Beth's Bakery and Cafe, Sandwich, Massachusetts

The first day of vacation in Sandwich, we lunched at Beth's Bakery and Café on Jarves St. It was within walking distance of the inn so it was the perfect spot for a quick lunch.

Of course, I am a sucker for any chalkboard menu so I knew I would like the place. Hmm, homemade mac and cheese, yum!

It was quite warm that day but we still sat outside on the deck. Good people watching and there was a breeze.

The café used to be a Puritan Church. My sister wanted to know if Jarves St was church row because the inn used to be a church, the café was a church and the stores down the street were formerly the first Catholic Church in Sandwich.

We both had the mac and cheese. I opted for the fruit cup instead of the salad. It was all very good.

Here's the inside of the café. Lots of goodies to choose from. We didn't have any fancy drinks or desserts.

 

This is the view from the deck.

 

One morning I walked down to Beth's for my morning coffee. They had just opened and I was the first customer. I ended up meeting Joe ,the owner, and he gave me the history of the place. Beth is his wife's name.

Yes, the place was a Puritan Church once and much later it was a USO Hall.

Now it is a cute café with beadboard walls and simple decoration. A nice local place for coffee, breakfast or lunch. The owner told me he changed the name from Beth's Special Teas to Beth's Café and Bakery because people thought it was a tea shop. He said he rarely had male customers when the name was Beth's Special Teas.

There was quite the collection of antiques hung high above the restaurant. I love the old sewing machine table. I just got one at a recent yard sale.

He told me he got the stain glass windows from a builder who had salvaged them from an old building. Joe had them in his basement for years. He thought they were pretty but he had no idea how he would use them.

When he bought the building, he realized he had the perfect spot for the doves. He said unfortunately because of the way the glass was cut he could only put them in as descending doves. Either way, they are beautiful.

I enjoyed speaking with Joe, and Gail, who made my cappuccino. She was so pleasant and efficient I was sure she was Joe's wife. I asked if she was Beth. She laughed and said no she was not an owner.
Everyone on staff was great.

If you are in the Sandwich area check out Beth's Bakery and Café on Jarves St. You'll be happy you did.

The Painted Lady of Sandwich

In the last post, I mentioned I would tell you about the Painted Lady, one of three buildings that comprise the Belfry Inne property.

We stayed at the Painted Lady and we were not disappointed.  This was my room.

I woke up in a light filled gorgeous room to a glorious morning. I loved my little stained glass window. The Abbey was not the only building with wonderful stained glass windows.

I actually booked this room because of two features. One was a stained glass window, the second was because of the private patio.

The outside is so appealing if I were driving by I would have to make note of the place.

The flowers were colorful and plentiful. I could not stop taking photos of them.

Were the flowers carefully chosen to match the colors of  the Inne? Perhaps.

This is the path outside my patio. Charming, just charming. Made me want to just stay in my room and watch the bees and the flowers.

The bath towels were folded like fans. I took this photo for reference in case I want to try it at home.

I got to read my new book on the patio and I liked to spend my mornings out there too. The book is A Fine Romance by Susan Branch and we went to her book signing at the Sandwich Town Hall. I will tell you all about it in the next post.

Speaking of mornings, this was my breakfast on the second day. I think this looks like the Sydney Opera House don't you? We got to eat breakfast in the Abbey, the converted church. I would rate the food A+ and so was the service and the ambience.

Back to the Painted Lady, yes there really were bats in the Belfry Inne. This was painted on the walls of the tower. Such a cute sitting area.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual stay at the Belfry Inne. Next, I will take you to the Susan Branch book signing.

The Belfry Inne- Cape Cod

When I read about the Belfry Inne of Sandwich, Massachusetts in Yankee Magazine in 2012 I knew I just had to stay there at some point in my life. So it went on the secret bucket list.

This Summer, I found out that Susan Branch was doing a book signing at the Sandwich Town Hall this August. I immediately booked rooms at the Belfry for my sister and myself.

