Cape Cod

 April 17-April 23 2021

My oldest had asked for a vacation for his birthday. He really wanted to take a month long road trip to the state of Washington, but I knew this would be a lot more draining on us as well as costly. My casita is still not road trip ready and I am not exactly ready to be away from home for a whole month. I love to travel, but I miss my "life" at home sometimes. So no month long road trip, but how about a visit with my college room mate? I had planned to visit her last year (Pre-covid) and MA is not that far away. So it was done. We had a trip planned to Cape Cod. A Mother son road trip! I had planned a little stop along the way in Springfield MA. I have always loved Dr. Seuss so why not visit a garden dedicated to the man. The Dr. Seuss Gardens in Springfield MA was so much fun. 

Horton hears a Who.

Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Sam I am. I will not eat green eggs and ham. 

The Grinch!!!

There is also several museums, including a Dr. Seuss museum, but I think my son had enough of this intended for much younger children activity, so we skipped this. I think I had more fun then he did. He was very indulging for this stop. 

As I am attempting to hit as many of the National parks in the Park unit, I had hoped to also stop at the Springfield Armory, but it was closed due to COVID. WOW, at this point I would have thought these places would be opening up. I have a few such units in NY state that I would like to visit and I am hoping that they will be open. I am pretty sure I will not be passing by this way for some time so this may be all I will ever see of the site. Maybe I can get them to send me a passport stamp and a phamplet. 

Back on the road to the cape we go. In total the ride took us just about 51/2 hours, so when we got to my friends home in Centerville, we still had much of the day to explore. A quick bathroom break, hugs with an old friend and we were off to P-town for some adventure. First we stopped at a local beach.

A little to cold for swimming, but absolutely beautiful. My friend Jeanine and I have known each other since college freshmen year. She was my room mate. I thought she was out of her mind when I first met her, I still think she is out of her mind, but she is crazy like that and that is why I love her. We have maintained our friendship ever since. 2020 was our 30th year reunion. (I can not even believe I am typing that 30 YEARS) WOW. Due to COVID the reunion was CA. So we had planned to get together somehow this year despite the disappointment of a CA college reunion. It has been CA this year as well, however there will be a VIRTUAL reunion. I don't think it will have the same appeal. 

We headed towards the hook of the cape enjoying the views as we went. Jeanine has a beautiful YELLOW Jeep Renegade. It seems everyone on the cape has a jeep. I want a jeep. I got the chance to drive hers while visiting. 

GIANT sand dunes line the road way. Now I am not sure if these dunes are man made or nature driven. Please let me know, if you have an answer. When I was visiting I assumed that the wind had defined the several dunes along the water and roadways, but my husband informed me that these were actually made to protect the land. Maybe it is a combo, let me know if you have an answer. Thank you google, it appears that my husband was right. Many of the sand dunes seen in the cape were man made in the 1930's to protect the coastline properties against storms. 

Well, they are impressive either way. Nick and I attempted to stop along the highway to hike up these on a return visit, but the cars along the road were coming so quick and there was very little room to walk along without the possibility of getting hit, we retreated back to the jeep. 

 Provincetown or P town, is the town at the very tip of the cape. 

So...confusing much, but google reports that this was where the Mayflower landed with the pilgrims in 1620, but later in the week we visited Plymouth MA, which claims to be the original landing site of the Pilgrims. I may forever be confused, but elementary history lessons around this stuff confused me as a kid. The way I remember...wasn't Christopher Columbus with them? Was the Mayflower and the three other famous little ships there too? It just seemed like they all came together when I was a kid. Dinosaurs then BAM!!! Mayflower...pilgrims...thanksgiving. But the real facts.... The Mayflower landed on the Cape after 66 days from Plymouth England, after a few weeks of exploration of what is now Province Town, they moved to what is now Plymouth, MA an established a settlement. So glad I got that confusion cleared. 

We were all pretty hungry and settled on the Squealing Pig for dinner. 

We walked along Commercial Blvd, but many of the shops were closed, however the art work was abundant. 

P-town is a community often recognized as an area where several members of the LBGT community flourish. The arts and theater is big in the area and we viewed multiple theaters and art galleries. As well as a lot of sea food. I am an anti fish eater, so I missed out on all the best foods I am sure. 

