Our top attractions near Cape Cod, Massachusetts: Cape Cod National Seashore and Provincetown
Growing up in New York City, Cape Cod always seemed like a place so far away. Popularized by famous novels like Moby Dick (set in Nantucket/New Bedford) and also by it being the playground of the rich & the famous (Martha’s Vinyard), it was a place that begged to be explored and also admired from afar.
Although my wife and I got a glimpse of Cape Cod some 20+ years ago (Plymouth), we always wanted to see more of the area for as long as we can remember. That chance finally came, when we managed to get a month long Airbnb rental in a sleepy fishing town called Fairhaven, just 30 minutes from Cape Cod.
We finally got to enjoy a summer (well, a month actually) in the famous Cape Cod area, with its cool breezy evenings, and bright sunny days, making it ideal for exploring the Cape. Using Fairhaven as our home base, we spent many of those sunny days exploring different destinations, two of which we explored on a single trip.
The two destinations we explored were Cape Cod National Seashore and Provincetown. Here are our observations and our travel notes on these places:
- Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Cod National Seashore boasts over 40 miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and uplands. It has two visitor centers (Salt Pond and the Province Lands), lighthouses, cultural landscapes, as well as various hiking trails.
On a bright and sunny morning in July, we left our home in Fairhaven for the Salt Pond Visitor Center, located about 65 miles from our month long rental. Along the way, the traffic started to build, as soon as we hit the infamous Route 6 around Sagamore/Sandwich.
The two lane road was not built to handle the massive summer influx of tourists heading into the Cape. We stayed patiently while we slowly chugged along the road. At least we were somewhat prepared, as we knew about the heavy traffic heading into the Cape during the peak summer season.
We eventually made it to the Salt Pond Visitor Center, the main visitor center for the Cape Cod National Seashore. The visitor center was busy, as expected.
After making a quick pit stop at the modern restrooms inside the visitor center, we asked a park ranger for a map of the area, especially about the hiking trail. We decided to hike the popular Nauset Marsh Trail, a 1.3 mile loop trail.
As soon as started hiking the trail which started behind the visitor center, we knew we had forgotten something. We forgot the bug spray!!!
We chose not to head back to our car, and instead went ahead to the trail, thinking we should be okay. Well, we were wrong. We got bitten the first 10 minutes we started to hike. Yikes.
Well, at least the trail was beautiful, with expansive, serene, and pleasant marsh views surrounding us. The trail wrapped around the marsh initially, then headed slightly uphill, into the maritime forest.
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| Nice views from the hill |
Views were fantastic! We continued our march into the forest, getting bothered by those pesky biting insects. By the time we finished our hike, we both had at least two bite marks each. Not smart! Word to the wise: bring a bug spray when visiting in the summer.
The day was getting hot by the time we arrived back at the visitor center, and we decided to cool down inside. We slowly browsed the displays inside the visitor center learning about the history of the Native Americans, the ship building, and the Cape Cod-style homes. That air conditioning felt so good…
It’s the little things that we should be thankful for, like the cool air conditioning after doing a hike.
- Provincetown
Located at the very tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown was a town that had been recommended by my brother to definitely check out. The seaside town is on the site of the Mayflower landing of 1620, commemorated by the towering Pilgrim Monument.
After cooling down at the Cape Cod National Seashore’s Salt Pond visitor center, we headed north, back onto Route 6. It took about 40 minutes to arrive at the town, and the drive itself was scenic. We passed several parks including Cape Cod National Seashore’s other beaches, small villages, and impressive sand dunes.
We headed straight for the MacMillan Pier Parking Lot, located right in front of the harbor and only a block from the popular Commercial Street. The parking fee was very reasonable at $4 which was the reason why we decided to park there. It has a large lot, and we luckily found a spot on our first go around. Nice!
We were getting hungry by that time of the day, and we chose Kung Fu Dumplings, just in front of the parking lot. Kung Fu Dumplings is a small, fast casual type place, with reasonably priced options.
We ordered several dishes including shrimp dumplings, fried rice, and a Lo Mein. We sweated profusely while we ate there, as there was no air conditioning, but we took it in stride.
It definitely added to the experience. Isn’t it funny how we tend to remember events where we were uncomfortable more so than just normal events? Well, this was definitely memorable.
Food was fantastic, especially the dumplings. The filling was delicious and they didn’t skimp on the ingredients. Highly recommend this place if you like reasonably priced Asian food in Provincetown.
After filling our stomachs with tasty Chinese food, we started our exploration of Provincetown, starting with the popular Commercial Street. The street was busy with all kinds of people walking around the street packed with restaurants/bars/coffee shops/retail stores.
We decided to head east as it seemed to be the busier side. We checked out stores selling cheap souvenirs, with their blow out prices on hoodies/t-shirts. We then decided to check out the beach, right near the MacMillan Pier parking lot.
Beach was nice, with a sandy beach and a clean one at that. We walked towards the beach to see what ocean waters looked like up there in Provincetown. It looked surprisingly clear, and the views were nice!
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| Scenic views |
After getting burned for few minutes on hot July sun, we decided to head back to the Commercial Street for some shade (hopefully), and for some cool refreshments.
At least the street had some shade on the south side of the street at that time of the day, so we walked along there, gawking at so many shops/restaurants lining the street which seemed to go on forever.
We came upon a coffeehouse, so we stopped in there to cool off and to grab a cold ice coffee. Coffee was nothing to write home about, but it did its job of providing a brief respite from the scorching heat.
With our ice coffee in our sweaty paws, we braved the heat yet again to check out the street once again. After a block or so, we saw a very interesting historical building that looked like something from the 1940’s, which turned out to be a shopping mall.
The Whaler’s Wharf, has shops/restaurants, a movie theater, and art studios. We walked around enjoying the well preserved building, especially the area with cool posters.
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| My favorite part of the building |
Right next to the atrium was a walkway that led out to a beach. We stopped to take a look at that. Nice!
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| Beautiful beach view |
We hung out for few minutes inside the atrium, enjoying the cool breeze that was coming off the ocean just steps away from us, before heading back out towards our car. Along the way, we saw some comfortable chairs in front of the Provincetown Town Hall, so we stopped for a minute to people watch.
Our final stop was right in front of the parking lot where we had parked, along Lopes Square. We wanted to enjoy little more of the cool breeze under a big old tree along the square. The square was packed with people just like us, cooling off in the shade while people watching.
We saw families with little tired, irritated children sitting near us, and we also saw many who looked downright tired from all the walking and the heat. Well, we can relate.
But just because it’s hot outside, it doesn’t mean we should just stay indoors in a comfortable air conditioned comfort. Hmm, that is certainly tempting on a hot day like this, but if we fail to explore during hot summer months, we’re losing out on 1/4 of the year! That just won’t do!
Well, we choose to explore even on hot summer days. We look at it this way: we have maybe 30-35 summers left for us to enjoy. Why not enjoy them now, when we’re even a bit younger, than later when our health may not cooperate?
Yup, life is short. There may not be a tomorrow. Enjoy it today (even if it’s hot outside), when you’re younger. We’re definitely not getting any younger…That, is my motto!
In conclusion:
It was great to finally explore the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. It had definitely been one of our top bucket list destinations for a very long time.
We really enjoyed our hike at the Cape Cod National Seashore (even if we got bitten by bugs), and we are so grateful we finally got to visit Provincetown. Both are iconic places in this country’s history and both are revered for those reasons. Of course, having fantastic beaches, natural beauty, and bustling cosmopolitan towns don’t hurt either!
We highly recommend adding Cape Cod region to your list of places to visit. There are so many things to learn, to do, and to explore.
Thank you for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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