Here's what Yankee Magazine said about the Belfry Inne:

BEST NEO-VICTORIAN B&B
Belfry Inne & Bistro, Sandwich
A restored Victorian manse and a pleasingly formal Federal-era house are part of this bustling B&B complex, but the most dramatic rooms are found in “the Abbey,” a converted Catholic church on the edge of Sandwich village. A few even have stained-glass windows depicting archangels Michael and Gabriel, and most have church-pew beds. The bistro occupies the Abbey’s ground level. Rates: from $179, including full breakfast. 8 Jarves St. 800-844-4542, 508-888-8550; belfryinn.com

After reading that description you want to go now too, don't you? I must say it did not disappoint.

The patio outside the bistro was lovely and perfect for a relaxing lunch. We had breakfast each morning in the converted church. (It was included). We actually stayed in the Painted Lady as the Abbey rooms were more pricey.

Another view of the pretty patio. I snapped a few shots before they opened for the day.

The flowers were plentiful and huge! I noticed this all over the Town of Sandwich, flowers everywhere.

Tricia, the desk clerk and breakfast server, was kind enough to show us rooms in the Abbey. This is the Tuesday room, one of the most requested rooms in the Inne.

The bathrooms were modern and spa-like.   One of them actually had a spa in it!

Here's an overview of the bar and restaurant. The beams are still intact and spectacular.

I'm not sure if this was the choir loft or not. As you can see, the Inne is the perfect blend of old world charm and modern amenities.

All the rooms we saw had the most fantastic stained glass windows. I loved the colors used in each room as well.

How relaxing would a soak in this tub be? I could use this at the condo after a hard day at work.

The room decor was tasteful and lovingly furnished. I can attest that the beds were extremely comfortable.

Some rooms had balconies and patios. Fireplaces were in many of the rooms too. Wouldn't that be nice in the Fall?

Another shot of the many details from the original church which was built in 1901.

Here's the Painted Lady, this is where we stayed. Come back for my next post and I will have a little show and tell about it.

I need to apologize for my unintended blogging break. My computer crashed a few weeks ago so no blogging for me. I just got it fixed and I have lots to blog about so I hope you will come back to read about my end of Summer activities.

Sweet ending to the Cape Cod adventure

We're at the end of the Cape Cod posts. We ended our day in Orleans. Lori Lee had the Hot Chocolate Sparrow on her to do list so we decided to check it out. It's a coffee house/dessert place. My sister and I actually think the name is kind of creepy. To me, it conjures up images of the gulf spill pelicans only this time they're sparrows covered in chocolate. But anyway, the place itself was really cute and we didn't see one hot chocolate covered sparrow!



If we had needed a snack, we would have taken a seat and I would have tried the frozen hot chocolate. It was almost dinner time so Lori Lee bought some desserts for her cooler and we asked an employee to recommend a spot for dinner preferably on the water and specializing in seafood. She recommended the Orleans Inn.



A few right and left turns and we were pulling into the Inn's parking lot.



After spying the view, we decided to eat out on the covered deck. The weather was perfect for outdoor dining.



I opted for the clam roll and fries and ice coffee black of course!




Will you look at those fries? Just how I like them. Crispy on the outside
and soft on the inside. Such potatoey goodness!




This idyllic spot was beside the Inn. To the right, picnic tables were set up and we saw a young family enjoying their dinner there.



The hydrangeas were in full bloom and gorgeous!



Next door to the Inn was this windmill.



Lori Lee was fascinated. She loves windmills.



Aw, do we have to go home? None of us wanted to leave but it was getting late and we had a two hour drive ahead of us. Actually we're driving through Boston at this point.



Once I see the Zakim Bridge I know I'm home. A beautiful sight. And believe it or not, I actually knew the man this bridge was named for. His name was Leonard Zakim and he died too young. And that story is for another post.

If you haven't read the whole Cape Cod series, you can check out my other posts by clicking on the side bar.