UP CAPE – DOWN CAPE – ALL AROUND THE CAPE…

Dennis Port, MA is a perfect location mid-cape to explore the peninsula.  Camper’s Haven RV Resort is the only park in this area. It’s geared to the seasonal camper who parks their rig full time here then visits on weekends and holidays during the summer months. They have a few spots for transients and we are lucky to get a space the week before 4^th of July.  Water and electric and WIFI are provided and free bi-weekly pump outs take care of the sewer.

Lined up for the fishing derby

All Decked out for the
Portuguese Festival

The furthest point down cape is Providence Town or P-town. This is where the Pilgrims landed and signed the Mayflower Compact before finally settling across the harbor in Plymouth. Today P-town is the largest commercial fishing port on the cape and is also known for beaches, whale watching, artists, theatre and food… our kind of town.  We start off with a Dolphin Fleet WhaleWatching Tour.  A humpback named measles meanders about filling up on krill and small fish.  We don’t get any big breaching or slapping, but measles swims under the boat a few times obviously more interested in his meal than our presence.  Back on the docks we check out the Portuguese Festival fishing derby, and then join the revelers in town.  It’s a party atmosphere with street performers and music. 

Bubala’s By the Bay offers outdoor dining in the heart of Commercial Street (dinner and a show?)  Inside is quiet with views of the harbor.  We’re hungry and take available seating inside.  First up signature cocktails and clams on the half shell followed by a shared salad of sweet and spicy roasted beets and goat cheese croquettes (OMG these are to die for!) on a bed of baby arugula drizzled with a red wine vinaigrette.  Main course is the Chef’s specials: catch of the day striped sea bass perfectly grilled and seasoned and the expertly seared scallops on a bed of linguini with a light cream sauce. All this accompanied by a nice bottle of sommelier suggested wine made for a wonderful meal with great atmosphere.

Chatham Beach

Continuing up the peninsula at the ‘elbow’ is the town of Chatham.  Lots of upscale shopping and beautiful beaches to explore.  There is a small farmer’s market on Tuesdays from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. While waiting for the vendor’s to finish setting up we dine at the Kreme and Kone across the street.  

There are three Kreme-N-Kone locations on the peninsula that are owned by different folks and  although their menus are almost identical they are not affiliated. We eat first at the West Dennis location with a deck overlooking the Swan River and are blown away by the great fried whole clams, scallops, oysters, French fries and onion rings. The clams are the star! Everything is fresh crisp but not over fried and not too greasy. We think we’ve had the best of this fried fare until we try the Chatham location with their deck overlooking the traffic on Main St.  We order a similar platter with the same assortment of fried yumminess and it’s just better! So for the best, fried clams it’s Chatham and for ambience and the second best clams it’s West Dennis, either way it’s some of the best, fried whole clams you can get and both have wonderful soft serve ice-cream!

Salt Marsh

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History located in Brewster is small with a big punch. The Museum exhibits a collection of artifacts from around the area with an emphasis on education and the relationship between humans and nature.  Of special note are the Honey Bee Exhibit, the Osprey Cam and the Eldridge Arnold Decoy Carving exhibit.  The museum is also the steward of over 400 acres along the Cape Cod Bay.  We take a naturalist guided hike from the museum to the coast through forest and across salt marshes. The Docent's here are passionate and knowledgeable and there is something for everyone from preschool to really old folks!

Tons of Clams!

The Village of Hyannis is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod.  It is home to the Kennedy Legacy Trail, Ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island.  It is the second largest fishing port on the cape.  In the harbor we watch huge baskets of clams, and horseshoe crabs being unloaded and check out some of the artist’s shanties. 

Cape Cod is known as a playground for the rich and famous but the big news while we visit isn’t the Kardashians (they’re too busy in the Hamptons.) It’s the great white sharks sited off of Chatham.  After living many years in Santa Cruz, CA we can hardly get excited about these amazing creatures… but wait a minute… we get to the cape and the sharks show up…

We wish we could stay here longer but we are terrible at pre planning and all of the RV parks on the cape are full over the 4^th of July so we have to head up across the canal for the holiday weekend.