I Really Do Live in a Norman Rockwell Town

November 22, 2015

I am in my mid-fifties and have lived on Cape Cod for 26 years. It’s hard to believe when I think of it now, as it doesn’t seem that long. When I was in my late teens my mother moved to a town on Cape Cod called Chatham. She lived there for a number of years. I remember visiting her in Chatham and sometimes on my drive back north to where I then lived I would take detours and visit other towns on Cape Cod. One of those towns was Sandwich and I absolutely fell in love with its old world charm. In the back of my head I knew that someday I would live there.

As it turns out my mother a number of years later built a house in Sandwich. I came to know the town much better and fell in love with it all the more. Bit by bit over the years I moved closer and closer to Sandwich until ultimately my husband and I landed there. I have never regretted it a day since.

One of the things that drew me to it was not only its proximity to the Atlantic ocean being right on the coast but the old New England feel of the historic district.

My husband and I live approximately ten minutes out of the center in an area of town called Forestdale. This area reminds me very much of the country as dotted around are old farm houses a number of which still have good amounts of land. Granted our house is not nearly as old as some of the houses built in the 1700 and 1800s but I still appreciate their beauty.

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is I love to drive to the historic district, park and just walk around admiring the beauty. The area has some incredible teashops, little boutiques and fantastic restaurants. Summer, fall, winter, and spring each season rewards you with the unique beauty of the buildings coupled with the incredible landscapes. We have salt marshes, ponds, grist mills, and of course the ocean.

The first photo was taken last winter in the historic district. The beautiful old colonial can be seen across Shawme Pond. It and the other photos are a perfect example of why I love the area even in the coldest of temperatures.