MORE ADVENTURES ON CAPE COD

After a Sunday morning breakfast with David and his family, Barbara, David, Robert and I headed out on a scenic trip to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. Depending on who you talk to, we were headed either east or north on US 6. We left an overcast Orleans with the temperature hovering around 62; bundled up in jackets to ward off the chilly morning air. We traveled through Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro on our way to Provincetown. We stopped along the way for many photo ops and our "tour guides", otherwise known as Barbara and David, gave us a running commentary about the areas we visited. They have been wonderful about taking us around. The coast line of Cape Cod along the Atlantic Ocean is continually going through changes due to erosion from wind, sand and frequent North Eastern storms. They have both seen the coast line change dramatically since they have lived on the Cape. Some very nice gal volunteered to take a picture of the four of us on one of the sand dunes near Provincetown, where the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was warmer than in Orleans. We were all regretting having worn heavy clothes. We arrived in Provincetown around noon time, parked the car in a designated lot and started walking. The streets in Provincetown are very narrow and crowded with tourist either on foot or bikes - not a place for the faint of heart to be driving! We wandered through the narrow streets looking in shop windows and checking out all the sites. Provincetown is known as an artists colony and is the San Francisco of the East - a favorite place for gay couples. We stopped and sat on a bench in the town square to enjoy a some homemade ice cream - the best place to do a little people watching. Did you know that the Mayflower first landed in Provincetown Harbor in November 1620 - stayed there for about a month - then sailed on to Plymouth, Mass. That was something we learned on Sunday. After our ice cream break we headed out on McMillan Pier to look at the fishing and tour boats. They have daily whale watching tours during the spring and summer months. They also have a Fast Ferry that docks there that goes from Boston to Provincetown in 90 minutes three times a day. As we walked out onto the pier, we saw a fishing boat that was dry docked on the beach. There were men underneath the back working on the prop. We did not know if it was stranded there when the tide went out due to mechanical problems or what. We were also not sure what was going to happen when the tide came back in. We saw small fishing boats loaded with crap/lobster traps heading out into the ocean while we were there. Provincetown is a unique experience.
From there, we headed back toward Orleans and home. We made one last stop in Eastham at the Nauset Light House where the Nauset Light Preservation Volunteers were conducting a tour of the light house on Sunday. This is one of five working lighthouses on the national seashore. We were able to climb a winding metal staircase to just below the revolving lights which are running 24 hours a day. The lighthouse is on Cable Road where the first transatlantic cable, which ran from Europe, was housed in a small building near the original site of the lighthouse. The lighthouse has been moved over the years from it's original position due to the erosion of the dunes. From there we stopped at Coast Guard Beach where the fog/mist was starting to roll in. We could barely see Orleans past Salt Pond Bay. When we reached the house around 4:00pm the mist from the Atlantic Ocean was shrouding the house and yard. The rest of the evening it would come and go. During the night we could hear the moisture from the fog that collected on the trees, dripping on the 5th wheel - almost sounding like rain. When we woke up this morning the mist was still hanging around, the sun was not yet able to burn through it. This was the first morning that I could hear the sound of the waves breaking on the beach about a 1/2 mile away - what a great sound! I tried to capture a picture of the fog - looking east toward David's neighbor's back yard. Well, enough. The sun is now up, the fog is gone and I'm heading out to do a little yard work and enjoy the beautiful morning. I hope everyone has a good day today and that friends who are still on the road get home safe.