Cape Cod Sojourn

Last week we were on vacation in Falmouth, Cape Cod, visiting my parents, and my husband and I actually got out one night after the kids were asleep. Earlier in the day, we'd seen signs at The British Beer Company, a nearby restaurant, advertising live music, so we decided to check it out. The place had everything we could ask for: a nice bar area, water views, and lots of fun beers on tap. Apparently, others thought so, too, because we arrived to find the place jam packed.

We thought about leaving but weren't sure if we'd find another place with live music and no cover charge, so we squeezed through the noisy crowd toward the bar. While my husband was getting the drinks, I took stock of the room. The crowd was impossibly young, good-looking, and well-dressed. What the heck was going on? This was Cape Cod: People wear shorts, flip-flops, and Sox caps EVERYWHERE. But there was not a baseball cap in sight.

"I think I'm underdressed," I shouted to my husband over the din when he got back with the drinks. The band hadn't started yet so we weaved our way through the crowd and found some open real estate at the back of the room.

The women were uniformly pretty--tall and blonde and decked out in tight flowery dresses and high-heeled sandals. The men wore light-colored summer suits and loafers. One dude looked like a slightly-less-attractive David Beckham. We thought maybe it was a wedding party, but on a Thursday night?

"This isn't how I remember Massachusetts girls looking," I said. (I haven't lived there in 18 years.)

My husband leaned over and said something to the prettiest and blondest girl of all the pretty blondes (who happened to be David Beckham's date). They chatted for a minute. Ahem.

"They've all come from a rehearsal dinner," he said. "Their friend's getting married tomorrow at the Popponesset Inn." Okay, so that explained it.

There were some other regular folks there besides us, but not many. I felt old and schlubby. One of the guys from the wedding group asked an older woman who wasn't with them to take a picture of him and his friends. This woman was with two friends--they all looked to be in their forties and were dressed casually but young & hip for their age. They were all obviously single and looking. The woman who was asked to take the photo laughed and said something about being practically blind. She and the young man whose camera it was flirted a bit back and forth. The guy thought he was hysterical, but his quips were totally lame. The older woman laughed and laughed like he was the funniest guy she'd every met. She gave the camera to her less-nearsighted friend, who took the pic. The first lady continued the banter with the 20-something dude, "Oh, ha-ha, that's what happens when you're over forty!"

Wow, I was embarrassed for her. She was shamelessly flirting with this guy who was easily 15 years her junior. He wasn't even one of the cute ones. I mean, if you're gonna humiliate yourself, at least do it with the David Beckham guy! It got me thinking about how different the thoughts going through her mind must've been compared to his. I wonder if she thought that he thought she was cute and fun and sexy? She looked pretty good for her age, but still. I'm sure he didn't think much of her at all since there were so many hot girls in the bar.

There were also some old guys trying to catch a rap with the young ladies. That's just as pathetic--and grosser--but the older woman/younger guy thing seemed worse somehow. I think it was because she came across as trying way too hard, which made it depressing to watch instead of just creepy. The old dudes didn't care--they were just hitting on whatever girl was nearby. But the woman kept looking around the bar expectantly, an open and hopeful expression on her face, like she was searching for something.

I doubt she found it there.