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Published: November 30th 2010
Swans a swimming
on a pond near our house"To travel is to possess the world".
Burton Holmes
A summary of the past few weeks on Cape Cod---
It was a dark and stormy night on Cape Cod…… the wind was blowing and howling, gusting 35 to 50 miles per hour. As we looked out the front window we wondered if trees would fall and we will end up without power in our charming Cape Cod rental.
The rain had not started coming down yet but was due any moment. In our short time on Cape Cod we have realized this is a very windy part of our country, especially in the fall. We have experienced wind, wind and more wind. Of course when you realize that you are surrounded by water, this is not hard to grasp. Wind farm energy would excel in this area of the country, but we’ve noticed that there are few turbines and a lot of opposition and red tape in the way.
Our plan for tomorrow is to ride our bikes on the Shining Sea Bike path. We stand looking out the picture window wondering what kind of experience we would have riding into this kind of winds. It is
a well-maintained bike path from North Falmouth to Woods Hole extending a total of 10.7 miles. Cape Cod is a bike lover’s paradise. Flat and well paved for the more…mature bikers. We are told the bike paths tally up to about 100 miles.
http://www.capecodbikeguide.com/trails.asp
A mile or so from our house is a pond with two swans. It’s always a pleasure to take a ride over there and watch them float across the water. They are lovely and peaceful animals who seemingly glide on the water.
If you’ve ever read the book “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”, they recommend that you take in the Cape Cod National Seashore and we strongly second that notion. This area has been federally protected since 1961, thanks to John F. Kennedy and his foresight. It is a 40-mile strip of quiet beaches and lovely sand dunes. (well, they are quiet this time of year) You’ll find plenty of places to hike and bike to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean. Picture yourself listening to the seagulls and smelling that fresh sea air. Picture postcard stuff.
Massachusetts has done a very nice job setting aside conservation and wildlife lands on the
Cape. There are fields of pampas grass and acres of marshes where the birds and native creatures can hide and play. We suspect that “birders” would enjoy a stay here.
Cape Cod is dotted with quaint New England towns that look like Cabot Cove from the TV show “Murder She Wrote”. There are many Bed & Breakfast Inns to enjoy. Seemingly each town has its own unique character. Chatham is probably the loveliest of the bunch, but Provincetown is delightfully quirky, while Falmouth and Woods Hole hold their own charm.
The city planners on Cape Cod had a flare for the creative and humorous. One thing we love about this area are the street names: Stub Toe Road, Popple Bottom Road, Scraggy Neck Road, Trotting Park Road, Buzzard Bay Road… very colorful and descriptive names.
Plymouth, Massachusetts— the story of a Pilgrim landing.
As children, in America we are told stories about the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock in 1620. Research cannot substantiate this story, that the Pilgrim’s actually set foot on “the rock” but it feeds the imagination of children and encourages them to embrace the history of the United States. We decided we needed
Plymouth Rock
a bit of a disappointment to go in search of this famous piece of granite.
We will warn you now that you will more than likely be disappointed by the small mass of rock that remains. It is not all that big and actually has been repaired with what appears to be some form of “Quickcrete.” Sadly, in the past decades, people stole chunks of this rock for themselves and years ago they moved it and it fell apart. One piece is in the museum and the other is available in Plymouth in a structure for viewing. Somewhat high on the lame meter here.
A few feet from Plymouth Rock in the harbor is a replica of the Mayflower that you are allowed to tour. They have done a fantastic job providing historical information so that you have a feel for their experience crossing the ocean blue. Over 100 people crowded onto a boat much smaller than you would expect and headed out on a two-month voyage, in the fall when it was not exactly balmy. Religious persecution was the motivator here.
We spent an afternoon at Piimouth Plantation, which is a step back in time. They have created a Pilgrim Village
and a Wampanoags village. The Wampanoags are the original Indian Tribe who settled many of these New England areas. In the Pilgrim section they had actors who stayed in character to tell you stories of their life back in the early 1600’s. With much pleasure we found they had staff that are actually Wampanoags to tell the stories of the Wamapnoags people and their life.
Several weekends in the fall they have dinners that you can attend where they provide entertainment of singing, music and a few more stories. It was a fun evening but in the spirit of providing a real 17th century Harvest Dinner we can honestly say the food was not good. We enjoyed the evening talking with other people at our table and the entertainment was enjoyable but please do not make the decision to attend this event if you are looking for a nice meal. The food was bland and overcooked!!
New Bedford, Massachusetts - The hub of the Whaling Industry
We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Whaling Museum. The history of this industry is fascinating. It was a hard and dangerous way to make a living. We did
Great Ships
in the Museum not realize that the men were at sea for two to three years—what a voyage. They were hunting the whales and prepping the blubbers for oils. Long before the advent of gas lamps, electricity and the like, whale oil was utilized quite a bit for lamps and New Bedford was the center of the trade. Specialized ships rendered the whale blubber which was placed in barrels for transport.
The museum explored this history in rich detail and helped bring a better understanding to those of us not so enlightened.
That’s it for now…..we’ll be back later with more lore of the northeast!
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Patty Marlow
non-member comment
Beautiful land
I went to Cape Cod 19 years ago .It was much more barren than I expected. So beautiful.