Driving out to Cape Cod felt a bit like driving down to the Keys in Florida. It is an island more or less that has one main road in and out. I had always heard of Cape Cod but was never quite sure where it was. Now I know! It is the very southeastern point of Mass which made for a short drive from Newport, RI for us. Our campground was in the town of Dennis Port on the southern side of the Cape, right on Nantucket Sound. Campers Haven Campground catered more toward its full-time trailer residents than part time visitors like us, but the location just couldn’t be beat. We quickly got settled, then decided to make the drive up to Provincetown (P-town), all the way to the tip of the Cape or Upper Cape as it is called. We parked, then just walked up and down the main avenue, Commercial Street. It was pretty busy with tourists crisscrossing the streets, kids eating ice cream, bicycles whizzing by and musicians playing on street corners. A very cute, liberal little town. Apparently, this is where the Mayflower originally landed before heading to Plymouth. Someone had given us the tip to come here back in Everglades City, FL and we are glad we took them up on it. We made our way back down Hwy 6 to Dennis Port and stopped in at Clancy’s for dinner for a great meal and view and even better service. Back at the MoHo, we took a quick bike ride out to the water, then battened down the hatches for the coming rain.

Thursday was the U.S. vs. Germany soccer match, so we started the day with breakfast and mimosa’s. It was pouring rain outside, so we didn’t feel too guilty. We lost to Germany, but with the Portugal win vs. Ghana, made it the next round. Pfew! We ended up not leaving the MoHo the whole day. This is a rare occurrence, but with the rain and soccer on, we decided to just have a day to relax. Got a few projects done, caught up on bills, etc. I need to remind myself that we don’t have to be on the go every single day. Felt great to have a day like this!

The next day, we decided to make the trip north to Plymouth, located off the Cape closer to Boston. First stop was at the local visitor center and we got a very helpful lady who gave us the lay of the land. It is a fairly small town, with most sights within walking distance. There is a main street at sea level then the town kind of tiers upward, so each street looks out toward the bay. We had a great day exploring including seeing the Mayflower replica and Plymouth Rock. The story goes that the rock signifies the first landing of the pilgrims here in 1620, but I think there are variations of the story and the rock has been moved around a bit. There were many other fee-based exhibits to see here, but we preferred to just walk around and take in the monuments and township. The best view was from the historic cemetery up on Burial Hill where it was clear why this was such a strategic place for the pilgrims to settle. Two long peninsulas on either side protect the bay, with a smaller opening for ships to be able to approach, so they could see ‘em coming! I’m really glad we made the trek up to Plymouth, we almost skipped it.

On our last day, we planned a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard. We had made reservations a few days back on the Hy-Line ferry out of Hyannis Port, about a 15-mile drive from our park. They had all kinds of options, high speed or traditional with trips to Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket or both. We opted for the traditional ferry to the Vineyard only as we didn’t want to be rushed trying to do both islands in one day. If we had more time, we would have planned a separate trip to Nantucket. It was $86 for roundtrip tickets with our bikes which is the least expensive option we could find without having to drive all the way to Woods Hole. We were up early to catch the 9:25 ferry, for an hour and 40 min. crossing. The day could not have been better, as Mike said, it was a “Chamber of Commerce Day.” We found a few seats on the upper deck and enjoyed the crossing through Nantucket Sound. The Vineyard is made up of 6 towns; we landed at Oak Bluffs, which I think is the most touristy of the bunch. We got on our bikes and headed out to Edgartown, about a 5-mile ride, much of it right along the beautiful coastline. I was surprised by how turquoise blue the water was. It was a Saturday, so the beaches were pretty full up. We were both a bit sweaty and fatigued by the time we arrived in Edgartown. We locked up our bikes and decided to get lunch and a refreshment to reward ourselves for the ride :). We then walked around town and stopped in some shops, most of which were pretty high-end expensive. It was then time to make the ride back to Oak Bluffs, where we parked the bikes and explored town a bit. Beautiful homes with amazing views. We had about an hour before the 5:15 ferry departure, so we found a patio bar on the marina and just sat and watched the activity. It appeared that there were either tourists like us, or locals who all owned boats and came in from the Cape for the weekend to stay at their vacation homes. Wish we were on the latter end of that equation! The ferry ride home was gorgeous and we again sat up on the top deck to take it all in. We arrived back in Hyannis around 7pm and found the best little Italian joint for dinner, Four Seasons. It was a great day. I had always dreamed about riding a bike in Martha’s Vineyard. We’d love to come back someday and explore some of the other towns that may not be as commercialized. We ended up riding 14 miles on our bikes, so we both slept well! I realize that for seasoned bike riders this is not far, but we are newbies getting back into bike riding, so it felt like a lot to me.  Did you know…Jaws was filmed in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard?!

Next up, Boston Baby!