Posts Tagged With: Cape Cod National Seashore

Barnstable, MA. Tuesday Sept. 26

Cape Cod National Seashore

We left Mattapoisett at 9:30 Monday morning, able to miss any rush hour traffic. The Salt Pond Visitor Center of the Cape Cod National Seashore was our initial destination. The park is normally jammed in summer months, and just busy in the fall. The park itself is long and narrow, extending over much of the eastern coast line. Like Acadia, the park intermingles publicly owned land among private parcels or whole towns. Cape Cod though is about four times the size of Mount Desert Island; while the Cape Cod National Seashore is about 15% smaller than Acadia National Park. So, the national seashore has less of an impact on the Cape than Acadia has on Mount Desert Island.

Part of the marsh area of Cape Cod National Seashore

The visitor center offers several short videos which provided a background to the geology and history of the cape. (Until 1914, Cape Cod was physically attached to the mainland. In 1914 the Cape Cod canal was created to aid shipping in avoiding the storms around the Cape which took thousands of ships in storms over the years.) Cape Cod is a product of the Glacial Ages, which over years of advancement and retreat formed the higher elevation which still exists today. One of the park rangers was kind enough to provide me with a few written handouts providing greater detail on several topics so that my comments here would be completely accurate. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced them.

Cliffs and beach at Cape Cod National Seashore

Before hiking, we had lunch at an ice cream/fish stand, Arnold’s, in existence for 40 years. The cliffs and surf attracted us after lunch. There were some people at the beach, just relaxing. The surf was running well, although a heavy mist/fog limited the view out to sea. The location is historically important. The international transatlantic telegraph cable was first completed here. The small wood building where the messages were received is still standing at the top of the cliff although the cable buried in the ocean is no longer used.

Another hike took us through the woods at the top of the cliff to a marker noting the location of the first housing site of the seven families who in 1644 moved from Plimouth Plantation to Nauset on Cape Cod.

Sandy Neck Beach

Sandy Neck Beach

Our Evergreen hosts for Monday and Tuesday nights suggested we might also enjoy visiting the local coast. The Sandy Neck Beach at Barnstable had great sand beaches and sand dunes. We hiked along both as the sun was just starting to set. This beach offers the opportunity to drive vehicles on the sand which we did not chance with a rental car. Dinner at a Barnstable restaurant offered excellent clam chowder soup.

Some scenes from around Cape Cod

Tuesday morning we headed back to Salt Pond via the two lane, curvy back roads through little towns. We stopped at a local park to photograph an 18th century windmill located next to the last remaining primitive one room house on the Cape. Before we made it to Salt Pond, we saw another windmill-the first windmill erected in Cape Cod in 1680.

At the visitor center we listened to a part-time ranger regale us with stories from his youth on Cape Cod. His family goes back 12 generations on the cape on both sides of his parents.

We had debated how to spend the rest of the day. Monday we stopped at a bike shop and got quotes and a map of local bike trails. If we return to Cape Cod, I would not mind spending a day or more biking. However, a tour of a local organic cranberry bog won out. Cranberries are a native fruit, introduced to the European settlers by the Native Americans. Wisconsin is the largest producer of cranberries and I comment on them when volunteering on the Amtrak Empire Builder for the National Park Service.

The Cape Farm Supply and Cranberry Farm is the largest organic cranberry grower in the East. There were 18 of us on the tour which utilized a small bus to take us around the farm. The narrator is the wife/co-owner of the farm. Her story line revolves around the activities necessary during each month of the year to keep the cranberry farm operating.

Organic cranberry farm

A few of the comments made during the tour included: A.) Cranberries grow in a mixture of sand and water. The sand needs to be replenished every two to three years which occurs by spreading sand over ice in winter, or if the winter weather does not cooperate with enough ice, by spreading dry sand in April and then irrigating the sand.

B.) Dry picking uses a machine to comb through the vines for fresh, whole berries which are sold in stores, generally for home cooking. Wet harvesting results in the harvest of fruit used for juice, jams, etc. The bog is flooded and a machine agitates the vines to release the berries which float to the top and are scooped up.

C.) Since this is an organic farm, she noted the positive impact of birds, bees, and bats to pollinate the plants and to reduce harmful pests.

After the bog tour, we visited a bookstore at the western end of Cape Cod. It is owned by a friend of our daughter Sarah. I picked up a book for the airplane ride home. We walked the downtown Main Street of Falmouth and had a freshly made brownie to share at the local bakery. The visitor center had mentioned a light house in Falmouth for us to visit. Turns out the lighthouse is being repaired and was wrapped in white sheets.

The drive back to Barnstable was through congested traffic, summer time must be a real bear. Dinner was in Barnstable Village again, this time instead of the Barnstable Tavern, we ate at the Dolphin. Both of them have excellent clam chowder soup.

The evening finished with another period of conversation with our Evergreen hosts. When Chris and I started using Evergreen five years ago, I was quite hesitant. Now it is one important and interesting component of our travels.

Wednesday we fly back to Saint Paul Minnesota. We should be just in time to check out the fall colors on the trees. The header picture at the top of the blog was taken in the fall of 2016 and is of the Mississippi River Gorge, looking at Minneapolis from the Saint Paul side.

Ed and Chris. Sept. 26