⛴Trip to Cape Cod

September 22, 2012

My daughter and I rode from Newington, Connecticut to Cape Cod, Mass.

We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and ordered 8 munchkins.

We rode across the Sagamore Bridge, and facing us was the Rotary sign that said, “Welcome to Cape Cod.”

We visited the white and red Bass River Lighthouse sitting among the Townhouse in West Dennis. 

Bass River Lighthouse

We visited the Light House Inn Lighthouse that now sits on top of the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis.

Behind the Inn was a rock wall that made a circle in the Bass River. We walked along the wall stopping to take several pictures. It was a beautiful place for a wedding. 

Light House Inn Lighthouse

Rock Wall 

We ate lunch at Kreme and Kone's a family-owned clam shack in West Dennis, where we were served the best seafood on Cape Cod

We split a plate of grilled Halibut on a bed of rice with coleslaw and a vanilla ice cream cone for dessert. 

We stopped at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham where we used the restrooms and toured the museum.

The museum had artifacts, photos, and art from the Mashpee-Wampanoag and Aquinnah tribes.

The Visitor Center also had pictures and articles showing the natural and cultural forces that created Cape Cod's beaches. 

I bought a couple of postcards, Nauset Lighthouse and Three Sisters. 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

We also stopped in Eastham to take pictures of the Georgian, Late Victorian-style Eastham Windmill.  

It is the oldest windmill on Cape Cod. It was constructed in 1680 by Thomas Paine in Plymouth. 

We visited the 18 century Judith Baker Windmill, in South Yarmouth. The windmill faces west to Bass River, and nearby is a small boardwalk and beach. 

Judith Baker Windmill

In the town of Orleans, we walked along Nauset Beach, where we saw the Three Sister Lighthouses, & Nauset Lighthouse.

Three Sisters Lighthouses 

Nauset Beach 

Nauset Lighthouse

We saw the historic markers: Three Sisters lit the Way; The Nauset Lights, Pushed back by the sea; & The Long, Black Cable. 

The sun was going down behind the large sand dunes, when we reached Provincetown, Ma. My cell phone was about dead, so I did not take many pictures in Provincetown.

We stopped at Far Land Provisions located at 150 Bradford Street Provincetown, Ma 02657.

We saw the Pilgrim monument, founded in 1892, that overlooks the town. It was said that the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod. 

 Pilgrim Monument

We walked several blocks taking in the sights. We saw people sitting on the benches in front of Town Hall watching the world go by. 

We saw drag queens along the streets inviting us into the drag shows, one had a southern accent. I ask the drag queen where he was from, and he said Georgia. Imagine a southern in Provincetown.

We walked along MacMillan Wharf and back through Commercial Street, where we saw shops, galleries, and a Portuguese bakery. 

We spent the night at South Wellfleet Motel. 

September 23, 2012:

We ate a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs in the Motel’s restaurant.

We walked barefoot along the sandy beaches of Chatham Harbor.

We saw the black and white Chatham Lighthouse.  

Chatham Lighthouse

Chatham Beach 

We saw a white two-story siding house with three chimneys with a red roof sitting next to the lighthouse. It was enclosed inside a wire fence. In front of the fence was the historical marker about the History of Chatham Light.  We also saw the historic marker of The Mayflower Story and The Rescue of the Pendleton. 

Nearby was the Chatham Beach-Tennis Clubhouse. 

We rode past the White building of the First Congregational Church United Church of Christ established in 1720.

The two-decker steeple had a clock face on three sides, of the church.

In Chatham on Seaview, we saw an antique building and in the downtown area, we saw a Corner Toy Store. 

At 3 Rivers Road Orleans, we visited the Jonathan Young Windmill, where we saw the interior workings of a windmill. The wind shaft in the interior is attached to the brake wheel/bull wheel (wooden gears).

Jonathan Young Windmill

We walked along the beaches of Marconi, located six miles north of Salt Pond Visitor Center. 

The waves were high and we saw men wearing rubber suits and surfing. It was too cold for swimming but not for the dogs, we saw happily, jumping into the splashing waves. 

The next morning we bought tickets to take the ferry to Vineyard Haven.

We parked the car and rode the bus to the ferry at Oaks Bluff.  

On the bus we meet a couple, they ask where we were from, and they said that they had family living in Florence on Robins Lane.

ferryboat 

Everyone got off the bus and loaded onto the ferry.

The ferry took us to Martha’s Vineyard. 

In Martha’s Vineyard, we walked to Ocean Park, where we saw a flock of geese.

In the park, we saw a bandstand, some markers, and a statue. September is the offseason and it was getting late so most of the stores were closing or closed. 

We stopped in The Good Ship Lollipop Store, where I bought some animal cookies and a diet Pepsi. 

The store owner's wife named the store The Good Ship Lollipop.  

We saw many store signs as we walked through the town, we saw Ben & Bills Chocolate, Ice Cream, and Candies, Skinn & Fat sandwiches, Bite on the Go, Pirate Jacks burgers, Sharkey’s Cantina, Oldies Memorial Fountain, Laughing bear, It’s me, Murdock fudge, Boat skipper. 

Vineyard and Vines 

We did not want to miss our ride back to the main island so we hurriedly walked back to the ferry station, but the last ferry left at 6:30pm.

We were told to take bus 13 to Vineyard Haven, it had the only ferry going back to the mainland.  

We hurriedly walked toward the first bus 13 but that bus was going in the wrong direction. We had to wait for the next bus 13, which would take us to Oak Bluffs where we could catch the next ferry.

The couple we met earlier was on bus 13.

On the ferry ride, we meet two women that lived in Johnston, RI.

Riding the ferry 

Riding the ferry 

Riding the Ferry 

One of the women said that she worked in the Art and Drama Department at the local college in Johnston and her husband owned a business.

The other woman said her husband was an angler. 

The two women were on vacation together and my daughter talked their heads off. 

We rode the bus to the parking area where everyone got off and went to their cars. 

We rode to Val’s house, he was watching the Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots lost by one point 30 to 31. We spent the night in Johnston.