It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was asked to help plan a trip across the country with Bellair Tours and Adventures. Weeks of planning, fine-tuning, meeting and greeting turned into lifetime memories in the blink of an eye. How the heck did that happen?

32 of us spent a week in early June exploring Boston, Cape Cod, and as many islands as we could fit into our jam-packed schedule. Ask anyone what their most memorable experience was, and I’ll guarantee you that no two answers will be the same. Naturally, you might get some of the same events retold in five different ways: Doug’s impromptu speech, or the story of how Don got his phone back, or how Kristy lost herself among the cottages, or Sharon’s knack for finding the best ice cream, or that other time…

I’m more than happy to regale you with a few of those tales. It’s certainly better than starting with “Once upon a time, our plane got delayed…”

Newport & Middletown, Rhode Island

Our story of Rhode Island begins the night before, at the Daniel Webster Inn in Sandwich, MA (we did not have sandwiches at the Inn). This was the night that Doug stood up and clinked his glass to briefly express his gratitude. Following the speech, as desserts and coffees were being passed around, Bellair’s Lori Reese turned to the table next to ours. She asked Stan when the last time he was in his hometown of Middletown, RI. He responded with a year that began with 1950; I can’t recall if it was ’54 or ’56, but the point was made. Lori then wondered if he had plans to go back to see how things have changed.

Stan wasn’t too sure if that was possible. From our destination of Newport the next day, it would be about a 20-minute drive north. Plus, he wouldn’t know what cabs would be available to take him there. As soon as I realized that transportation was the only thing stopping him from going, I redownloaded the Lyft rideshare app on my phone. He was more easily convinced to go from there.

At about noon the next day, our bus dropped us off to go explore the city of Newport for a few hours. Stan and I watched as the rest of the group scattered in all directions. Many headed to the wharf for a bite to eat, others meandering along the shaded sidewalk for a quick building tour or a shopping stop. We stayed put as the bus went off down the one-way cobbled street. I ordered him a round-trip ride to the street he grew up on for five years as he told me more about his life in Rhode Island. He said that he was one of the first students to attend the newly built elementary school, which he recalled had separate entrances for boys and girls. Stan said that from his house, it was a two- to three-block walk. He had a good camera with him that he’d been using to document his travels. He hoped to get some shots of his house, the school, the whole street. I told him that even if the school or the house wasn’t standing anymore, the memory of going back would be worth more than anything.

His Lyft arrived shortly afterwards. I told the driver that Stan would explain everything and sent them off down that same cobbled one-way road.

Stan didn’t even take a full hour to get there and back. I found him ambling along the wharf, where some of the others were still finishing up their lunches on the pier. He said that everything along the street had changed. The house wasn’t there anymore. The brand-new school building had been replaced by an even newer one. The same streets that Stan walked on every day almost seemed completely foreign to him.

You don’t get too many chances in life to travel through your own personal history route. But Stan took the chance to walk those roads again, even if it meant that nearly everything had changed.

Provincetown, Massachusetts

There couldn’t have been a better day for strolling and taking in the sights than the day we visited P-Town. Blue skies, sunshine, and a soft breeze greeted us as we got off the bus at the tail end of the Cape. Our tour guide, Clinton, had given us suggestions for lunch spots at every stop along the way. In Provincetown, there’s a restaurant where the late great Anthony Bourdain got some practice in as a young chef. I think that’s where a good portion of our group ended up going.

Clinton explained that when they do other tours and let people go explore for a few hours, many people tend to stick with their groups. There’s no individual uniqueness to that method of travelling. Whether he needed to tell our group of 32 that or not, we were eager to wander. There was no better example of the “scatter” mentality than when we were in Provincetown.

So, there I was, soaking in the colorful sights along P-Town’s Commercial Street, when I realized that there were fewer and fewer people the further I went. All I wanted was a bite to eat in a place that wasn’t jam-packed with a 30-minute wait. Unfortunately, the places that attracted me along the way were closed. I was left with two choices: keep wandering into No Man’s Land or turn around and get a spot in a ridiculously long line.

I saw a sign for somewhere promising before I was able to make that decision. The lounge in question was clean and quiet, but remarkably empty. The bartender’s face lit up when I walked through the doors. They hadn’t had anyone in all day. It wasn’t quite tourist season in P-Town yet and they were bored out of their minds. They had a whole new drinks menu that they were still getting the hang of. I watched as the bartender, Matthias, carefully checked his notes before serving me a delightful Captain’s Coffee.

