Smokin Habs on site to spice up your savory dishes and all is well now that we, Donna and I, are fully integrated personalities, sweet, hot and spicy.

So, when you come to Brewster By The Sea, you should get both the spicy and the sweet at breakfast from Donna and Byron. Being a Bed and Breakfast far away on Cape Cod, you should be prepared to bring your own hot, sweet, and spicy nature to your getaway as well.

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My brother, Daryl, and various friends from childhood in Wyoming have started posting way back photos. This has helped me remember how very special the good memories are from that time period. I do not have photos to share and wondered how best to respond to them.

While searching for words this poem seemed nearly as powerful as the photos and in some sense universal to all of us. Facebook is not good in presenting formatted text and so this blog posting gives honor to my wish of sharing back.

An iconic photo from Cody Wyoming is looking over the reservoir towards Cedar Mountain close to where we all dived the cliffs.


Memories
by Annabelle

Within my book of memories,
Are special thoughts of you.
And all the many nice things
You often say and do -

As I turn the pages,
And recall each single thought,
I realize the happiness
That knowing you has brought.

There are memories of the times we've shared
Both bright and sunny days.
There are memories of your kindness
And your friendly thoughtful ways.

There are memories of all those notes,
we would write back and forth,
When we would just get together,
And talk of this or that.

And when I recall these memories
As I go along life's way,
I find they grow more precious still
With every passing day.


One last thought, I never did buy the 1972 Cody High School yearbook and if anyone has an extra, I would gladly accommodate them.

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Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast Spa Service

Life is too short not to be pampered at Brewster By The Sea

It's a snowy day on Cape Cod and after a busy fall and holiday season my husband and I are looking forward to a slowdown at our Cape Cod bed and breakfast . We have been busy over the holidays and many of our guests have enjoyed our spa services as a way of relaxing through the hectic holiday season. This morning a couple had a side by side massage late in the morning and one of our favorite therapists, Ann Papparello, was already here. I am a spend thrift kinda gal and usually do not pamper myself with massages but this morning it just felt right to indulge! And what a grand way to kick off the new year.


I decided on the 90 minute massage and facial. I am always telling our guests it is my favorite service but I actually am basing that on a facial I received 3 years ago when we were testing a new product line at the spa along with the rave reviews I continually hear from our guests after receiving the facial and massage combo treatment. I had a vague memory of enjoying the aroma therapy and having my skin feel very refreshed and soft. Well......I can tell you firsthand after having this service just a few hours ago that it is pure heaven! I went into our spa room cold, tense and feeling very tired. I came out 90 minutes later feeling like a new woman. All of my skin from head to toe feels soft and my muscles relaxed, my mind feels calm and my face actually has a wind blown type of glow to it.

I am continually amazed at the results of the  Eminence product line that we carry at our spa. It is an all organic line made in Hungary, and we carry several different formulas for different skin types. Today I enjoyed a coconut cleanser with steamy orange infused towels, a yam and pumpkin mask, a wild plum toner and a peach moisturizer. The service also includes a head and scalp massage with our all organic jojoba oils. My hair tends to be dry during the winter months and I could feel my skin rejuvenating with all of the oils.I have quickly decided that having a pampering massage and facial for myself will certainly be a more frequent event in 2010. After all, the spa is close by since our residence is at our inn and spa.

Happy New Years to one all and may your day be filled with a relaxing spa service at Brewster by the Sea.

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Bill Vaughan
"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."
Byron
"A realist gets up on New Year's day grateful for that opportunity, knowing that there is much to do"

The past few years we have worked hard to put meaningful thoughts together for New Year's resolutions. It truly is amazing what level of personal growth this small business has allowed us to reach for. So follow us over the fold for our 2010 New Year's Resolution and visit us at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast

And; our wish for you and yours is a safe and fulfilling 2010.


We would love to share our New Year's resolution as it was a major point of discussion at our family dinner on Christmas day. We were blessed this year to have everyone home with a fun new twist since two of our children have moved back with us for the winter, planning to relocate to the east. We could not be more delighted!

Donna,
I always love the end of a meal when everyone is so full and we just sit around the table talking. It's an extra special time for Byron and I since our kids are adults now and it's fun to have life discussions as a family. So this year one of the kids asked about everyones New Year's resolutions. I had been thinking about mine for weeks and was actually surprised at their reaction. For years, mine has always been the same.......to loose weight, get more exercise and to be healthy. I am proud to say that I finally have this one in order since I have been able in the last few years to finally balance my weight and actually have only one size of clothes in our closet. ( that actually was a must since as innkeepers we never have enough storage or private space) This year I wanted to have a new resolution and decided to add a concept that actually I had been aware of and discussing with my husband on a daily basis.....to be cognizant of the power of words in our daily communication. Being a woman of 50+ (and hopefully wiser) I have stopped to think about what I say in my communication with my Mom (who is a stern New England lady and given her health complications this year has been slightly less than cheerful , our guests (the importance of always talking in the positive), our children (they are adults now and it's usually best to just listen then to give advise) and lastly our spouses ( I still do not have that one figured out).

Our children's reaction to my new resolution was precious....they all said whohhh Mom ...."that is deep!. I couldn't quite decide if that was a compliment or they thought the whole thing was silly. As for me it feels right and I have decided to move forward with this idea for the year.

