Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Day 10 - October 24 Sturbridge to South Yarmouth, Mass. (Cape Cod)

We had coffee and pastries at the Publick House before heading out of town.  We stopped at a post office so I could mail a package and pick up some more stamps.  The day was overcast so although we saw lots of pretty scenery the cloudy sky made things look dark and grey.  We went directly to Cape Cod and crossed the bridge onto the Cape heading for Sandwich.  In Sandwich we visited the Sandwich Glass Museum where we spent about an hour.  There was a video and animated presentation on the history of both the area and the glass making.  Next we watched a glass blowing demonstration during which the young man explained and demonstrated three different methods used in the process.  Pressed glass was an American contribution to the industry.  The museum had examples of all kinds of beautiful glass products with history alongside.  Of course Randi and I had to buy some things in the gift shop.

After we left the museum we walked down the street to take photos of a grist mill and the Thornton Burgess Museum.  Thornton Burgess wrote childrens' books which my sisters and I read growing up.  The museum was closed for the season--as were many things on the Cape.

We made the long drive out to Provincetown although we had planned to have lunch on the way we didn't have any luck finding places on the water or open!  I was surprised at how wooded the Cape was all the way out until very near the end.  Again, beautiful foliage but a dark day.  It was taking so long to see the ocean we finally had to drive down a random street just to see it!  We had a great lunch in Provincetown overlooking the water.  After lunch as you may have guessed, Randi and I shopped but only a little since it was getting late and we had a couple of stops to make on our way back down the Cape to our hotel.  The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown marks the place where they first came ashore.  We found the town to be delightful and wished we had more time--the streets were very narrow and we found it hard to imagine what the area must be like in the summer!

My grandparents and my cousins' families spent a few weeks each summer in Eastham and I remembered Nauset Light Beach so wanted to visit that lighthouse just to get a photo which we did as it was getting late in the day.  Next, also in Eastham, was a windmill that had been built in the 1600's which I have a small painting of back home that I had gotten while staying with my cousin there when I was 10 or 12 so wanted that photo too which I got just before dark :)  Being on the Cape again after so many years evoked those happy childhood memories...and a few when I was in college and came down with friends too but I hadn't been back in over 40 years so it was interesting to put the memories beside the actuality.  (Randi, David, and Bill were all great about stopping at these places!)

We finally arrived at the Ocean Club on Smugglers Beach in South Yarmouth and got checked in.  Our room is supposed to be an ocean view--guess we'll see in the morning!  We went out and got dinner at a place called Hearth N Kettle which had a great --extensive--menu and then came back to collapse and watch the World Series--Go Giants!

Tomorrow we are going to spend some time in Hyannis before heading to Providence and then on to New York on Friday.

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