Cape Cod

I had planned to spend July 4^th on Cape Cod National Seashore so I got up bright and early to head over to the shore. Because there is one main route into and out of the Cape I decided to take a scenic route on the way in. I traveled the Old Kings Highway Scenic Byway from Sandwich to East Brewster on Route 6A. Pretty much just drove through a bunch of small towns but it was nice. I decided to stick with only NPS sites on the Cape so my first stop was in Eastham at Fort Hill. There was no fort there but there was an old Captains house with a trail that wound around to a nice view of the marsh and through the reeds. The arch in the above photo is made out of whale bone.I arrived at the Salt Pond Visitor Center right when it opened at 9am and snagged some postcards. I wanted to check out these two lighthouses that were a few miles down the road but when I got there the beach parking lot was already full! I thought that was so crazy for 9am but I guess it was July 4^th. I was not to be thwarted though and found a singled parking spot with a 30 minute limit next to the 3 Sisters Lighthouse. This site marked the only station in the U.S. designated by three towers. Due to erosion, the lighthouses are now a quarter mile away from their original location. It was kind of odd to see lighthouses surrounded by trees. I took the walking path down to the Nauset Light. This light has also been moved due to erosion but only about 400 feet from its original location. I thought it was really odd that there were people living in the keeper’s house because the lighthouse is a tourist spot but I found a really interesting story that explains it: In 1998, Mary Daubenspeck, who had owned the keeper's house since 1955, agreed to donate it to the National Park Service with the right to live in it for 25 years. It was agreed that the house would be moved from its original location, then only 23 feet from the edge of the cliff, to a new location near the relocated tower. Another fun fact: The lighthouse is the logo for Cape Cod Potato Chips.

As time was running out, I quickly popped over to the beach to get a glimpse of the ocean. It was a very nice beach and I took a minute to dip my toes in but, mindful of my parking limit, I headed back to my car. (If you look close you can see that someone spelled out Happy July 4th in the sand in the photo below)I really didn’t want to leave Cape Cod without enjoying a beach so I stopped at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. It was deserted compared to Nauset Beach. I enjoyed a good book and watched some surfers and had a great time. I didn’t swim though because waves scare me. I stopped at the Marconi Station site on the way out which is where the first telegraphic message was transmitted in 1903 via spark gap transmitter.

Next up was a really out of the way site. The Atwood-Higgins House is one of the oldest in the region and was built in 1730. I never would have thought that parts of Cape Cod were rural but this house is definitely off the beaten path. I really enjoyed it.

I continued on to the Truro-Highland Lighthouse. It was kind of odd because you had to walk through a golf course to access it. Like most lighthouses this one has been moved back away from the eroding cliff but there was a walkway out to where the lighthouse used to stand. I was gazing at the ocean far below and enjoying the view when all of a sudden I see someone running on the beach below. It was a deserted stretch of sand since it was at the base of a huge cliff so I wondered where this man had come from. At first glance I thought he was wearing a really small bathing suit but it turns out he was actually naked!! Let freedom ring ;)I stopped at the Pilgrim Heights parking area to get a little hiking in. When I emerged from the trees I came across this monster:I have never seen a bird that big up close and I did a double take before I realized it was real. This definitely made this stop worth it.My last stop on the Cape was Race Point Beach in Provincetown. The road into it goes through beech and oak forest and the Province Lands dunes which I thought was pretty interesting. This beach was neat because it was so calm. The other beaches I had been to were full of surfers but this beach was calm as a lake.

It was already 2:00 and I wanted to get off the Cape before holiday traffic hit so I jumped on Route 6 and left the Cape.