Fathers Day marks a migration from the man cave into the great outdoors. The traditional time to set up a gathering space around the grill, this year it’s more about setting up a space to spread out.
Matt Connelly’s set-up is perfect for a responsible cookout. There’s no need to squeeze indoors for a drink. The bar is open air, repurposed from a garden shed that had been on his Wellfleet property since the 1920s. Matt stakes out his own territory for grilling, and there’s plenty of lawn, so friends can set themselves up to be together without getting too close.
Matt and Karin got married in Anguilla, and they’ve gone back every year since, returning to see good friends they’ve made there. On their first trip, two locals invited the Connellys to sit with them at a local seafood shack.
“We’re limin’,” they said, using a Trinidadian term meaning to hang out with friends. The Connellys have loved the expression ever since. The flags and stickers on the shack are collected from their island travels. With plenty of space to spread out on the lawn surrounding the shack, the Connellys’ back yard has been a popular gathering spot for neighbors and their dogs to lime away a Sunday afternoon. —Molly Newman
Arrayed six feet apart are Matt Connelly, with his dog, and friends. Clockwise: Nate LaVine, Madison Connelly, Holly LeBart, Bridgette Brundage, and Karin Connelly. (Photos Molly Newman)
Matt’s father, Joe Connelly, says the limin’ shack is his favorite bar. He hung up his grandfather’s taxicab license plate there before sharing a quarantini with his sons. That’s Matt’s brother Jay on the right.
“We use the hot dog steamer more than we use the grill,” said Karin Connelly. “People always say they haven’t had a hot dog in years.” It’s an easy way to evoke childhood and ballparks — comfort in a bun.
