Monday June 18. 2001

at the drive-in

Today we went to Orleans, which is farther down on the cape, for a few items that could not be found in Wellfleet - namely, Salt and Vinegar Pringles. John was also in search of an issue of Cerebus that he had missed. We found the comic book store, only it wasn't a comic book store anymore, but a touristy little store for hippies. You know, the usual candles, incense, ceramic fairies and pants and skirts made out of all natural cotton adorned with little bells. There was also a small used CD store within the larger hippie store, and they actually had a huge selection, including TONS of stuff signed by Frank Zappa.

We later found ourselves at a small independent bookstore that was trying to be some sort of Barnes and Noble wannabe. I was looking idly through the dvds with my eyes fell on Shadows and Light by Joni Mitchell. It's the video that was filmed along with the double album. I heard myself gasp in the quiet store, I grabbed the DVD and ran to John, who was on the other side of the store, to show him my prize. I didn't even know that Shadows and Light was on video, much less DVD (this was later confirmed when I scoured the internet and couldn't find it anywhere). As it turned out, it was an import from Hong Kong, with a price to match - almost $50. I am not one to go spend fifty bucks on a dvd (especially when that fifty bucks represents exactly 1/4 of my current net worth), but I grinned and beared it and shelled out my hard earned cash for this extraordinary little find. I don't regret that I did.

I guess this makes me a true Joni Mitchell freak. I just need to look for some bootlegs, now. I know they exist.

We searched futilely for a place to get John a much-needed haircut and beard trim, all we could seem to find was salon type places, and John preferred barber shops. So we headed back to Wellfleet.

We went to Arnold's for dinner again. I got the fried clams this time. Oh my god. Oh my god. They were so good. Perfectly crunchy on the outside and juicy and tender inside, complemented perfect with the tartness of the lemon juice I had sprinkled on them. I fear I will never be able to trust seafood outside Cape Cod ever again.

And then (get this) we went to the Wellfleet Drive-In. The last time I was in a Drive-In was at least ten years ago, before the Key Drive-In in Lebanon was demolished to make way for a Wal-Mart. $6.50 for two movies. After we pulled into our place, I carefully disengaged the speaker from its little stand and hooked it onto the window. How very odd. The long-gone drive-in in Lebanon still had the speakers, but they didn't work. Instead, you tuned into a particular radio station to hear the audio.

The first movie was Shrek (which I enjoyed again), and the second was Evolution (which was only mildly funny). Between movies, John and I walked up to the snack bar. While John went to the bathroom, I watched the vintage advertisments for concessions on the screen. There were these two hot dogs. One was holding a hoop and the other was jumping through it repeatedly. It was very surreal.