|
|
|
|||||||
|
Cape Cod Cape Cod is best known for its beaches and historic towns. Here are favorite attractions: Sandwich Scenic Route 6A begins in Sandwich,
the Cape’s first town. Established in 1638 by settlers from the
Plymouth colony, Cape Cod’s oldest town remains much as it was,
scarcely untouched by the creeping development prevalent across much of
the Cape. Swans and ducks glide around Shawme Pond, which sparkles in
the village center beside the Thornton W. Burgess Museum and, beyond,
one of Cape Cod’s oldest houses. Dozens more houses, part of a
National Register historic district, catch the eye. So do the Town Hall,
the library, the Christopher Wren-inspired spire of the First Church of
Christ, three museums, gardens and a working gristmill. Sandwich Glass Museum,
129 Main St., Sandwich. The transformation of Cape Cod’s
oldest town from small farming community into one of the world’s
leading manufacturers of glass objects is traced chronologically in this
colorful museum operated by the Sandwich Historical Society. The Boston
& Sandwich Glass Co. thrived here starting in 1825, its more than
500 employees refining the art of pressing glass in molds and creating
exquisite blown pieces. Competition and lower prices took their toll,
however, and a prolonged strike closed the factory permanently in 1888.
More than 5,000 pieces of Sandwich glass are on permanent display in
fourteen galleries, with occasional video areas for explanation. The
pieces, from 800 cup plates to rare banquet lanterns and iridescent
Trevaise art glass, are of particular interest to collectors. The
Historical Society adds some idiosyncratic finds, including an old
rocking cradle on wheels and a Quaker marriage certificate above a
display of glass remnants. The remarkable map-like rendition of Cape
Cod, made of Sandwich glass fragments, fascinates on the way out from
the gift shop. 508) 888-0251. www.sandwichglassmuseum.org. Open daily 9:30 to 5, April-December; Wednesday-Sunday 9:30 to 4, February and March. Closed in January. Adults, $3.75. The incredible display of rhododendrons are the primary attraction for most at the former estate of Charles O. Dexter, but there’s much more at this museum of Americana founded by the Lilly pharmaceutical family. Dexter’s renowned rhodies – more than 125 varieties – are at their best in late May and early June. We were surprised to find some late-bloomers still a brilliant red in mid-October. The remains of the day lily, heather, herb and hosta gardens and the holly dell appealed around the 76 tranquil acres as well. Also impressive were the Lilly collections of firearms and hand-painted miniature soldiers, a working 1912 carousel (well visited by school groups) and wonderful folk art exhibits at the Art Museum. The collections of duck decoys and shore birds, the scrimshaw and Nantucket lightship baskets, the children’s chocolate mug collection are stunning. So is the American flag fashioned from plastic objects found on local beaches. Some people spend hours ogling the 37 shiny antique and classic cars in the Shaker Round Barn, a perfect display space with two circular floors showing Gary Cooper’s 1930 Duesenberg and William Howard Taft’s White Steamer, the first official White House auto. A free shuttle bus makes stops every twenty minutes around the far-flung property. The Carousel Café offers light breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks. The Old Barn Garden Shop sells plants and garden supplies, and there are all kinds of neat things in the main gift shop by the parking area. (508) 888-3300. www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org. Open daily 9 to 6 (Wednesday to 8), May-October; Wednesday-Sunday 10 to 4, rest of year. Adults, $12.
The works and spirit of the renowned
children’s author and naturalist, the best-known Sandwich native in
this century, are preserved in this restored 1776 Cape Cod house on the
shore of Shawme Pond. His animal characters are in evidence in the
pint-size museum with nature exhibits on one side of the house and a
shop on the other. A couple of herb gardens are out back. Two miles east off Route 6A in East
Sandwich is the Green Briar Nature Center and Jam Kitchen, operated
by the Thornton W. Burgess Society. It features the 57-acre Briar Patch
conservation area, nature trails and a fascinating, turn-of-the-century
jam kitchen producing and selling jams, chutneys and relishes in the
style of a century ago. (508) 888-6870. www.thorntonburgess.org. Open Monday-Saturday 10 to 4, Sunday 1 to 4, April-October. Winter hours vary. Donation.