In the distance is the Pilgrim Monument. It is the tallest structure in P-town and can be seen from many miles away. We didn't make our way up to view this structure as the cable car was closed. 

A little more "art" as we made our way to the beach.

and these incredible views as the sun began to descend into the horizon. 

Below is a better picture of the Monument. 

It had been a full fun day and it was only day 1. We were all ready to get back to Jeanine's home and find a soft bed to sleep in. Jeanine gave me her bed for the week.  How very nice of her. 

Day 2 we headed to the town of Chatham, where we got a beautiful view of the ocean and this charming lighthouse. 

Lighthouses are a Cape Cod thing. They are everywhere along this hooked Isthmuses. Yep, the cape is not a peninsula as one expect. It is more like an Island then a peninsula, but instead it is considered an Isthmuses. The definition is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water which would otherwise be separated. At one time the Cape was attached to the land mass known as Massachusetts, but in 1916 a canal was constructed making it an Island or Isthmuses. Interesting hun. We had discussed visiting the canal at one point, but the weather did get cold over the week and we decided against it. We did however cross over it a few times. So...light houses, yes these were critical here along the coast as the rough sea was indeed a death trap to many sailing vessels. When my son was researching things to do on the cape...lighthouses were one of the most popular. Chatham Light house sits back from the sea, but what an incredible view of the sea it is. 

Absolutely beautiful, and despite being a bit chilly the day was incredible for a stroll on the beach. 

As we headed down to the beach we were confronted with this intimidating sign! Yeah, I will be staying out of the water today thank you, never mind the cold, this guy could keep me close to the shore on a warm day.

I was glad I brought a warm jacket for the trip it was pretty cold here on the shore.

beautiful, but we were here to see a Light house and here she is, the Chatham light house. Like all of the lighthouses we visit on this trip she had been moved back from the coast once the cliffs began fall into the ocean.  This lighthouses was built in 1808 as a twin and it once had two wooden towers as to distinguish it from the Highland light house. In 1877 replaced with iron, one of the towers was moved to what is now called Nauset Lighthouse. The lighthouse was the second of lighthouses built on the cape as traffic along the cape flourished during the 19th century.

I am not one of those lighthouse people who travel miles to get a glimpse of these once important structures that are part of American history, but they sure are iconic and lovely in history, romance and ghost stories. I could find no stories of ghosts and this light house, but there once lived and worked a keeper with one leg who looked over this place. Perhaps there is a ghost story in the making. Today however, she simply looked like the many other lighthouses along the shores of many waters though out the county. 

This location is also home to the areas US Coast guard and the ground provided some history specific to the memory. 

After a snack we headed to this local park. 

It is such a contrast between the sea shore and the woods. 

Dinner was at a local Mexican place. It was very good. 

and I found a hidden rock. Jeanine was upset with me picking this one up, accusing me of taking something that did not belong to me. I explained the rocks that are hidden in my local area and all over the place to reassure her I also placed some of my own to keep the rocks going. 

Day 3. I got to drive and I was also in charge of where we would be going. I wanted to visit the Cape Cod National seashore to add to my collection of National Park visits. We were in luck as it was free to visit at this time of year, and we had already stopped at the visitor center on day 1 to get a passport stamp and some souvenirs. 

The Cape Cod National seashore is incredible large and stretches though out the area from the beginning of the Cape elbow to the tail. We were told to simply take any road to the right along route 6 and we would be entering the National park unit. Our first stop was Nauset Beach Light House. (The other half of the twin), but 1st a trip to the beach. Another beautiful beach stop. It looks like it would be a nice place to swim and no threats of sharks, although I am sure this could happen here too. 

This seems to be what I think of when I think about light houses with the red stripe of color. 

Information about moving the light houses away from the coast. Also a little information about Three Sisters Lighthouses, which we also visited.

Walking on the beach. 

It was interesting the different beach textures each beach we walked on. The first beach we had visited was rough sand with several shells, the second beach was gravel like sand with little to no shells and very few rocks. This beach was fine sand with millions of tiny pebbles and no shells in sight. I wonder why such changes among coasts that are all along the same Atlantic shore line so close to each other. 

The landscape between the beach and the road was interesting as well. 

These trees and brush look as if they had been burned out. 

