Friday, June 29, 2012

Another fine bugaboo

We left Albany on Friday morning and headed east toward Cape Cod. We had made reservations at a hotel in Hyannis and planned on driving up to Provincetown that evening for dinner. Neither of us had been to P-town before. Just outside of Boston, somewhere along I-495 near Milford, we stopped for a quick lunch. Not knowing where we were, we looked for shopping centers alongside the interstate exits where we were likely to find a collection of national chains to choose from.

The Highland Lighthouse in Truro, Massachusetts, on the Atlantic side of the Cape.

It didn't take long for us to find a restaurant that looked promising, although we'd never heard of it before. It was called the Bugaboo Creek Steak House. This one corner of a shopping plaza, right there in the heart of New England, was done up to resemble a mining lodge from the Canadian Rockies. It looked as though Walt Disney himself had directed the design. We were greeted outside by a huge carved wood statue of a moose. Inside, an imposing rock fireplace commanded the center of the dining room. The stuffed heads of such northern critters as bison, deer, and caribou hung here and there on the walls among all manner of north country memorabilia. The chandeliers were made to look like they were crafted from antlers. Snowshoes dangled from the rafters. I think I remember seeing a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mountie) uniform and the characteristic hat somewhere.

Ken's photo of the steak house. There's Mr. Moose on the left.

The food choices were pretty much what you'd expect in a rugged Rockies-themed steak house: Classic Steaks! Big Mountain Burgers! Summit Sides! Mountain Outfitters' Specials! I suppose even the most dyed-in-the-deck-shoes New Englander needs a change from his near constant diet of lobster and scrod now and again. Ken and I resisted the larger meals (although the Moosebreath Burger was tempting) and we both ordered something called a Lodge Chicken Salad. The salads came garnished with the grilled breast of a free-range Canadian Snowbird Chicken (I hope it's not an endangered species). It turned out to be mighty tasty, eh?

Ken's photo of the interior. Yes, that's a stuffed raccoon on the left. Appetizing. See the bison's head on the wall?

After lunch we looked forward to the short drive out to the Cape. As it was a Friday afternoon and the weather was beautiful, there were a few other people looking forward to the same thing. And all of us chose the same moment to converge on the two bridges that cross the man-made canal that separates the mainland from the cape itself. There we sat. And sat. And crawled a little. But mostly sat. For about an hour. The bridge we had chosen was down to a single lane because of construction. The other was backed up just as bad handling the overflow.

But we made it. We got checked into the hotel (the staff were very friendly and helpful) and headed up the cape to Provincetown, about ninety minutes away, for dinner.

12 comments:

  1. We had a wonderful few days on Cape Cod five years ago as part of a two-week NY/New England trip. We stayed at The Chatham Wayside Inn right at the start of the season and it was heaven! I'm rather jealous of you at the moment.

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  2. Walt, that lighthouse looks just like the one at John O'Groats... just along from Thurso in the Highlands... but I've never seen the one at Lands End, not far from the real Truro!

    WV is "30 okshott" which really sums up the "chandeliers" in the "stake" house.

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  3. Have you ever ventured into a Buffalo Grill? The Bugaboo Creek Steak House rather puts them in the shade! I love the antler chandeliers. Pauline

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  4. I love the antler chandeliers too !! Wish we had somewhere to put one - redecorating the whole room to make them fit in would seem a little excessive though !!

    Also love the new header photo. (Bet it's been there for days and I've not been paying attention.) Is is Montpoupon?

    I have really been enjoying your tour and the photos have been superb (as usual). I sometimes think that maybe we should go somewhere other than LGP for a holiday some time !!

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    1. Jean: check out a few brocantes - there's bound to be some moth eaten taxidermy on offer for those redecorating projects.

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  5. I remember the issue of the crowded causeway heading onto the Cape. In fact, now that I think of it, my dad's car got a flat on that bridge! Added such fun to the loooooooooong wait for traffic to move.

    Great photos of local life!

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  6. Have you been a tour guide in a past life, Walt? You'd be terrific, finding local places of interest to photograph, wonderfully intriguing places to eat and of course, places to people-watch!

    Next time I'm on the Cape, I have to visit that Bugaboo place and see the inside. I don't think I could forego having a steak or perhaps a meaty burger, though!

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  7. In some ways, the Bugaboo Creek Steak House reminds me of Chez Clément in Paris.

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  8. That lighthouse looks familiar. Our brother-in-law's family has a cottage about a mile away from it as the crow flies, and we were invited there this week, but here we are on our own porch. What can I say? At least there are no crowds here, and the garden is looking great, if I do say so myself.

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  9. Those antler chandeliers are terrific. Too bad you couldn't bring one or two back with you. But only an hour to get across the Canal bridge, on a summer weekend? You did well.

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  10. Forgot to say, that's an excellent picture of the Truro light. I can smell the salt in the air!

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  11. So you lived in SF for 17 years… that is a long time. I only lived there nine years but it was hard to leave – I still wish we had not left but my husband had to finish his degree. I had so many friends there – here in Georgia I have hardly any. I did not know that Albany was a port town. My husband had a first cousin who used to live there and I always thought of it as a town in the cold North and that's all. That Bugaloo Creek looks very American to me – it would be popular if it were in Paris I think. I can almost smell the sea breeze from your lighthouse picture.

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