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Each year my mother’s sister invites my wife and me to a clam bake in the town next to where she has her summer cottage.
Last year we misssed it because of a Phoenix show, but most years we go and have a good time.
The bake is done by a small church as a fund rasier, there aren’t a lot of people there, but they are nice and the food is good.
So, this morning we set off for Westport and my Aunt’s place.

The area has changed a lot over the last 40 years. It used to be all corn and cow fields. Now it is vinyards and expensive houses.

My aunt’s cottage has been rebuilt from the little place she used to have. The new place is year round, has a basement, hot water and a stair way to the second floor.

I know it’s much nicer then the place I spent my summers growing up. But, part of me still misses that old place even if it was a glorified shack.

But, it is still just up hill from the Westport river and has a very nice view.

We had a nice lunch with my aunt and her husband, then the bad news was told.

The little church could not afford to put on the clam bake because too few people could afford to buy tickets.
Sad.
But, given the economy and such, it really wasn’t a surprise. And, although we like the clam bake, we go to visit my aunt. So, sad, but not a disaster.

We agreed we’d go out to eat at some other place and then set off for the beach.

We passed the farm where I got my dog back in 1971.

And then, the beach.

We went to the town beach which is usually less crowded. It doesn’t have much in the way of surf because it is a bay formed by a peninsula that used to be a sub hunting base in the 40’s. But, it is still a nice place.

Of course, as it is a town beach, you have to have a permit to go there. So, I can’t go there on my own as the police are always on patrol for folks without permits.

The down side is there are a lot of rocks. Small rocks, big rocks, really big rocks.

When I was young, all of those rocks were given names and stories. Of course there were times we found sea lions on top barking at people, so it wasn’t hard to come up with stories.

My aunt and her husband remained near the car while we walked the rocks to the water.

My wife and I had a lot of fun in the water.

Although there are lots of rocks on the beach, the water had a nice sandy bottom and was at just the right temperature. It really was one of the nicest times I ever remember at that beach.

Despite how nice we thought it was, not a lot of folks were in the water.

So, after a very nice swim, we left the water to the birds.

When we got back to my aunt’s place, we found the rabbits and humming birds waiting.

We changed into dry clothes and headed off to the restaurant my aunt and her husband wanted to bring us to for dinner.

It turned out to be behind the Whaling museum and one of the places we thought “way too expensive” when we were there in June.

The Cafe Balena is on one of the small streets that still has cobble stones.