North on Cape Cod

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

North on Cape Cod

One may stand there and put all America behind.

                                                            Henry David Thoreau (paraphrased)

Yesterday, Tuesday—oh, my, what a wonderful day!  We headed to Provincetown, which is on the northernmost tip of Cape Cod, almost hanging out into the ocean. Cape Cod National Seashore is 40 miles of beaches, salt marshes, ponds, lighthouses, trails, and even some cranberry bogs.  If readers remember from some of our previous blogs, we often find our way to glatial deposits, and Cape Cod is another glatial deposit.  We have been told that the shoreline here changes naturally, as the water and wind move the sand from one place to another.  Apparently, the Pilgrims arrived here in 1620 and hung around briefly before sailing over to Plymouth on the mainland.

Salt Pond beside the Cape Cod National Seashore Visitor Center

Before we began our trek through the Cape Cod National Seashore, we decided to try our first lobster roll.  All the times we’ve been to Maine and we never had one!  We decided to order only one and share it—just in case.  Good idea!  It was plentiful—every bite resulted in lobster spilling out of it and onto the plate or our hands or clothes. 

Best Lobster Roll?

We started exploring at Coast Guard Beach at the southern boundary of the park, which was my favorite spot.  Cold winds blew.  The sea was boisterous, and what Thoreau wrote (above) was true—I was truly there and everything else was not.  Going to the sea has a way of lifting us to another plane.  I always feel so grateful in majestic settings, and yesterday’s respite on that beach was no exception.  The intensity of being there, experiencing all the elements and feelings, was right up there with the Alps, Crater Lake, the Canadian Rockies, and the Tetons.  How blessed we felt to have had this experience!

Old Coast Guard Station
















Nauset Light

We moved on to the Nauset Lighthouse and then wound our way through several neighborhoods getting back to the main road.  What I love about New England, and about this area in general, is the architecture of the quaint homes.  Most are, not surprisingly, Cape Cod style, many with cedar shakes and others with soft yellow or blue or gray siding.  What I especially love are all the additions that go in different directions—right, left, to the rear, up, etc.—to expand the homes.

We finished our day with an early sunset (6:30—ish) at Race Point in Provincetown—an area with high, rolling dunes that go on for miles.

The setting sun over a glassy Cape Cod Bay

Race Point Light