We chatted for a good while. Matthias was originally from Portland, OR. He said he’s never felt more comfortable expressing himself and exploring who he is before living in P-Town, which I remarked was fascinating, considering his roots. What made Provincetown more comfortable than his hometown? Matthias believed it was the closeness of the community and the lack of big city influences nearby.

Somehow, that resonated with me. My empty stomach’s rumbling resonated a bit louder in that moment, and I hurried off to find a lunch spot before the bus left the Cape. I ended up at a place with no line and only minimal crowding with a delightful salmon burger that disappeared in the blink of an eye. And what better way to cap off P-Town with a little ice cream?

This is where Sharon comes in. Or, rather, this is where I came into the combination ice cream/pizza place where Sharon was in the midst of placing her order. They certainly packed a lot of options into that small parlor with everything from malts to sundaes to hard scoops. I caught a glimpse of a faded sign advertising soft serve flavor swirls, which I can’t say I’ve come across in Washington. Sharon had never even heard of the concept and yet, she somehow found the best possible place to get an ice cream on the cape. With my blessing, Sharon ordered and indulged in a fabulous looking orange cream swirl cone.

Did I mention they sold NY-style pizza by the slice for a dollar in the same place Sharon learned about her newfound love for flavor swirls? I got back on the bus with a slice of cheese, plus a big butter crunch ice cream sundae. Clinton then informed the whole bus that the “buffet” I created at my front seat was open and serving customers. Neither delicacy made it back to the hotel.

Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

This was the “Cape Cod and the Islands Tour,” after all.

We breezed through their state’s ferry system to get to the islands. On Martha’s Vineyard, I nearly wrote off taking the (optional) Chappaquiddick ferry due to timing. The morning started off with a few blips. Kristy got lost amongst the quaint cottages for about 20 minutes and Don informed Lori that he had lost his phone before we got on the ferry. The real fun started when I met up with Kristy, Clinton, and a handful of other folks outside of the ice cream parlor that Sharon had already patronized. It was the first time during the trip that we were able to relax and have a good laugh.

I noticed the Chappaquiddick ferry from a distance, not too far away from the parlor. For $5, you could hop on for a round-trip ride. Not a bad deal, I thought, so I paid up and took the ride. I met Lori, Sharon, Mike, and Cathy on the other side. They had spent a healthy amount of time sticking their toes in the sand and were about to head back to the main island. Mike and Cathy stuck around to show me the abundance of shells sunning on the shores of Chappaquiddick. Whole scallops, jingle shells, clams, even a piece or two of a conch caught my eye as I strolled across the shoreline.

I may have even taken a few of those shells home with me.

As for Nantucket, it was raining buckets by the time we left. Not so much in the morning, where we had to wait a bit for the Nantucket Whaling Museum to open for us. The night before, I got to know Marilyn, who travelled from western New York to join us on our adventures. Marilyn told me she regularly listens to WHAM 1180, a news/talk station based out of Rochester. It’s worth noting here that one of my first radio jobs was reporting traffic for the city of Rochester and the surrounding areas on WHAM 1180. I would later voice occasional news stories for them.

So purely by coincidence, Marilyn has heard my voice and followed me on my adventures in radio for a pretty long time. How about that for a full circle moment?

Back on Nantucket, it’s beginning to drizzle and we’re chattering outside of the museum. Some folks got the OK to wander a bit and explore, so it was fairly quiet before the doors opened. Marilyn was among those who stuck back. She asked if I could turn on WHAM 1180 so she could listen to their morning show. She said she listens every morning. Adam was just getting through the 6 a.m. hour of the KGMI Morning News at the same time that Marilyn and I were listening to Bob Lonsberry discuss Rochester news. And as soon as the museum opened its doors, I had to reorient myself to say I worked for KGMI and not WHAM as I spoke to museum staff about grabbing a quick interview.

For a last-minute, spur-of-the-moment interview, Miranda did incredibly well under pressure. So did Andrea, the cranberry farmer, even though her three dogs were begging us to play fetch with them the entire time.

If I can be frank for a moment- this whole experience felt pretty surreal. Never in my entire career did I imagine being a part of this unbelievable experience. I thought that the fun travelling in radio was reserved for morning show hosts on music stations (hi, Dave!). Lori set out to prove me wrong all the way back in June 2023 when she first asked me to help put this trip together. To no one’s surprise, she was right.

To the group of 32 folks who took the plunge and joined our Cape Cod Party Crew: I can’t thank you enough. YOU genuinely made this trip as fun as it was meant to be. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Even if that means Don would lose his phone on Day 1 and find it on Day 7 all over again.