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Cape Cod Vacation - Towns? Too Late?

by a Beautiful and Talented Mid-Westerner
(USA)

Bird Watching on Cape Cod

Bird Watching on Cape Cod



Question: Hi Dee - We visited Cape Cod in October of 1986, our 1st Wedding Anniversary. We are considering coming back for a few days, but in the summer.

We love the beach and birding and whale watching. What town or area would you suggest we look for a hotel in?

Also, is it too late to start looking for an August trip?


Dee's Reply: Hi "B & T Mid-Westerner" -

Let me start with the last part of your question first.

It's early April now, so it's not too late to start planning an August getaway to the Cape.

As time marches on toward summer, lodgings do book up. But if you're flexible in your choices, you shouldn't have a problem finding a nice place to stay.

From the interests you've mentioned - beaches, birding and whale watching - I think you'd absolutely love the National Seashore area of the Cape. That includes the towns of Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown.

If you prefer an out-of-the-way atmosphere, then Truro or Wellfleet would be my top picks. These towns are our least populated. Much of their land area is within the federally protected Cape Cod National Seashore, so there's very little commercialism.

Wellfleet and Truro are where vacationers go to get away from it all. Mother Nature is the big draw here - beaches, hiking and biking, birding, seal spotting, fishing, sunrises and sunsets, etc. These towns are also a haven for theater and the arts.

Lodging in Wellfleet and Truro is mainly B&Bs, rental homes and cottages, and smaller locally-owned motels.

Eastham is a little more commercialized, but not overly so. Eastham's hotels, restaurants, teeshirt shops, etc. are concentrated mainly along the main road (Rt. 6) that goes up the middle of the Outer Cape.

Eastham has a major brand-name hotel (the Four Points by Sheraton), a number of medium-sized motels, B&Bs, and vacation rentals.

Then there's Provincetown, which is a world unto itself. In the summertime, it's a busy, bustling, artsy, eclectic, very diverse town. Although it's known the world over for its gay-friendliness, Provincetown is very welcoming to everyone.

In Provincetown there's tons of unique shops, restaurants of all kinds, as well as museums, galleries, pubs, and theater. It's also where you'll go for your whale watching cruise, if you decide to stay in one of the National Seashore area towns.

If any of these towns sound like what you're looking for, let me know and I'll be happy to suggest some lodgings and activities for you to consider, and perhaps some things to avoid.

And if you have something different in mind, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction for that, too. Just ask!

Best Regards,

Dee

P.S. Your signature made me smile! Once you've spent some quality time on the Cape, I bet you'll want to become "A Beautiful and Talented Wash-Ashore".

(FYI: "Wash-ashore" is a designation that's fondly given to those of us who weren't born here but are lucky enough to now call Cape Cod our home ...)

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