Sandwich & Rolls

Before leaving for Andover, we drove up to the town of Sandwich, the oldest town on the Cape, settled in 1637. We found our way to the tiny marina and the restaurant Aqua Grille for some lunch. Being our last day we decided to share the New England clam chowder (quite good) and each get a lobster roll (very good). The rolls were served with bags of Cape Cod chips which are similar in style to the NW's Tim's. A delicious last lunch.

We left the restaurant and drove to the Sandwich Boardwalk. It's a very pretty walk through Mill Creek wetlands out to Town Neck Beach. People can help fund the boardwalk by purchasing a board which is engraved to their specifications.

The beach itself is beautiful and since it was such a nice day we could see all the way to the northern tip of the Cape, out to Provincetown. The wetlands have bird houses and nesting platforms scattered throughout for the many birds that are becoming endangered. And a few lucky home-owners are right on the edge of the marsh, with unobstructed views to the dunes.

As we left the Cape we couldn't help but notice how much nicer this drive over the bridge was compared to the one we had 5 days earlier.

Cape Cod photos here

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Nantucket...a Town, a County, an Island

We made the decision to spend a day on Nantucket vs Martha's Vineyard for a few reasons. Martha's Vineyard is quite large and many people mentioned that you need a car and a few days to explore. Nantucket has some very nice beaches which I was hoping to get to. And also the quick ferry was having a $50 round trip special fare promotion.

Steamship Authority had inside and outside seating, free wi-fi, cushy seats, and in about an hour we arrived at the island, the clouds were lifting to reveal a gorgeous day! We walked around for a bit, deciding where to eat lunch, and finally settled on The Tavern which had outdoor seating. The food was meh but it felt lovely to sit out in the sun.

After lunch we did a bit more exploring, there are lots of cute boutiques as well as some crazy expensive antique shops! The town is only a few blocks square and it's easy to cover it all in an afternoon. I loved the old buildings, reminders from the shipping and whaling industry, and there is even a combination soda shop/drug store.

Nantucket is known for these expensive handwoven baskets, the antique one's have prices up in the thousands of dollars!

With the day warming up we decided to head out to the closest of the beaches, Jetty's beach, a five minute ride from town. We grabbed a few cold beers from the liquor store and soon we were soaking up some vitamin D on the island's pretty shore. A few other people had the same idea. Finally! Some beach time!

Some guys threw a Frisbee, a pregnant woman went swimming and a local gentleman cast his line in the hopes of a bite. We even saw a few endangered plovers hanging around us. Everyone was happy for the sun!

With the afternoon wasting away, we walked back to town, admiring the gorgeous houses, in time for a glass of wine before our ferry arrived to take us back to the mainland. With most of the day trippers leaving, the town was much quieter than it had been in the afternoon.

I think we made the right decision by going to Nantucket, it's a charming island with beautiful beaches and very relaxing to do in a day. And we were back in Hyannis Port in time for dinner.

Nantucket photos here!

Hyannis Port

Before we left P-Town, we had to make a stop at the Portuguese Bakery, which is written up on every Cape Cod list of places to eat. They are known for their malasada's, huge pieces of fried dough covered in sugar. Yum. We also tried the breakfast sandwich with linguicia, a fried egg and cheese on a Portuguese bun. Did not suck.

Appropriately fueled, we joined two others on one of Art's Dune Tours. We drove out on the highway, and entered the sand dunes via the fire road. The driver was really passionate about the area and had a lot of information to share about the different plants, flowers and animal tracks we saw. It was a really interesting and pretty 1-hour drive in an area we wouldn't have been able to see on our own. There is one walking path that leads from the highway, across the dunes and to the seashore that I would love to do next time. Other than that, there are no vehicles allowed (except the tour) so it is a very pristine area.

There are also a handful of shacks scattered throughout the dunes and we learned that you can rent them for a week at a time. There is no electricity, running water or bathrooms so it is a very off the grid experience. I'd highly recommend taking this tour if you find yourself in P-Town.

Leaving Provincetown we passed all these cute little cottages along the beachfront. Some were quite posh, others a bit run down, but all were tiny and cute- I'd love to see the inside of one!

We drove the scenic 6A down through Rock Harbor to Chatham, before stopping for lunch at Chatham Fish Market for, you guessed it! A lobster roll! Well Dayne had a roll and I asked for a small basked of fried clams, what came out was a huge basked that the two of us could barely make a dent in! Note that CFM's fried food is all gluten free for those of you who shun the flour.

The towns in Cape Cod are adorable, some so small that if you blink you will miss them. Shingled houses, American flags, mini golf, ice cream shops, and Main Streets all look plucked straight out of 1950. Route 6A is definitely the way to go, highway 6 drives you straight through the middle which looks like SoDo.

