Day 6: Going back home.

Sunday September 12:

We have a long drive back to Ottawa, and we want to do it in one day this time, so we get up at 6:00 and clear out of the Inn, packed, checked and double checked by 7:15. Therefore we have no breakfast there that morning, because they don't start it until 8:00. But the ever present chef is already there. Smart ass that I am, I ask him if he has a twin. (Predictably, no!)

We end up getting a breakfast about 90 minutes later at McDo's right by the Sagamore bridge. McGriddle sandwiches (or as we call them: squishy burgers) hashbrowns and coffee. Normally we eat a McDo's maybe once or twice a year, but still I am amazed that the service is much faster and friendlier in the US than in Ottawa. Clearly it is not impossible.

We proceed through Boston, and since it is Sunday the roads are very quiet. It looks like a city that is definitely worth exploring at some point in the future. This time we take I89 from Concord so that we can go through Burlington VT on the way back. When we lived in Montreal we went there usually once per summer, but we have not been there since 1997.

Black and white cows are grazing in peaceful pastures by the road. So Vermont! Contrary to our trip down, we do see some beginning fall colour. Here and there is suddenly a bright red spot on the mountainside. We make very good time so we calculate that we can actually wait to have lunch in Burlington. We stop at a K-Mart in Lebanon VT to pick up some throat lozenges, because I am starting to feel it already. We pick up some half decent coffee there as well.

We get to Burlington at about 13:15. It has not changed much, just been updated really. We browse in a Barnes and Noble bookstore, and  have lunch in a pub on the Church Street Marketpace.

There is some event going that weekend, and there are all sorts of bandstands and performers.  We stop to watch a street performer jump through a fire ring. It's all about the build up and his routine, not about the jump. He gets a volunteer from the audience, and first pretends that he will set this person on fire. It turns out he is using water instead of a flammable liquid, and when the person fails to catch fire, he takes us all to task for not attempting to intervene. He does finally jump through the burning hoop, but he keeps talking first until the flames are very small. But he does put on an entertaining show.

After Burlington we take the road through the Champlain Islands, and cross back into Canada at Noyan, in order to avoid the Sunday lineups at the big Lacolle crossing. They have not seen this from people from Ottawa, and so we explain that we used to live in Montreal. We continue our way across Candiac and St-Catherines where we have a real life traffic jam for no detectable reason, and cross the river via the Mercier bridge. We make it home by 8 pm.

Day 5: a whale of a time

Saturday September 11:

The warm breakfast today is Quiche, two different kinds. He has the ham and cheddar one, and I go for English muffins. We are starting to notice that the chef, who actually takes your order himself at the "wicket" by the buffet, is there at 8:00 am and still there late at night to cook for the dinner guests. Those are really long days!

Today we will meet up with a friend in Barnstable to take a the Hyannis whale watcher cruise together. Although it has been very warm all our trip so far, I decide to put capri pants instead of shorts, a thicker top, and take a sweater. I figure that this is plenty, and I can lose the sweater if I am too hot. It turns out not to be enough, and so I come off the boat four and a half hours later with both a sunburn and a cold (which I won't realise until Sunday afternoon.) 

On the way to the departure point we see various memorial events because it is 9/11. What we pass by involves mostly local fire halls. 


We meet up at the cruise line's souvenir store around 10:30, get our tickets, and chat a bit in the sun. Boarding starts at 11:00

The boat takes off at 12:00 and it will take an hour to get to the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary where the whales are. The 130 foot ship has 5 diesel jet engines (no propellers) and goes at a fast speed. It is pitching and the nose bounces on the waves a lot. There is a strong north-eastern wind, and there are whitecaps on the waves out at sea. I go down to the galley to get a burger for me and a hot dog for the photographer, figuring that later I would not want to lose my spot at the railing. I have  a "moment" when I see that a fully frozen burger with bun is removed from a wrapper and popped in the microwave.  I forgo getting anything to drink for either of us, I have no idea how I'd get it back upstairs. I just barely manage to get the food back upstairs without wearing it, and much to my surprise the burger is actually pretty good. Mystery!

On the way out we pass the Sandy Neck. It has a lighthouse and some cottages which are almost, but not quite at the end of this strip of land. According to the commentator, these have no electricity or running water, and the lighthouse is solar powered. It used to burn whale oil! The Sandy Neck is actually growing, as the sea is depositing sand there, explaining why the lighthouse is no longer on the tip at all, the exact opposite situation from the Highland lighthouse.

We sail almost due north and pass the end of the cape and Provincetown from the ocean side. You can see the town hall and library bell towers, and of course, the Pilgrim monument.

At Race Point we see the same white coast guard building, (from the morning of day 3) but this time from the sea.

   
After an hour sail at a good speed, we arrive at the sanctuary. We learn that this sanctuary was created by an emergency act of Congress in 1992 to stop the city of Boston from dumping their construction debris here. Boston was going through something called the big dig, and had a lot of excess earth. Two things baffle me about that. First that in 1992 we still consider this kind of "solution", and second that there was no other place for all that earth. (It will cost money to transport it no matter where!) Around my own area, I often see signs with "clean fill wanted" on them.

The whale watching experience is amazing. The first animal we see is a humpback whale, and the grand dame of the sanctuary, with her calf, which is playing and jumping out of the water.

