Read Before Summer
If you have plans to visit Cape Cod
Cape Cod looks like the defiant arm swinging off of Massachusetts. The Cape gestures like Rosie the Riveter, shaking its fist out into the Atlantic Ocean, asking for a fight. For 12,000 years, the Wampanoag peoples have populated what is now called Cape Cod. Despite the ancient ties to the land, the Wampanoag tribe was re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007. Before pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, passengers aboard the Mayflower tried out Provincetown (imagine where Rosie’s curved knuckles are) and found it too sandy, inhospitable. A simple weekend trip-distance away for New Englanders, Cape Cod now offers wholesome summer fun; beaches, ice cream, baseball games, fishing trips, lobster rolls, lighthouses; a complete Coastal Grandma fantasy. There are two islands surrounding the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. And 15 separate towns on Cape Cod total about 560 miles of coastline.
Patti Page’s 1957 hit Old Cape Cod propelled the Cape into a more national consciousness, followed by the Kennedy’s and their compound in Hyannisport in the 60s, and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in 1975. Page’s song captures the Cape’s essence; the shingled cottages, hydrangea blooms, and swaying beach grass of a perfect summer afternoon. The crooner classic also encapsulates the Cape’s strange passage through time. As if we’re progressing slower than the rest of the world, coated in a veneer of nostalgia and longing for a “simpler times.”
The peninsula became a man-made island when the Cape Cod Canal was opened for passage by boat in 1914. A geological marvel, the Cape is essentially a long sand spit. It’s a leftover scab of glacial movement. The quiet isolation of Cape Cod offseason has been a refuge and laboratory for thought leaders and scientists, such as Rachel Carson and Henry David Thoreau. Writers including Mary Oliver and Kurt Vonnegut once drove along Route 6A, curving their cars down the narrow backroad to avoid traffic on the mid-cape highway. When they rolled down their car windows, on a perfect May afternoon, maybe they noticed the leaves on the oak trees, budding into a promising shade of green. Maybe Oliver and Vonnegut were thinking of what they’d write about when they arrived at their Cape Cod homes. Artists like Anthony Bourdain toiled in kitchens, and served up fried seafood on hot July nights here, on Cape Cod. It’s a generationally, beloved destination where millions have made fond memories, create art, and connect with nature.
Here’s what you should know before you come visit Cape Cod:
We drive slow around here.
Our roads are narrow, old, and winding. This year, they’re especially bumpy and full of potholes, thanks to some serious storm damage in February. Sewer construction is happening all over the Cape and that will impact the conditions of the roads this summer. Despite the fact that a sports car is a great accessory to go with a Cape House, Cape Cod is not, in fact, a good place to drive a fancy fast car (a total assumption, how would I know?). It’s too sandy and the opportunity to go vroom vroom will not present itself safely in these streets, fool. I promise you. Inevitably, people drive right into the ocean at least once a year. Imagine, getting your car towed out of the ocean. Do better.
The average age in Barnstable County, where I live, is 55.4. Cut us some slack, alright? The ole eyeballs ain’t as sharp as they used to be. Some Cape Codders are definitely too old to be driving but there is no reliable alternative to get around to doctors appointments, grocery stores, errands, etc. Fairly regularly, a news alert will report an elderly driver, who thought they were in reverse, drove into a building, usually, (thankfully) at a low speed with minimal damage.
We should also drive slow because our neighbors and friends are getting hit by cars. A grandfather of five was recently hit by a car and killed while riding his bike in Falmouth. Locals on Cape Cod are alarmingly used to seeing announcements of biking and pedestrian accidents and deaths involving cars. We have a serious lack of sidewalks and bike lanes here. Systemic issues with reliable public transportation make it hard for people without cars to get around. Many members of our summer workforce ride e-bikes, scooters, bikes and walk to get to work. Much of our regional zoning bylaws are in place to keep the Cape quaint, to preserve the character of the town, and condition dark sky compliant lighting. So, it would also be wise to wear something highly reflective and visible if out walking at night.
Please, be a good human and have patience.
In Falmouth, which is about 54 square miles, the year-round population is roughly 33,000 people. At the height of summer, during the week of the Fourth of July, over 100,000 people come to town. It’s a big adjustment to add 70,000 people into fairly small town. Every year tourist season hits like a tidal wave. When we locals start to come together again, after getting through the worst of winter, keeping in touch with a community can be challenging with the addition of the seasonal crowd, filling spaces that used to be available. Locals get a month before the landscape of the town completely changes. Years of working through the summer have made some locals instantly bitter towards tourists, simply because they have the luxury to take a vacation. Locals should have more patience, too.
Plan ahead for meals.
Everyone needs to eat, and there is a finite number of dining establishments on Cape Cod. If you go out to dinner without a reservation and expect to be seated immediately, you are delusional. Realistically, a wait for a table of four on a Saturday Night in the summertime could be an hour, or longer. And unless the restaurant has a time limit on how long a party can stay at a table, the hostess is guessing at how long the wait will be. A third of a drink left could mean twenty more minutes or two more hours. It’s a crapshoot.
There are logistics related to food service that the general public does not understand. No reality exists in which three baristas, managing and onslaught of online orders, an endless drive-thru window queue and walk-in customers spiraling out the door, can possibly manage orders instantly. Every employee (generally) is doing their best, rudeness will not get you your latte any faster.
Also, if you’re going to show up with more than six people, call ahead.
Reasons to come to Cape Cod are obvious. Some of the less obvious highlights include the worlds leading oceanic and environmental scientists who lecture and research on Cape Cod. World-renowned artists flock here for residencies to produce new work and lead workshops. Musicians perform all over the place, from small barrooms to the rotating stage at the Melody Tent in Hyannis. A good show is not hard to find. Local theater companies are insanely talented and accessible up and down the Cape. Craft fairs and farmers markets are abundant. When possible, shop, dine, read and buy local.
Beautiful crisp writing Katie!
I wish every visitor could read this❣️