Up next we visited the Three Sisters light house. Once these little cute lighthouse triples were along the coast with the others. Of all the light houses we viewed these were the farthest from the water. 

My son found another rock while we were there. 

Our next stop was at Marconi Beach, which Jeanine identified as the best beach to visit during the summer for the waves and beach sands. 

We had a snack at a picnic table located between the dunes and walked to the overlook of the beach area. 

Nicks picture...

It was a very popular place while we were there and apparently gets even more popular during the summer months. Below is a dune with wild grasses. Pretty cool. We were told that often seals bask in the sun along these shore lines, but when I asked another park ranger where we could see them, we were told that it was still a little to cold for them and it was unlikely they would be on the beach. However, when we visited by the golf course we overheard that at hole 5 you could see some whales. (We were not allowed on the golf course and never saw any whales.)

Up next we visited the town of Truro and home of the capes very first light house Highland Light house. Due to COVID, the house and tours were closed, but the golf course which is located within the grounds was quite busy. 

We also came to see the light house was under construction. Below is a picture of a picture of what the lighthouse would look like free of scaffolding.

The visitor center her was also closed. 

A nice walk to the cliff nearby where the lighthouse once stood. 

There's the ocean.

Next we headed to another visitors center, also closed, but I was able to get a picture of the Cape Cod National Seashore sign. 

A large overlook of the dunes vast with trees and growth that was once barren after the colonist used of the resources to establish homes and farms. 

From this view you can see the Pilgrim Monument in P-town (Can you see it?)

We made our way towards the beach. The area is much more natural then many other beach areas. Further down you can see the jeeps and others parked on the beach sand. To get there one much get a permit from the National Park service and a vehicle that can drive over the sand as well as have a tire pressure of 11. We were all interested in how you would refill your tires after leaving the beach. We were also seeking yet another light house. I inquired with the Park Ranger on finding the next light house and we were told it was not accessible by car and well over several miles out and back. We decided to skip it, after all we had been walking all day. Maybe next time. 

Soon we were back in P-town and ready for a late lunch. Even the Pilgrims know to cover their face with a mask. I have to say, MA has been the most strict with the COVID rules then any other place I have visited during the pandemic. They have a finable mask wearing in all public places including outside. I finally stopped wearing one to my car as the week went on. The fine is $300 so I did not fool around elsewhere. 

P-town was much busier today and finding parking was difficult. I have only been to P-town one other time in 2002 summer and we tried to stop for a visit, but finding parking so difficult we turned around. BE AWARE that this may be the case for most summer visitors to the area. I understand that there are ferries from both Boston and Plymouth that will take you to P-town with a cost of around $90 + round trip. Just something to think about if you decide to visit. Although finding parking was difficult we did find another hidden rock and a Cannabis dispensary. NY state has just became legal for Marijuana, but  MA has been since 2016. Curiosity got us in the door and some CBD as well as some samples were obtained. It was an interesting experience. I'll leave it at that. 

Somewhere way out there is one of the last two Light houses we had hoped to see. Long point lighthouse is only reached by small boat or ferry. Again, maybe next time. 

And the day became evening as we headed back the 50 or some minutes to Centerville, where we had frozen pizza's made by my son and watched netflix.

Day 4 promised to be the last nice day we would have in the area, in fact my home town had a snow storm this week. WOW! I was glad we took advantage of the last nice day we would have in the area to visit the town of Plymouth. Originally I had planned on a visit to the home of the 1st rock the pilgrims had stepped on as a stop on our way home, but since it was going to be a warm day and Jeanine had never been we headed to Plymouth with plans of making this historical stop a check on the old bucket list. 

Well there it is! So to be fair, I had read that it was not all that impressive, and it honestly wasn't. This prepared me for any disappointment, but I was not prepared for all of the history the area held and opportunity to learn. The rock, although not so impressive, the town is. In fact the "rock" is not actually the rock stepped upon by the Pilgrims in 1620. They may have not stepped on any rocks at all. The Pilgrims didn't even name Plymouth. The land masses that are now called North and South America where once identified as the America's after Amerigo Vespucci who had made at least 3 voyages to the continents between 1497 and 1512. Plymouth had been named such by Captain John Smith as New Plymouth sometime in 1614. It is likely the Pilgrims would have moved on if they had not been so sick that first year. Here we go again with that mind blown elementary history lesson. So John Smith I known from Pocohontos, but I guess I assumed he was with the Pilgrims, and here we are again, just where did Christopher Columbus fit in all of this. He didn't even come to North America did he, and why didn't we celebrate this Amerigo guy? Mind continues to be BLOWN.

