<p>When our kids were younger, we took a summer vacation almost every year to Cape Cod. It’s been ten years since we’ve been there and my H and I are going for a week at the end of the month. Although we’ve been there numerous times, I wonder if anyone has anything ‘new’ to recommend, things to see or do, places to eat, new golf courses or theatres? Some of our favorite things to do back then with the kids were Heritage Plantation, Sandwich Glass Museum, the aquarium at Wood’s Hole, the National Seashore, exploring the smaller towns like Osterville, summer baseball games, lobster rolls at Cobies, fish and chips at Baxter’s in Hyannis, a day trip to Nantucket, concerts at the Melody Tent, and, of course, long days enjoying the beach and ocean.</p>
<p>This visit is going to be different because, first of all, no kids. It also won’t primarily be a sit-on-the-beach vacation because it will be May and not August. So, while we will definitely be revisiting some of our favorite spots, I’d love to hear any suggestions you folks may have, not only for things to do and places to eat, but also maybe interesting shops? Thank you!</p>
<p>Where will you be staying?
We like Brewster and Orleans. Walking the flats out to the far bar at Brewster is nice, as is pretty much any walk along Cape Cod Bay there – almost always a beautiful sunset. Orleans is also nice. Good shopping, shore tours and the ocean close by too. We were just up there a few weeks ago and it was beautiful, especially without the summer crowds. Great for biking. Wish we had a trail sysstem like that here at home.</p>
<p>lspf, we’ll be staying in Chatham this time, although we don’t mind driving around once we’re there. We, too, love the Brewster area. We have stayed at Ocean Edge many times and some of my fondest Cape memories are the kids flying kites on the wonderful flat beaches and also the beautiful sunsets there. We spent many an evening in Orleans watching the baseball games, and I certainly agree about the trail system being great. :)</p>
<p>It’s been a couple of years. My favorite thing to do is set up my watercolors and paint. Second favorite is to put on a pair of roller blades and go down the canal. I also like taking a kayak and going around the marshes or taking them somewhere for a picnic. (We share a place on Red Brook Harbor - which is very sheltered - and often go out to Bassetts Island.) I’ve been told that tours of the potato chip factory are fun. Cataumet has a nice little cooperative artist’s gallery, and I like the galleries in Falmouth as well. Just off the Cape in Bourne my kids always made me go to the military museum and my cousins always made me go antiquing.</p>
<p>We’ve gone to the Cape almost every summer for the past 15 years. We’ve always stayed in Eastham, which we love for its quiet, its proximity to many great beaches, and easy distance to all the Outer Cape towns. Wellfleet has many, many art galleries, along with some terrific restaurants, a great used bookstore, and a lovely Main St. They also have one of the last drive-in movie theaters in the country - an experience not to be missed! </p>
<p>We also love Orleans, notably Land Ho for lunch (great burgers when you get tired of seafood) and Emack & Bolio’s for ice cream - their hot fudge can’t be beat. (The only ice cream to rival it, IMO, is Four Seas, in Centerville.) We’ve also enjoyed antique shops along Rte. 6A in Brewster, and the occasional foray to Provincetown (despite the impossibility of parking.) We won’t be going this summer, alas. Have fun!</p>
<p>Chatham in May (no traffic!) sounds like a great ‘grownup’ vacation. It’s a nice walking town, lots of shops, inns and galleries, and close by the beach and lighthouse. Supposedly a good spot for seal watching too. </p>
<p>When we were up in April we drove out to Provincetown for a whale watch. Big difference without the summer heat, traffic and crowds! This was a particularly good season for feeding along the Stellwagen Bank. Saw several kinds, including (very endangered) right whales, humpbacks, fins, and tons of dolphins. </p>
<p>Booklady-- I remember back when Emack & Bolio’s opened in Orleans, and I’ve never been there! Am putting it on our list for this summer-- we get in enough trouble just being able to buy Giffords coffee ice cream at the local market. Thank goodness they don’t sell it here at home.</p>
<p>Their pistachio is outstanding, as is their Almond Joy: coconut ice cream with almonds and chocolate chunks. Cover that in hot fudge, and you will experience bliss. :)</p>
<p>“Shoot-I was sure this was going to be a thread about potato chips.”</p>
<p>Well, “always” & H could tour the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory! The “tour” is really just a “walk by the production lines,” but the samples at the end are great!</p>
<p>We also haven’t been to the Cape in about 10 years, since we now have a place in RI closer to home. But, we used to spend 2 weeks at Ocean’s Edge every August. I have the memory of an absolutely perfect day at one of the Brewster town beaches clearly etched in my mind – D & S were little, but pretty self-sufficient (& they played together easily). The tide was out, not a single cloud anywhere, uncrowded, and the tiniest bit on the cool side. I still pull that memory out during some bleak January & February days!</p>
<p>Loved Wellfleet for the galleries & shops. Rail Trail is the best. Did a couple of whale watching trips out of P’town.</p>