Hyannis Port is quite a bit larger in size than the towns we had just driven through. And in fact, it is just a subdivision of Hyannis which seems like a city comparatively. Our hotel, the Anchor In, was right on the water, giving us only views of the harbor, the marina, and the boats, coming and going. It was also right near the ferry docks which made taking the ferry to Nantucket super easy.

On Main Street you'll find an assortment of cute shops and restaurants, one place in particular we had great cocktails and dinner at, was The Naked Oyster. Of course lobster was on the menu!

Hyannis Port is known for their Kennedy's. We didn't do it but the town has a self-guided walk you can take to see some of the sites and places they frequented.  Using Google street view to identify it from a photo in a brochure, we did see the Kennedy compound from the ferry. We also went to the JFK Museum which houses a collection of family photos as well as two videos about the family. 

Strangely, we saw the name of one of Dayne's classmates on the family tree that is displayed. During the reunion we told him about it only to find out he had no idea he was listed in the museum as he had just married into the family 3 years ago or so.

Having grown up hearing about the Kennedy's all playing lawn football at the compound and summering in Hyannis Port, it was fun to see the places and be in the small town for a couple of days.

Cape Cod photos are here

P-Town

We left Boston, in not so nice weather, and headed south towards Cape Cod, making a quick stop in Plymouth. Striking out on any of the nicer, recommended restaurants for lunch due to it being late in the afternoon, we had some pub grub and shandy's on tap at the wacky T Bones Roadhouse. Saved from starvation, we braved the crazy wind, rain and cold and toured the Mayflower II. It's pretty damn interesting; the tiny ship, a replica of the Mayflower, was built in England and crossed the Atlantic in 1957.

The staff on board are dressed in period garb and answer your questions as if they are actual passengers and crew. A little hokey, yes, but still very informational. Those quarters were small!! Those beds were small (the few beds there were!). The whole ship was damn small for 102 people.

And of course you can't go to Plymouth without seeing the rock. A plain grey boulder with 1620 engraved on it. It's housed under a grand cement canopy which seems all together crazy, but I didn't get a photo of that cuz it was damn cold and stormy and my feet were soaked!

From the looks on the drive in and out of Plymouth it seems like a really quaint place with old houses and shops, but that storm had us back in our car and back on the road to Cape Cod. As we crossed the Sagamore Bridge onto the cape, here was our view, ugh.

We stuck to Route 6, the fast but boring highway, all the way to Provincetown, the northern most point. We found the Brass Key Guesthouse easily and were so happy that we had chosen it for our stay! The owners purchased surrounding houses over time, creating a bit of a compound, with a lovely patio, pool and hot tub in the center. Each "house" has its own feel, we were in the Captain's House which was where the evening wine and cheese hour was hosted and also had a roof top deck with lovely views.

Wine and cheese hour over, we went out to explore the town and being as it was the opposite of flip flop weather, I went in search of a new pair of more suitable shoes. Luckily, Commercial Street is full of cute boutiques and I was wearing new shoes in no time. We made our way down to the very old and divey, Govern Bradford for a pre dinner drink (not great but we've had worse) and then on to dinner at Jimmy's Hideaway. This was such a great spot! The owners, Jimmy and Raife, were so fun, we moved to the bar after dinner and had a blast. And if Jimmy isn't the spitting image of George Clooney...

We ran into them twice the next morning and they shouted a friendly "hi!", too bad that when we tried to have after dinner drinks again there that night they were closed. Don't try to go on Tuesdays!

In the morning grey, drizzly skies greeted us again so we took a little tour around the lower/outer cape as the area is called. Most people don't realize that before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they landed at Provincetown. There is a 252 foot memorial tower in their honor and Dayne decided to climb the 116 steps to the top, I decided to map out where we were having lunch :)

Our afternoon consisted of the BEST lobster rolls at The Friendly Fisherman in Eastham (really, we ate lobster rolls everywhere and this was the best!), a drive along the beach to the famed and much photographed Nauset Light (they leave off the word "house" those wacky Cape Codders!) and finding the strange and tiny Three Sisters, lighthouses that have been moved away from the coast and into a park.

We also visited the Marconi Station site and took a nice walk on the White Cedar Swamp Trail. Our stop in Wellfleet for afternoon oysters was ill timed as most places weren't open for the season yet, so after a nice drink at Winslow's Tavern we visited the oldest lighthouse on the Cape, Cape Cod Light, before returning to our hotel for wine and cheese hour and a soak in the hot tub.

Another fantastic recommendation from our hotel concierge and other guests led us to Victor's for a wonderful dinner.  And no visit to P-Town is complete without a visit to the Crown and Anchor. Being right before the "season" it was quiet but we still met a cast of characters to entertain us.

Boston/Cape Cod photos