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No one wants anything to go wrong on vacation...or before. But if you find you cannot keep
your reservation, deposits are often not fully refundable. We suggest you check out trip insurance. One company
is The Trip Insurance Store at www.TripInsuranceStore.com
If you want to know where a cottage is, an easy (but not perfect) way to locate it is to enter
the phone number in your Google search line. That should give you the option of clicking Mapquest
to locate the property. It's best to verify your findings with us, as this once "located" a cottage in a local cemetery...apparently
they track by their wires, not by streets. www.google.com
Driving to the Cape on a Saturday? Heard the nasty rumors about traffic? They're
usually based on "horror stories", not everyday or even weekend traffic. Sure, an accident will slow you down, but don't
you drive in rush hour at home? Two tips: take Route 295 around Providence, Fall River, and New Bedford if you're
coming from I 95. You have to jog up toward Boston briefly to connect with 495 to the Cape, but you skip 3 major cities.
And if you arrive on the Cape a little early, and don't mind stop-and-go traffic, choose Route 6A after you cross the Sagamore
Bridge or enter Route 6 coming from the Bourne Bridge. It's loaded with scenery, shops, and old captain's homes (and
stores and traffic lights). You won't get here any quicker, but you'll enjoy the ride so much more you won't mind.
Play tourist. Stop for lunch. By the time you arrive to check in, everyone else will be done and you won't have
to wait, and the trip will be part of your vacation instead of just another commute.
More about traffic: According to the Cape Cod Times, quoting a survey by the American Highway
Users Alliance, The Cape has just received the distinction of being rated the 6th worst summertime tourist area for traffic
bottlenecks--behind the Tidewater area in Virginia, the Maryland/Delaware shore, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, of
other east coast areas mentioned. Not that we want to make the news this way, but not counting Florida and Georgia,
where only Floridians and Georgians use the beaches in any great numbers in the summer, that means that geographically most
of the resort areas on the eastern coastline have worse traffic jams than Cape Cod!!! (The Jersey shoreline was next,
right after the Cape.) And when you try to weave access roads in and around estuarian waters, small villages from another
era, and the very shopping and activities that many visitors expect to find, our byways are NOT going to easily handle
the summer influx. Nice to know we're sixth, though, and next to last of the east coast areas in the top ten list,
isn't it?!
There are two websites with traffic information you might find interesting. www.traffic.com seems geared for urban areas and rush hours, but they do report accidents practically as they happen and keep tabs on
construction. And www.smartraveler.com, according to the article, also keeps up-to-the-minute tabs on traffic problems and can also be accessed by pressing
*1 on cell phones.
In Massachusetts, you pay a hefty tax to stay at "transient" (i.e. overnight) accommodations
like motels. To keep rental property exempt, the state established a no-competition clause. We can't steal
their business so we don't play by the same rules. No sheets and towels...bring your own!
No maid service while you're living there...just in-between rentals. And no on-site management...you
run out of TP, burn out a light bulb, need gas or charcoal for your grill, it's a trip to the store, not a call to the office.
But think of what you can do with the almost 10% you're saving.
Speaking of sheets, they take up a lot of room in the car, and what do you do if you're flying
in? There are several agencies that provide rental linens. One local agency that brings the bundles right to our
office for you to pick up when you check in is The Furies. 508 349-1145. www.thefuriesonline.com
One of the hardest problems to solve when you're planning a vacation can
be what to do with the family dog. Cat owners don't have the separation problems of dog owners, which is for the best,
since cats cause more problems in properties they occupy. But many a dog owner feels the pet is "part of the family"
or knows that dogs, far more than cats, reciprocate our feelings and can suffer equally from the separation. Unfortunately,
the best answer is to leave your dog(s) at home. Dogs are rarely allowed on our beaches or our streets and with significant
restrictions. Pet walking areas and parks are hard to come by. In an area where nature is our back yard, but comes
with rules we don't make, artificially created pet areas just don't exist. And there are wild animals in our "wilderness"...foxes,
coyotes, raccoons, and skunks to name a few. These animals protest our intrusion into their territory by visiting our
trash cans and arguing (and often winning) with our pets. Even a squirrel is a good excuse for the best of dogs to dash
out of the yard into trouble. If you must bring your pet, first ask us. It doesn't hurt to ask whether we have
any places that might take pets, even if our published vacancies don't indicate any pet-free openings. Occasionally a
cancellation hasn't made it to our website. We also may know of another agency with something to offer.
If you do bring your dog, please keep in mind that there are valid reasons so few owners accept pets...and they may not be
what you have in mind. Damage is probably the last of our worries; most pets behave away from home as well as they do
at home. Pet hair, and the subsequent cleaning, especially in our short turn-over "window" of four hours for as many
as ten cottages per cleaner, is a challenge. Allergies are a major concern, as the people who follow you may not have
been accustomed to the aura a pet leaves behind. And fleas, whether the kind you have at home or our notorious and to
some extent fictional "sand fleas" may be trouble in future weeks. Sand fleas DO exist and will be attracted to your
pet and his new home, but our tiny summer midges, or "no see 'ems" , the ones that can come in through screens and bite, are
often mistaken for fleas. It's a hard point to argue when people are being nipped. There are kennels in the area,
and at least one allows you to pick up your pet during the day when you have planned an activity where he will be welcome
and comfortable...just have him back at his "motel" by 5 P.M.
WHEN TROUBLE HAPPENS
I just came across a wonderful website for families to use to discuss and plan against disasters.
American Family Safety sells kits and individual merchandise to stockpile
in case of a disaster, anything from freeze-dried foods and sealed water pouches to first aid supplies. They have also
put together about the best worksheets I've seen for planning together as a family before trouble happens. Their "Family
Communication Plan" has space for important information about every member of the family, and stores your family's own ideas
for outside-the-house meeting places as well as medical and insurance info you may need.
This site also includes the American Red Cross' "Hazards and Considerations" which lists
13 major hazards, such as earthquakes and winter storms, and 15 considerations ranging from senior citizens to emergency
tools. You choose the hazards you might encounter and the considerations you'd like information about, click submit,
and receive a whole lot of individual hints for handling emergencies of that nature.
And while you're all together having a family talk about some of these important things, why
not review things that could happen on a vacation and add them to your family's personal worksheets, things like getting lost,
or having an accident, or swimming and summer safety?
When I finish updating the PETERS REAL ESTATE GUIDE TO HURRICANES I'll include that information
here: local radio channels, emergency phone numbers, finding fresh water in a power failure, etc. In the
meantime, take a few minutes to browse through this web site. It's well worth it.
To go directly to our website, click here, or use the links below to continue your reading.
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