Yesterday I wrote about why Cape Cod is such a great place to visit, even in the winter. Today I want to offer you a few specific events to consider making a trek to the Cape to attend this month or next. Anyone of them would be well worth your time and money.

January 23-24: 21st Annual Cape And Islands Orchid Show. Hyannis Resort and Conference Center, Hyannis, MA. When Rich and I first went to the Orchid show, I was recovering from back surgery. Rich was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs watching me maneuver around the exhibition hall with my cane. But the beauty of the exhibits and the exotic orchids soon won him over. And the opportunity to talk with the exhibitors on the art and science of orchids was irresistible. As a result we bought several specimens to try our hand at propagating  them, and even though we did not have much success, the afternoon we spent at the show was like being transported to some exotic island. In January that is a welcome respite from the winter cold.

February 6: 5th Annual Osterville Chocolate Festival, 10AM to 3PM, Main St. Osterville, MA. There was a chocolate festival in North Conway (where we used to own an inn) every February. The event drew hundreds of people who cross country skied inn to inn to sample the innovative chocolate creations of the innkeepers. I supposed the idea of cross country skiing between the venues was a way to minimize the impact of the extra calories consumed that day by the participants. Although the Osterville event does not require any physical exertion, it is a really fun event to attend. And who can resist chocolate? (Save for my husband and best friend who are not chocoholics like me. I’ve always been a little suspect of that…)

February 12-14: Fourth Annual Boatbuilders Show, Resort and Conference Center, Hyannis, MA. Often on a summer’s day, Rich and I will drive down to the marina at Sesuit Harbor in Dennis. Our favorite little clam shack is there. You eat outside at picnic tables in the “most beautiful dining room on earth” as designated by the proprietor, J.C. The view is of the boats in the marina and the channel out to Cape Cod Bay. On any given sunny day there is an almost constant stream of boat traffic. We watch each boat as it traverses the channel, admiring the lines of a Boston Whaler, the flying bridge of a fishing vessel, or the cut of a sail. We dream about owning such a boat one day, and motoring around Cape Cod or out to the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. We know it’s a pipedream, but still for those lovely moments as we eat our clams and drink our beers we are transported to another lifetime and all its possibilities. I think that is the allure of a boat show…to dream, if only for a moment, what life would be like if you owned a boat. The Boatbuilders event showcases boats built in small numbers by small shops on and near the Cape and elsewhere in New England, and the purpose of the show is to showcase the beauty of the boats and the people who build them. In February, it is far too cold to be sitting at a picnic table at Sesuit Harbor. But when I go to the boat show I can return to my summer’s dream of owning a boat, and while I am there, the world is full of possibilities.