Thornton W. Burgess Museum, 4 Water St., Sandwich. The works and spirit of the renowned children’s author and naturalist, the best-known Sandwich native in this century, are preserved in this restored 1776 Cape Cod house beside Shawme Pond. His animal characters are in evidence in the pint-size museum with nature exhibits on one side of the house and a shop on the other. A couple of herb gardens are out back. Two miles east off Route 6A in East Sandwich are the Green Briar Nature Center and Jam Kitchen, operated by the Thornton W. Burgess Society and featuring the 57-acre Briar Patch conservation area, nature trails, an award-winning wildflower garden and a fascinating, 100-year-old jam kitchen producing and selling jams, chutneys and relishes in the style of a century ago. (508) 888-6870. www.thorntonburgess.org. Open
Monday-Saturday 10 to 4, Sunday 1 to 4, April-October; weekends in
December; adults, $2. Green Briar open same hours, April-December, also
Tuesday-Saturday 10 to 4 January-March. Donation. Cape Cod National
Seashore, The Salt Pond Visitor Center provides
a good orientation for the Cape’s most expansive national treasure.
The seashore was established in 1961 under the administration of
President John F. Kennedy, for whom Cape Cod was his summer home. The
44,000-acre preserve protects 40 miles of ocean beaches, dunes, marshes,
pine barrens, forests, wildlife and historic structures from Chatham to
the tip of the Cape at Provincetown. Self-guiding nature trails, as well
as biking and horseback riding trails, wind through the diverse
landscapes. Park rangers offer guided walks and evening lectures.
Movies, exhibits and dioramas at the visitor center shed insights on the
area. Another orientation point is the Province Lands Visitor Center in
Provincetown. (508)
255-3421. Open daily, 9 to 4:30, extended hour in summer, Free. Beach
parking fee in summer, $7. ProvincetownCape Cod’s last town is also in a
sense its first town – the Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed here in
1620 and stayed five weeks before sailing across Cape Cod Bay to find
shelter and fresh water at Plymouth. The town eventually was settled in
the mid-1700s by Portuguese fishermen and their families. In the 20th
century, artists were drawn by the “Cape light” that is strongest in
Provincetown. They found it “a place hard to get to and hard to get
out of,” as Eugene O’Neill famously described it. Free-living and
free-thinking, they cast a spell over Provincetown that pulsates to this
day. The population (3,400) increases ten-fold in summer. The populated
part of P-town, as it’s called, three miles long and generally two
blocks wide, curves cheek-by-jowl around the harbor facing sheltered
Cape Cod Bay. On the north side are the towering dunes and beaches of
the Cape Cod National Seashore and the open Atlantic. From the busy wharves come and go
commercial fishing boats, plus excursion boats and an express catamaran
to and from Boston. The whale-watching phenomenon on the East Coast
originated here in 1975, taking advantage of the fertile feeding grounds
of the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary offshore. At least four excursion lines
offer whale-watch trips of three to four hours, leaving from MacMillan
Wharf three times a day in season. The tallest granite structure in the
country offers a panoramic view of Cape Cod from its 252-foot-high
observation deck. Its top is reached by walking up an inclined ramp and
stairs as in an Italian tower. The monument was built in 1910 to honor
the first landing of the Mayflower. At its base is a museum with a
collection of artifacts tracing the history of the Outer Cape. Displays
include dioramas, ship models, scrimshaw, a map of the Mayflower’s
route, whaling equipment, items salvaged from nearby shipwrecks and even
preserved polar bears, part of an unusual North Pole collection in honor
of native son Donald MacMillan, who explored the Arctic with Commodore
Robert Peary. The Pilgrim Room contains Mayflower memorabilia as well as
Colonial and Victorian china, silver and pewter. (508) 487-1310.
www.pilgrim-monument,org. Open daily, 9 to 7 in summer, 9 to 5 in spring
and fall. Closed December-March. Adults $6, children $3.
Located in the former Methodist
church built in 1860, this was established in 1976 by the town to depict
the history of Provincetown. It holds one of the world’s largest
indoor models of a Grand Banks fishing schooner, the 66-foot-long Rose
Dorothea. Other attractions range from one of the oldest library
collections in the country and paintings by local artists to antique
fire equipment and exhibits of marine gear, fishing equipment and
harpoons. (508) 487-7098. Open daily, 10 to
5:30, Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Adults $4.
