For years, I have heard about magical places like Provincetown, Hyannis, Sandwich and Orleans, but I had never been to them. Our friends Carol and Steve invited us to stay at their beautiful cottage on Cape Cod. I was blown away by the scenery, the extraordinary tides and the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Even better, we got to experience it with them. This adventure included some exploration, exercise and some surprise guests too.
Getting there is half the fun
We could not head up to New England without visiting our niece Aliza. She is living in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood and we met for breakfast on a very rainy morning at a funky restaurant named JPizle Kitchen. Our server was a full-of-energy man named Elijah who really helped to wake us up.
Aliza is living in a charming two family residential building nearby with a couple of roommates. It was great to catch up with her and explore her town.
On to the Cape!
Carol and Steve have a beautiful cottage on the water in Brewster and we spent a few days taking in the scenery and sunshine. The scene is lively with miles of sand and people wading, splashing, sailing sunfish, playing sports or simply soaking up the sun. We took long walks on the beach, read our books on the deck, and did a bit of floating too. About four-hundred feet from the house was an oyster farm, and it was fun to watch the harvest each morning at dawn. The sunsets were simply outstanding too.
While we were in Brewster we visited the Crosby Mansion, a majestic house called Tawasentha, which was built around their family cottage by Albert and Matilda Crosby in 1887. The mansion is three story and 35 rooms with 13 fireplaces and manufactured its own natural gas for lighting and heat from coal in the basement. All of the mohangany wood-carvings were made by hand, and the local Old Colony Railroad even laid tracks to the house to enable the construction.
The Tide is Magical
Sherry and I lived near the Long Island Sound for many years, so we understand a little bit about the tides. But nothing prepared me for the shock of the tides in Cape Cod! Every six hours or so, the water either comes all the way up to Carol and Steve’s deck, or turns around and exits almost the entire bay with sand stretching out a thousand feet or more. This creates some unusual situations for boat owners, who moor their boats at high tide, just to watch them come aground twice a day at every low-tide. Good thing the bottom is soft! If you take a long walk, you want to be sure you know which way the tide is going – and Steve has a handy tide clock to help keep track.
Provincetown
One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Provincetown, located near the very northern tip of the peninsula. We started with a dune tour, visiting the sand bars and dune shacks with a specially equipped SUV and a chatty German guide. The ride was great fun climbing over hundred foot high dunes, learning the history of the cabins that assisted shipwrecked sailors and observing the flora of this special place.
Provincetown itself is very arty and LGBTQ friendly and we enjoyed walking around, seeing the art and having a relaxing lunch overlooking the bay.
This was the very first place that the Pilgrims landed (not Plymouth Rock) and where the Mayflower Compact was made. Sherry and I climbed to the top of the 253 foot Pilgrim Monument, built in 1907-1910 to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower. Stones were placed by Pilgrim decedents (including one from Concord – See adventure #39). It is the tallest all-granite structure in the US with a footstone dedicated by Teddy Roosevelt. We also spent some time at the Provincetown museum which told the history of the town, the cape and had a thoughtful section reflecting the values of the native people. I also learned that the Cape Cod Canal was built 1909-1914 and helped to greatly reduce the number of shipwrecks on the way to Boston harbor.
Cape Cod Rail Trail
One of my favorite parts of the visit was the rail-trail. A fifty mile rail-to-trail biking path over the site of the Old Colony Railroad from the mid 1800s. It is well maintained and almost dead flat, first converted to a bicycle trail beginning in the 1970s. I managed to get in a couple of early morning rides, enjoying the fresh sea breeze and making it northeast up to Mill Pond in Eastham on my first day and southwest down to Harwich on the next.
On Sunday, Wendy and Yale (friends from our area, who were visiting relatives nearby) came to visit Carol and Steve’s place for some wine and cheese. We arranged to take a ride together on Monday. This was the first time the four of us ever bicycled together and we had a great time enjoying the lake views and the shade of the trail.
A surprise visit on the way home
Our trip back home took us through New Haven and the Yale University area, so last minute we reached out to friends Susan and Russell and their son Sam for an impromptu dinner at Ladle and Loaf. They moved from our neighborhood years ago, but we get together from time-to-time. It had been a couple of years and it was great to catch up.
