Beach House + Tomato Sandwich
The light is warm on the Outer Cape, the blue air fresh with salt. Truro—second to last town on Cape Cod’s flexed arm—is relaxed and easy, especially during late summer weeks. Dahlias burst from storefront gardens. Crowds have thinned but markets are still open. Postseason beach entry is free, and the ocean brims with the shadows of seals.
It’s a time and place we savor and a routine we’ve memorized. Rent a small house with a welcoming kitchen, pack seven books (Tori) and one bike (Ronnie), start the week with martinis and local oysters at Mac’s Shack in Wellfleet and end it with a jar of flowers from Salty Market, for the road. In the time between there are dunes to cross, waves to catch, chapters to finish, and meals to make. Some are ambitious and involve stocks or lattice crusts. Others are unforgettable tomato sandwiches.
Truro Farmer’s Market sets up near the post office on Mondays through Labor Day. After it closes, we shop at Hillside Farm Stand on Route 6. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Perry family has cultivated land along the Pamet River, shifting from dairy to poultry in the 1930s. Eggs from Hillside are sold at the family’s stand alongside vegetables from their greenhouses, locally baked breads, and staples for beach rentals.
There are baskets spilling ripe tomatoes. Try the yellow Beorange beefsteaks, firm and honey sweet, sliced thick and layered with fork-whipped chèvre, sea salt, olive oil, balsamic, and basil leaves in toasted brioche rolls. Wrap tight in foil and stash in a beach bag to meld, maybe under a bottle of cold vernaccia from Salty.
Then drive, bike, or walk to Ballston Beach to picnic beneath mammoth gold dunes. Sea grass sways, the sand is flecked with bleached crab claws, and the Atlantic rolls in front of you. To compliment the waves, play Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time” covered, fittingly, by Beach House. Victoria Legrand’s alto is metallic yet flushed, like a necklace shimmering in the sun. Unwrap the foil. A wistful song and lush tomatoes glazed in vinegar tang: the sounds and tastes of summer days, before something new begins.
5/30/2019