Chatham MA - Old Cape Cod

"Quaint little villages here and there" - This is from an old song by Patti Page called Old Cape Cod. These villages were originally working fishing towns, all bordering either the Atlantic ocean or Nantucket Sound. The photo is one of the historic houses in Chatham, the Josiah Mayo house, built around 1820. For you romance lovers out there, he built this house for his bride, named Desire Harding. (As an aside, the house was purchased by a bank, and donated to the Chatham Conservation Foundation.)

The shingled, unpainted style is typical of Cape houses (paint gets scored off by the sand and wind). Chatham was first settled by the English in the 1660s, but of course the Indians lived there long before that.
Here's a link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLnRyGnB2u0

Cape Cod now is unrecognizable from what it used to be. But many of the villages have worked hard to preserve some character, and Chatham has succeeded. It's a town located on the 'elbow' of the Cape, where the inner Cape makes a sharp turn and the outer Cape begins.

First, here is one of the most charming bookstores you'll ever see.

The tiny cafe in the bookstore:

The town of Chatham has provided these signs where you can identify the history of the building - who owned it and what purpose it had. My favorite is this shop selling cards and candles that used to be a stable and blacksmith. I love seeing how things change, and thinking about the people who used to live in this spot.

The shop owners work hard to be interesting. Here's a shop window that you won't see everywhere. (Who can spot the duckling who's different?)

One of the favorite shops for the females in my family:

If you go, you might stay at the Chatham Bars Inn, which is pricy, but lovely.

Cape Cod Dreaming

Provincetown beach

You can dream away an entire summer on Cape Cod. Sun, sea, salty air and all the charm you could want.

The Cape is actually a long, narrow island. You're never too far from water, not only the Atlantic Ocean, but also many ponds, bays, and marshes. Provincetown, shown on the left, is at the easternmost tip of the Cape.

What used to be a fishing village is now a tourist mecca, with a particular appeal to gays. The streets are narrow, the shops souvenir-ish, but the overall ambiance is fun.

Look at what's important to the residents of town - the library! Isn't that just a perfect library?

Provincetown library

Another town we visited is Wellfleet, also on the "outer Cape" meaning the easternmost part, which is less built up and less visited than the areas closer to Boston and New York. The outer Cape is also the home of the Cape Cod National Seashore, a long stretch of public beaches saved from commercial development by President John F. Kennedy.

All coastal towns in New England were originally working hubs for fishermen. Wellfleet still is, although it also attracts artists now as well. Here's the Wellfleet harbor, with a typical Cape mix of sand, rocks, boats, and gray-shingled houses.

Wellfleet Harbor

A Cape Cod house often looks like this one, with the unpainted boards or shingles (the salty beach air is hard on paint) and lots of flowers and low-lying plants.

Wellfleet house

 I wanted to add a few pictures for fun. Who knows what Cape Cod is known for?

This is just the cutest store (in Provincetown). The signs say: "Best Store Ever" and "Love and Happiness". Who could resist?

I have more pictures of Cape Cod on my Pinterest account.
http://www.pinterest.com/carlycarson/

Cape Cod

Last weekend I went down to Cape Cod, a long island off the coast of Massachusetts. I thought I'd share some pictures. This is a typical Cape beach, maybe not as grand as some fancier beach paradises, but the atmosphere is relaxed and family-oriented.

This particular beach is where the movie "The Lightkeepers" was filmed (starring Richard Dreyfuss). I can't say I've seen the movie, but my sister and her family watched them filming it. They snuck onto the beach by muttering "Crew" to the security guard. Amazingly, it worked.

President John F. Kennedy saved a large section of the Cape beaches by establishing a park, the Cape Cod National Seashore on the outer Cape. The park has 40 miles of continuous beach and is a well loved and well-protected seashore. Except for the ocean, which continually eats away at the land. This is a picture of Nauset Light, one of the many lighthouses dotting the Cape. Most of them have been saved and renovated by private and federal funds. This particular lighthouse had to be dismantled and moved when the encroaching sea threatened its stability.

Speaking of lighthouses, they are a well-known architectural theme on the Cape. I took this picture of a fake lighthouse right near the beach. (It's part of a private residential property.)

The Cape Cod of my childhood was a laid-back, friendly and uncrowded summer paradise. Lobster, clams, corn on the cob, and ice cream were the four food groups. Your beach pail, the sand and the water were all you needed for a perfect day.






Things have changed and the Cape bustles almost year round today. But there are still some oases of calm.





Once I posted a picture of an airport and asked if anyone could identify it. Someone did. So can anyone tell me in which town the beach (top of the blog) and the church in these photos are located?