Byron,
As innkeepers, Donna and I continue to lovingly perfect that part of our nature that is gracious, giving, and hospitable. For this opportunity to touch people's lives we are sincerely grateful. My resolution last year was to focus on connecting with the past in meaningful ways, since my career had kept me on the move and I had left so many people and friends behind. I was able to jump onto the social networks such as Facebook, Linked In, and Classmates in order to connect with people from high school, through college and then onto various stages of my career. This was not in any way associated with the inn and inn keeping and that resolution worked out well and will continue. This year's resolution had its genesis in the photography I had been doing the last several years. I realized that my photographs are getting technically better and even once in a while are interesting in that they are not typical and have a uniqueness to them. This year's goal is to start learning how to see the world more through an artists eyes and I have several strategies for doing that; I want to explore and blog on the art galleries on Cape Cod, I want to do black and white photographs that have an expressionistic and / or surreal aspect to them that can tell a different story about Cape Cod,and finally I want to escape the corrosive nature of or current political environment by focusing on the beauty of nature here on Cape Cod. As with last year's resolution, this is meant to be a "forever" project.

April & Nathan
It was precious to move around the table and to hear everyone's resolutions for the year. Our children felt comfortable with setting meaningful thought. Our precious son Nathan who has been through some tough times in life has asked us for help in starting anew and has set a long term goal to acquire a medical degree. His actions, attitude are now congruent with his capabilities and this is exciting. Our daughter, April, just graduated from architectural school in May and left Houston with a contract to design a green environment for the architectural firm she worked for. Her goal is to get a new job in Boston and continue to pursue additional levels of LEED (green architecture) certification. Our comments about and to her are that her future is very green.

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Byron and I purchased our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast six years ago and decided to add the tag line "European Inn and Spa" as part of our initial branding and name change. The tag made sense since we had decided to become innkeepers while traveling the Fjords of Norway and admiring the old fashion Scandinavian customs we enjoyed during this very special trip. We knew that our main decor would be English Country and that our guests should experience the comfy feather like fiber beds we had enjoyed. Through the years many of our guests have asked us why European is in our name, and we would always talk about the food or decor. Our European guests would sometimes chuckle with this explanation as many of the bed and breakfasts in Europe are very pedestrian with shared baths and we are much more upscale. After a recent trip to New York City the whole idea of why we are European inspired became crystal clear to me; how ironic that this feeling was answered after visiting NYC. Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa, A European Bed and Breakfast on Cape Cod is explained below the fold.

I was having dinner with our two daughters after a busy day of shopping and museums. We decided on a restaurant close to our hotel in Times Square since we were tired and it was so cold and windy. Once inside we realized it was french and were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere and menu. We started talking about what made a hospitality business successful and I was truly amazed at our conversation. We kept coming back to a feeling.....in this restaurant we loved the color tones on the walls which were a deep yellow, we smiled at the old fashion mo-ped that welcomed us at the door and the old fashion suitcases that were stacked on a shelf. The wine was of course delicious, the waiter just a little bit rude (totally french!),and every bite of food was a delight to the senses. There was a beautiful bouquet of orchids in a unique vase, the restaurant was warm and the smells so comforting. We enjoyed a leisurely meal filled with laughter and fun conversation.

The next morning we decided to visit the same french restaurant for breakfast and as I ordered a Crouque Madame with a chocolate latte it all became crystal clear.......it's all about the feelings. That is what makes us European inspired....it's the feeling I remember of cuddling into crisp soft sheets with a soft feather bed that was so comfortable I never wanted to get out of bed in the morning. It's the feeling of enjoying a great cup of coffee outdoors while listening to the songbirds. It's the feeling of walking into a room that has soft yet rich color tones that creates such a relaxed feeling in our minds. It's the joy of seeing a bouquet of fresh flowers. I remember so vividly a breakfast tea I had in Copenhagen with the mother of my former boss. She had visited the local bakery and flower market before our visit and had all of her best china out for a lavish tea with fresh scones and crisp crusty breads with jam. Her fireplace was lined with several tall vases filled with the fresh flowers and the sunshine was beaming through the windows in her modest flat. We sat for hours visiting about my boss, Jan's childhood and all of the business that needed to be accomplished the next day drifted from my mind. This is what life is all about, and I think many Europeans embrace this feeling with a lot of old fashion values that sometimes get lost in our busy world.

Lastly, it's the food that nourishes our body and soul that brings this feeling full circle. We strive to present to our guests the most flavorful yet healthy breakfasts and teas. We make everything homemade and always include plenty of fresh fruit. A recent addition to our breakfast menu is a Crouque Madame. Our daughter raved about this dish when she spent a year abroad in Paris. Our version includes a grilled country bread, black forest ham and Gruyere cheese sandwich topped with a sunny side egg......yum! As I get older I find that I value a meal that is light yet flavorful, using the freshest of ingredients. We love to recommend a local restaurant called the Brewster Fish House which is such a treasure right up the street from us. Everything is beautifully presented with local, in season ingredients when possible. Their lazy lobster entree and tuna tartar are to die for. We do appreciate other people's thoughts on what makes a "European" experience or indeed even a "foreign" experience.

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Brewster By The Sea B & B
716 Main Street
Brewster MA 02631 Cape Cod

www.BrewsterByTheSea.com

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Fine Lodging is in the Details

Donna & Byron

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