Cape Cod Trip Report (Day 3): Spanky’s, Cape Cod Chips, Beer, Hyannis Harbor Hotel and Palio Pizzeria
Our previous posts from this trip report are as follows:
- Cape Cod Trip Report (Day 1): Crayola Factory
- Cape Cod Trip Report (Day 1): Purple Cow Creamery and Hampton Inn (Milford, CT)
- Cape Cod Trip Report (Day 2): Mystic Seaport and Foxwoods Casino
- Cape Cod Trip Report (Day 2): Mohegan Sun Casino and Holiday Inn (Norwich, CT)
Well today we finally made it all the way to Cape Cod. I feel exhausted already from taking over two days to make our way out here, but it is definitely ideal when traveling with little kids. Plus it allowed us to see some things while traveling across the country that we might not had been able to see any time soon. The unfortunate part is that it seems like every trip we go on, our two year old son gets sick. Sure enough this trip, as soon as we got to Cape Cod, the two year molars decided to come in, which tested everyone’s resolve at time as our son was miserable from the intense pain. We were here to make the most of it though, so we medicated and helped our son as much as we could get through the pain.
My in-laws had reserved the Hyannis Harbor Hotel since 1) we had paid for their hotel on our Finger Lakes trip in exchange for this hotel, and 2) there was no point or reward program associated with this property that would have been worth my effort to make the reservation. My father-in-law had called ahead to see if our rooms were available for early check-in, and luckily they were, so we left first thing in the morning from Norwich, CT and arrived at Hyannis, MA around 10:30 am. The grounds and location of the hotel were great. However, the interior walk to our room had a definitive odor and signs of wear and tare.
Our hotel room was very nice though, as we had a bi-level family room. The first floor had the bathroom and a king bed. Upstairs had a living area, complete with a pull-out sofa, and a separate dual queen room. There were also three balconies, which unfortunately did not face the bay. We were glad our room had a normal staircase as opposed to some of the pictures we saw online which showed spiral staircases. The only thing we really did not like about our hotel room was there was only a single bathroom, and it was very small.
When we reserved the room, we were fortunate enough to be traveling the week before peak season, so we were not being charged for parking. However, my father-in-law was researching things the week before we left, and realized the hotel changed their parking policy, and wanted to charge us a nightly rate. One of the main reasons we choose this hotel was its proximity to the ferry (across the street), and the free parking, which we each had a vehicle and parking fees could have quickly added up. So my father-in-law called up the hotel and after pleading with several people, he was finally able to provide his reservation email which said parking was free. I was proud of their diligence in getting what we were due.
The hotel also had a large indoor and separate outside pool. Since the weather was cooler, we only swam at the inside pool and hot tub. We liked having the convenience of a pool inside and really wish the weather would have been nicer to try out the gorgeous outside pool and bar area.
After checking into our rooms, we were all starving and walked across the street to Spanky’s Clam Shack, as my wife had read good reviews on it, and my father-in-law was on his fried clams mission to eat as many of them as possible. We were quickly ushered to our table looking onto the bay. First good sign of a good restaurant…they were crowded during lunch. I had ordered the lobster roll, and the lobster bisque to share with my wife. She ordered the lobster Caesar salad. The bisque was AMAZING, and both of our meals had large clumps of fresh lobster. The food was really good, although both my wife and I commented that surprisingly the lobster roll from the Mystic Seaport was better than that at Spanky’s. I am on a mission this trip to try them at each place, just like my father-in-law is with his clam strips. At Spanky’s, he ordered the clam strips complete with the belly’s, which were basically the entire clam versus the typical strips. He said they were also very good. We had ordered lobster mac and cheese for my son, but by this point of the trip, he was starting to feel the pain from his two year molars coming in, and really was not in the mood to eat. More for mom and dad though, as it was excellent!
After eating, we hopped in the vehicles to head over to the Cape Cod potato chip company. We were not allowed to take strollers or take pictures inside the facility, so we strapped the boys into our backpacks. Overall, it was a great experience because 1) it was really interesting, 2) it was free, 3) it was short and an adequate amount of time for kids, and 4) there were free sample bags at the end (two per person). As you walked through the facility, you got to see into the working factory to see how the chips were made from potato to bagging.
Right around the corner from the Potato Chip company was the Cape Cod Brewery. The reason I bring up the brewery is not necessarily because of the beer, because I am not a beer drinker and do not know if it was good or bad. What I do know is that they were very kid friendly, and my oldest son was at home playing at the train table in the back of the show room. I think by this point into the trip he was maybe missing his sense of normalcy and his own train table.
After the brewery, we drove down to one of the beaches of the area to let our oldest son run and stretch out his legs. He loved it, and after getting over some apprehension of the water, he was having lots of fun exploring the sand, water, and shells. He even thought the seaweed resembled noodles, which I thought was adorable.
By the end of the day, our oldest son was not feeling well, so we headed back to the hotel early to take a swim in the indoor pool, and eventually decided to order in pizza from Palio Pizzeria. We ordered the Broccoli Rabe pizza, which featured fresh minced garlic, mozzarella cheese, broccoli rabe and fennel sausage. It was a powerhouse of flavors that were very unique, fresh, and authentic. We were really impressed with Palio Pizzeria…even more so in that it helped re-energized our little one. We are always impressed with how he has such an amazing palette for foods, and never fails to at least try everything.
Tomorrow we will head out to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod.