One thing about our holidays is that we always have a plan. Another thing is that things don’t always go as planned! After leaving Freeport today the plan was to head south towards Cape Cod with a stop along the way in Salem Massachusetts. You will probably know that Salem was the location of the infamous witch trials between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil’s magic—and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. There are several landmark locations in the town related to the trials and various museums devoted to the history of that period. We had not visited Salem on our previous visit to the area ( mainly Boston) in 2008 so this time around we though it would make an interesting stop. We planned to visit the Salem Witch Museum and stroll around to see the sights. Good Plan…
However, we had not taken into account that we’d be visiting the witchiest, spookiest city in the country on the last public holiday weekend before Halloween… 🙄 tickets to the Salem Witch Museum can only be purchased online on the same day of your visit. They’re normally readily available.. As we left our hotel in Freeport I logged in to buy tickets just after 9am…. and discovered they were all sold out for the day!. So were all the tickets to the “Witch House”, the other primary museum in town. I started to wonder… As we approached the center of town we noticed the traffic getting thick and that local businesses had put up “Park here today – only $20” signs in their carparks…. hmmmm.
The traffic closed to a crawl as we reached the center of town, and then realised there was a big holiday, halloween fair set up in the town common…so we agreed that if the parking lot I’d selected was full we’d give up and move on. As we drove through I snapped a couple of pictures – one of them a statue of the Puritan founder of Salem, Roger Conant and sure enough it looked like every carpark in town was full…. so i guess we will have to save salem for another time!
So… we drove on passing by Boston and on down to the next stop on our plan, Plymouth. It was a gorgeous sunny day today but a bit of a chilly wind when we parked down by the shore. However there were still plenty of people walking along the front to see the famour Plymouth Rock. The rock is famous as the place that the Pilgrims from the Mayflower first set foot on the shore here in 1620. However the history of the rock is very dubious, nowadays it’s accepted more as a “symbol” of the Pilgrim’s arrival. There is a full size replica of the Mayflower in the bay, it’s a bit of a surprise to see how small it is.
WE stopped for lunch at a little cafe by the water. Lovely spot.
After lunch we set off for Cape Cod and our hotel in Hyannis. The Cape is a long peninsula that is shaped like a bent arm. It’s a very popular holiday destination in the summer and is also famous for it’s connection with John F Kennedy and his family. They owned a “compound” here of three houses and used it as a relaxing summertime retreat.
The shoreline in the lower section of the cape has many pretty bays and marinas. We are staying very close to the main port in Hyannis but don’t have a view from our room. This view below of the bay nearby was taken from the park and beach where there is a large John F Kennedy Memorial that was erected by the town. They’re very proud of their Kennedy connection in Hyannis.
For dinner we ate at Spanky’s Clam Shack, one of several restaurants down near the port. Neil was very pleased that they were showing the Monday Night Football game on the TV, particularly as it was the Dallas Cowboys vs the Los Angeles Rams, and the Cowboys were winning! I was very happy with my delicous meal of Cod 🙂 We continue to have some fabulous seafood options here as well.
We have two full days on Cape Cod. On our first full day we decided to drive right up to the tip of the cape and visit the Cape Cod National Seashore along the way. The park comprises six swimming beaches, picturesque lighthouses, and plenty of historic sights stretched out along 40 miles of the Atlantic, and was established, naturally, by JFK in 1961.
Our first stop was the Salt Pond Visitor center which had some interesting displays about the formation of the cape during the last ice age.
We continued to drive north and stopped in to see Nauset Lighthouse, one of 18 lighthouses on Cape Cod. The seashore along the eastern facing top section of the cape is eroding rapidly so some lighthouses have had to be moved to avoid tumbling into the ocean. Nauset light is a restored lighthouse which was built in 1923 using the 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. It’s a pretty red and white one, I like the ones that have a bit of colour about them.
Nauset is a swimming beach but access to the sand is down a winding path that avoids the area of the dune that is currently at risk of falling down. We could see where they had blocked access to sections of the path and carpark at risk.
A little further up the road we stopped in to see another historic site, the Marconi Light Station. There is nothing left of the towers now, just a plaque marking the spot where the site of the first transatlantic wireless communication between the United States and Europe, on January 18, 1903
Pressing on we stopped off at the next lighthouse, the Highland Light, the oldest and tallest on the Cape. The current tower was built in 1857, replacing two earlier towers that had been built in 1797 and 1831. It’s also rather peculiarly sited in the middle of a golf course!
From here we drove up to the tip of the cape, Provincetown. At this end of the cape there are huge dunes which even blow over the highway on occasions. There is another National Park Visitor center with a 360 degree viewing deck. From the deck we could see the Pilgrim Monument in the center of town. The monument commemorates the fact the Pilgrims actually stopped here first before heading on to Plymouth to establish their colony. The monument is normally open to visitors to climb to the top but it was closed today unfortunately.
We didn’t stop in the center of Provincetown, but turned around and headed back down the bay. We drove a different road that takes you past miles and miles of beachside cottages and condos. These are all on the more sheltered “bay” side of the cape.
WE stopped breifly at Chatham to buy a sandwich and chips..which we ate parked in the carpark of the little league ballpark 🙂 Then drove on back to Hyannis. For dinner tonight we ate at The Black Cat Crab Shack down the road near the marina. It was outdoor dining but not cold because they had outdoor heaters burning. pretty casual with plastic cups and cutlery but the clam chowder was amazing! And the Shrimp scampi delicious.
Tomorrow we plan to take the ferry out to visit Nantucket island, should be fun!