The nation’s oldest continuous arts
colony dates to 1899, when Charles Hawthorne began teaching painting to
hundreds of artists who flocked here to take advantage of the open air
and changing light (visiting artists still occupy some of the historic
dune shanties each summer). The association was established in 1914, and
by 1916 the Boston Globe headlined a front-page article “Biggest Art
Colony in the World in Provincetown.” Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock
and Robert Motherwell were among those who worked in town. The museum
has a permanent collection of more than 1,500 works, shown throughout
the year in four galleries. It also stages exhibitions of works by
established and emerging artists. (508) 487-1750. www.paam.org. Open
daily, noon to 5, Memorial Day to October, also 8 to 10 p.m. in summer;
rest of year, weekends noon to 4. Adults $5, children $2. ChathamOf all Cape Cod's towns, the most
alluring is Chatham, a sophisticated and sedate enclave beside the sea.
This is the elbow of the Cape, where the hubbub of much of the Cape's
south shore yields to treed tranquility before the land veers north to
face the open Atlantic and form the dunes of the National Seashore.
Chatham has more beach area and shoreline than any other Cape Cod town
– much of it privately owned. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge,
a wilderness island, is accessible by a short boat trip. It is a haven
for bird-watching – 285 species, at latest count. The Old Atwood House (1752) at
347 Stage Harbor Road, one of the town's oldest houses, contains upwards
of 2,000 antiques in fourteen display rooms. The Chatham Railroad
Museum, the former town depot, is now filled with more than 8,000
models, relics and photos, plus a 1910 caboose. Other historic sites are
the Mayo House on Main Street, the old Chatham Grist Mill,
and the Chatham Light. Main Street, which
winds through the center of town, seems to attract more high-style shops
every year. Falmouth/Woods Hole Settled by Quakers in 1661, the
Cape’s second largest town is a year-round community. The heart of the
far-flung town is Falmouth Center, spreading outward from the historic
village green. Tony Falmouth Heights has grand Victorian summer homes
along the ocean beach. North Falmouth and West Falmouth, both historic
and charming, face Buzzards Bay to the west. East Falmouth is
residential and commercial, and its harbors face south toward Vineyard
Sound. It is the home of the Ashumet Holly & Wildlife Sanctuary,
best known for its collection of more than 1,000 holly trees. The Shining Sea Bicycle Trail, one
of the best of its genre, extends four miles along the ocean from
Falmouth to Woods Hole. The name honors the memory of Katharine Lee
Bates, who was born in Falmouth and wrote “America the Beautiful.” Woods Hole, the principal ferry
departure point for Martha’s Vineyard, is a busy marine research
center that is home to four major scientific institutions, including the
National Marine Fisheries Service, the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Their facilities and
personnel give it the look and feel of a government installation. Much
of Woods Hole is surrounded by water and in its center is Eel Pond, a
saltwater harbor filled with boats big and small. They sail in and out
of Vineyard Sound, stopping traffic on the main street as a
hand-operated drawbridge is raised to let them through. The Falmouth Historical Society opens
two restored houses on the village green for guided tours. The Julia
Wood House was built in 1790 by Falmouth’s famous early physician,
Dr. Francis Wicks, known for his work with smallpox inoculations. The
Georgian-style house has one of the town’s few remaining widow’s
walks. Among its displays are the original 18th-century scenic wallpaper
brought from Paris, period furniture, antique hooked rugs, a handmade
quilt collection, clothing and toys, and a restored kitchen with
fireplace and early utensils. The Hallett Barn out back displays early
tools and farm implements and houses the society’s gift shop. Next
door, the 1724 Conant House contains memorabilia of whaling days,
a military exhibit, a shell collection and a large collection of china,
silver and glass. The Katharine Lee Bates Room houses the society’s
collection of books and pictures pertaining to her song, “America the
Beautiful.” A placard identifies the private home at 16 Main St. in
which the composer was born in 1859. (508) 548-4857. Open
Tuesday-Sunday 2 to 5, early June to mid-September; also weekends 1 to 4
in spring and fall. Adults $3, children 50 cents.
Hidden among the homes and wooded
properties in the Oyster Pond neighborhood is this little-known treasure
shared by the family of Charles and Margaret Spohr. The six-acre garden
surrounding their residence slopes down to Oyster Pond, where you’re
apt to be greeted by swans as graceful as the gardens are tranquil. The
gardens are at their best in spring, when 700,000 daffodils launch a
showy procession of magnolias, azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and
lilies. Wide grassy paths wind through the gardens, with nautical
artifacts, sculptures and benches here and there. Signs point out rock
gardens, hillside walks and more. A huge boulder bears the carving,
“Spohr Gardens, 1950.” A sign notes that contributions for the
gardens’ continuing maintenance are gratefully accepted. (508) 548-0623. Gardens open
daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Free.
Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
page |
Full destination index | |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