<p>lspf, yes, no traffic and hopefully no crowds! I remember the days of driving to Chatham, one of our favorite Cape towns, and having to find a place to park. Almost impossible. It will be nice to stay there (for the first time) and be able to walk wherever we want to go in town.</p>
<p>The ice cream discussion is a yummy one. Pistachio is my H’s favorite so I will keep Emack and Bolio’s in mind, and see if they’re open in May.</p>
<p>CBB, thanks for another Wellfleet recommendation. I’m getting excited!</p>
<p>CBBB- Same here! Your description of the perfect day with your D and S on the beach at Brewster is exactly why I’ll always love it there. Many happy memories.</p>
<p>This is a wonderful thread. We took several vacations to Cape Cod while our sons were small. Then it got so pricey, that we realized that we could almost fly somewhere like Cancun for what our Cape Cod vacations were costing. We had to visit during high season because of schooling, so we stopped vacationing there. We love Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard, Wood’s Hole (had a couple of wonderful lobster dinners there, but unfortunately I no longer remember the name of the restaurant-its been years). We just love Cape Cod. My son has a friend who goes there off season in the fall with his family. They rent something with a fireplace, and they go for 4 or 5 days in late October or November. I guess they like it, because they have gone there for several years in October or November. I think it would be too cold for my liking. I know that women in the family (don’t know if the guys join them) go to the shops. I am not really sure what else they do there in the fall.</p>
<p>Just to add, my best memory was when my H bought a kite for our kids in Provincetown. It was expensive, but the kite shop was amazing. I never saw a kite shop before, and it was just delightful.</p>
<p>I’m enjoying reading this thread. I used to live and work on Cape Cod (Falmouth/Woods Hole) year-round, and found this out: the ocean water holds heat, with a kind of delay, so the warmest beach month is September, with June not quite warmed up yet. A typical fall day on Cape Cod can be l0 degrees warmer than inland Boston, just 90 miles away, during September. The reverse is true in May and June, with the Cape air colder than Boston’s on a given day. Sometimes I’d drive from the Cape to Boston and see a three-week difference in the opening of leaves, even with the same species of deciduous trees and shrubs.</p>
<p>I knew lots of people who worked on Cape Cod year-round, and waited until September to enjoy their beach days. Visitors’ vacation times are defined by school and work schedules that favor July and August, but September and early October are just as lovely. </p>
<p>The south shore beaches are warmer all year than the north shore beaches, because of the different currents. I could never manage to swim up in Sandwich, Sagamore and Welfleet, but enjoyed walking by the beautiful salt marshes and beaches. </p>
<p>Whenever I walked the Cape Cod National Seashore in the southtowns, I’d think of John F. Kennedy, because his was the legislation that saved that area as a national seashore. Otherwise, it would have been developed long ago. </p>
<p>I found the winters there tougher than in New Hampshire, Canada or upstate New York, because from November through May, the same ocean breeze we love in the summer blows cold over the wintry ocean. Very raw, rainy and windy throughout the winter, with no snow except the Nor’easter storms. It’s a very tough, battened down life all winter, with few calm, still winter days as I learned to enjoy in the mainland northeast areas.</p>
<p>Paying3Tuitions, I could have told you that. We have a little beach house that we share with my cousins - some summers we get June and half of July, others we get late July and August. The water is much nicer for the second half. What’s really odd is the water in Gloucester where my brother lives now - there the water temperature seems to be dependent on winds and currents - it can be fine one day and like ice the next.</p>
<p>We spent the first 18 years we were married vacationing on the Cape…first in Pocasset, and then in Brewster. We’ve seen all the sights, but we are partial to the National Seashore beaches…and the Ben and Jerry’s in Eastham. Emack and Bolios is terrific too!! We used to take our kids to the bookstore in Brewster…they always had a program there. And we loved the bandstand concerts on the green. Hmm…we should go back!!</p>
<p>I love Cobies!!! We have such fond memories of riding our bikes there from Ocean Edge. Thanks for reminding me! My H is heading to the Cape for his annual golf weekend. My D is heading to Hyannis to see a friend on Nantucket after visiting her BF in Dennis. We love the Cape!!!</p>
<p>alwaysamom–
after all these posts you’ll have to report back so we can all visit vicariously!</p>
<p>Some of our favorite visits have been in the spring and fall. We were up at my mother’s house in Brewster last month and it was cool but beautiful. S2 even took a dip, believe it or not (just to prove he could – it was COLD).</p>
It also won’t primarily be a sit-on-the-beach vacation because it will be May and not August. So, while we will definitely be revisiting some of our favorite spots, I’d love to hear any suggestions you folks may have, not only for things to do and places to eat, but also maybe interesting shops? Thank you!</p>