Some more information is that the Pilgrims although identified as British citizens had been living in Holland to escape the Church of England. AND, there had been two ships scheduled to sail to the America's. The Mayflower and the Speedwell. Although both left from England only the Mayflower was sea worthy and The Speedwell's leaks kept the ships docked for several weeks before it was decided to leave the lesser or in my case unknown ship the Speedwell. 

Originally, the Pilgrims had intended to make their way to the Hudson River and settle in the now NY city area but due to winter storms they found themselves in the Cape Cod bay. The Jamestown and Virginia township had already been established at the time of the journey. ANOTHER MIND BLOWING fact!!!! Jamestown establishment had been settled in 1607 nearly 15 years prior to the Pilgrims. So where did the idea of Thanksgiving come from, well... these early settlers actually did not have any interactions with the natives until much later in their development as a colony. Upon first interactions a treaty was established with the Pokanoket Wampanoag leader and a relationship was formed. The fall of 1621 marked the Pilgrims first harvest established with the help of the natives and a three day celebration has held. 

Near the rock, is a replica of the Mayflower, named Mayflower II. You can pay $15- to tour the vessel and explore the hands on exhibits around the attraction, but we choose to skip this and instead stroll the free historical streets. She is pretty though. Plus I have toured the replica of the Nina and Pinta. Or maybe one was the Santa Maria. Either way, the Mayflower appeared to be much larger then the for mentioned ships. 

There were colored shells located though out town painted for local business's and this one was perfect for a picture. 

As well as painted shells we found several painted lobsters. 

We walked along the tourist area filled with restaurants, gift stores and attractions, before stopping at the visitor center for some information on the area. Then we were on a mission to learn more about the original colonists who had arrived here some 400 years ago. 2020 was the historic 400th year anniversary. (Apparently much was planned for the event which had to be CA due to the COVID outbreak). 

Since the Pilgrims were fleeing England for religious freedom while still on the ship they signed the Mayflower Compact creating the first documentation towards their colonization. 

Although we celebrate Thanksgiving, many native Americans view the colonization of their home as a massacre. The settlers brought disease to the Native people and many died as a result, they lost their homes, resources, cultural values and many became dependent on the colonizers. 

Below is a monument of the 104 Mayflower pilgrims that died the first year. Many were buried on Cole Hill where the colony was first established on Leyden Street. 

We had lunch at the Speedwell Tavern in Plymouth. (I had not taken awareness of the name at the time) I had buffalo chicken eggrolls. Jeanine had the pulled pork. 

Funny, we had wine to drink that evening. (Power of suggestion?)

After lunch we walked along the town brook and looked for spawning Herring. These fish swim upstream to mate and lay their eggs. We did see some, it's difficult to see in these pictures. 

It was a very pretty walk.

A few statues.

It was quite the day. I am super glad I didn't try and do this visit on my way home, we spent the entire day here and we didn't even do everything. A must do for history buffs. There is also an app you can upload to your phone for a guided history lesson along the way. We decided not to do so, but I am sure it would be rewarding. 

Day 5 was COLD and wet. We stayed in for most of the day, did a little shopping around the area and ate some cupcakes from Cupcake Charlies. 

It was yummy! I found some rocks at Cupcake Charlies, but they did not appear to be taken. 

It was nice to have a day to relax and just catch up with my friend. We watch the show The Good Place. 

Day 6: Another cold one. In the morning we put together Jeanine's island that had been sitting in a box since August of last year. Reported 2 hours time with one person. Well we all worked on it and it took longer then that. The afternoon was spent watching m ore of The Good Place before we headed to the mall for dinner where we had steak sandwiches which were so good and loaded french fries. We then headed to the beach in an attempt to catch the sunset. 

It was a little cold, but we stayed out long enough to catch the sun as it began to set. We realized that an actual sunset would be difficult to see over the houses and headed home for another relaxing evening. 

I had a wonderful time on the Cape with my dear friend. Until next time. TTFN!!!