Monthly Archives: August 2009
Provincetown bound…
Today we drove the 60 odd miles out to the tip of Massachusetts’ boot called Provincetown.
MA Map
Provincetown is a really beautiful area that reflects its long history. It is where the Pilgrims originally landed in 1620 and signed the Mayflower Compact, though they later decided to settle across the bay at Plymouth.
A little known fact is that the Pilgrims were originally headed for the Virginia area, but stopped in Provincetown and didn’t want to go any further because they had run out of an essential provision…beer!
Provincetown
The tall tower is not a lighthouse as I first thought, but is a 252 foot tall brick monument erected in the early 1900’s to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620.
Pilgrim Tower
We also visited the nearby Cape Cod National Seashore area looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.
Cape Cod Seashore
and the Old Town Lifesaving Station that dates from the 1800’s. From here the rescue boats were dispatched to save crewmen on boats that had run aground nearby.
Old Town Lifesaving Station
The area is covered in Queen Anne’s Lace and Rosehips.
Queen Annes Lace
I did not realize that Queen Anne’s Lace is actually the Wild Carrot and has an edible root. But it is also looks very similar to the Water Hemlock, which is deadly. So be careful if you’re snacking.
Rosehips
Rosehips are also edible and a good source of Vitamin C and were used by sailors to prevent scurvy.
Heading home, we again passed by our rental house from 1972.
Falmouth House
The house was divided into 3 apartments. We lived on the ground floor, someone else lived in the basement, and the owner lived on the 2nd floor.
And here’s a picture of the McDonalds where Jan worked while we were here.
Falmouth McDonalds
It’s amazing these places are still here after almost 40 years.
We’re still looking for the efficiency apartment we lived in first.
Tomorrow we’re taking the ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard.
More tomorrow…
At Home in Buzzard Bay…
Today was a travel day. We moved about 140 miles east to Buzzard’s Bay, MA on Cape Cod.
The trip was smooth and uneventful for a change. Traffic was light and the roads were pretty good.
After we got settled in, we headed down the Cape toward East Falmouth where we used to live.
I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but Jan, Chris and I lived here in 1972 while I worked for the Department of Defense at Otis Air Force Base.
We were really surprised that we were able to find one of the houses we lived in while we were here. It’s still there, and I think it looks better now than it did then.
We also think we’ve found the McDonald’s that Jan worked at while we were here. We’ll have to check it out further to be sure.
We’re still going to be looking for the efficiency apartment that we rented for a while. It will be interesting to see if it still exists also.
After our little time trip back to 1972, we stopped off at Seafood Sam’s for supper. I had the Lobster Bisque and the Lobster Salad Roll, and Jan had the Mac and Cheese with Lobster Chunks Casserole. It all was good.
More tomorrow…