You can sort of track them in the water, because their white patches appear lime green in the water due to the plankton.

The person doing the commenting is really much better than average, and his cheesy jokes are well integrated in a very informative commentary. Among the more interesting bits:

• Whales cannot drink any salt water. They get all their water from the fish they eat.
• They spend the winter in the Caribbean, where they do not eat or drink at all. (So unlike what we would do.)
• No two whales have the same pattern of white markings, and this pattern does not set for two years.
• Newborn calves can't swim, they have to be taught.
• Those calves gain 150 lbs per day on mother's milk. As they are born in the Caribbean, mom is not eating at all at this point. (No details on her mood!)

 At one point a different whale seems to be performing specifically for us, resurfacing and then slapping the tail on the water. The animal pulled this stunt about 5 times in a row, and then repeated it on the other side of the ship. You can't help but wonder how they perceive us.

There is another whale watching cruiser nearby and we watch the ship dance on the waves like a teacup. The jet engines pods allow the captain to turn the boat almost in place, and when he does so the ship rolls side to side with a vengeance. The effect of the rocking is amplified for the photographer by the use of a telephoto lens on his camera, and he gets really quite seasick. Still other passengers have it worse, and need to hang around the garbage can.

After about 2.5 hrs in the sanctuary (which absolutely flew by) we head back to dock. On the way back in the Sandy Neck is illuminated differently by a golden sun at a much lower angle, and despite feeling sick, he still manages to get some spectacular shots. Almost as soon as we step back on land he starts to feel better. 

This was an amazing experience, and I am glad we did it.

The three of us go for dinner at the Old Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans. They make a tasty cocktail out of dark rum and ginger beer. It's the first place where I see the lobster is affordable, so that's what I have for dinner. We spend almost three hours talking, and then part ways again.

When we get back to Provincetown we discover that the sea air made us hungrier than we thought and we decide to have a dessert in the Inn. Very good, and it's a pity that we never ended up trying the restaurant there other than breakfast. We go up to the room, and watch Angels and Demons this evening. The book was better!

Day 4: All about Provincetown

Friday September 10. This morning the hot breakfast offering is pancakes, either sweet potato or buttermilk, with bacon or sausage and maple syrup. He gets the sweet potato with bacon, and I get the buttermilk, so we can switch in case one of us does not like it. No need to worry, tasty tasty tasty.

We decided that this morning we would fully explore Provincetown, primarily the shops on commercial street, and then take in the regatta scheduled for 15:00 in the afternoon.  We agree to skip climbing the pilgrim monument. Although we have been exercising more recently, this seems like just a bit too many stairs to be actually enjoyed.

First we walk around Portuguese square and the town hall. Provincetown has a sizable Portuguese community that was attracted by the fishing on the Cape. Someone at the Inn  told another guest (who told us) that the summer population in Provincetown is 75,000, and that this shrinks to 1,500 in the winter. I think this is an exaggeration, and after some internet research I conclude it is  actually from about 60,000 to 6,000. Still this means it swells to ten times it's size in summer.

The town hall building is undergoing a major renovation, but it is far enough along that you can see it will look nice when it is done. The clock strikes five minutes after the hour, but I am still convinced that was not what I heard the evening before. That bell just kept going and going. This mystery is never solved.

Across the street from the town hall is a small park with a bronze mural depicting the signing of the Mayflower Compact. This is considered part of the pilgrim monument. We linger for a while, the light is just right for the photographer.

We move on to the main tourist shopping strip. Commercial street is a  rather narrow street, that  runs along the water and there are shops, houses and restaurants on both sides. On the water's side there are sometimes short little side streets.

Cars carefully negotiate the narrow road which is full of pedestrians, but no one honks. At one point a person waits patiently to turn into a driveway next to a house while an oblivious mother attends to her child in a stroller. No honking, not even the cars behind him, everyone just waits until another pedestrian draws the mother's attention to the fact that she is blocking the road. Amazing!

Every once in a while a classic or unusual car makes it's way by us. There are many art galleries and stores selling nick-knacks new and used. If you like rummaging in antique stores and the like, this is the place for you. There are two stores devoted to Portuguese pottery and china. (Gorgeous!) They sell the exact same things including the same cookbooks. There was an octagonal store called the glass gazebo, full of Frank Lloyd Wright style stained glass panels. And there was a gallery with beautiful photographs of the seashore.

We spend some time in the most amazing junk store that sells everything from sea shells, old plastic doll's heads (why?), brown glass bottles from an old Czechoslovakian apothecary, coca cola signs from the 50's, Chinese embroidered handbags, rude t-shirts, army surplus gear and marine accessories to airline first class dishes.We sort of walk through this place wondering what we will see next.

Eventually the photographer finds a book at a nice bookstore, and I find a tie-die t-shirt in a very 1979 themed store. We are tempted by many other things, but then, we always are. By now it is time for a coffee and a small snack on the patio at Joe's coffee shop. The apricot square turns out to be filling enough that we never have a need to have lunch, and continue to explore. We notice there are at least 8 real estate offices on this street.

In the afternoon from 15:00 to 17:00 there is supposed to be a regatta, so at about 2:45 we make our way to what we think is going to be the best place to watch this: the pier where the fast ferry for Boston also leaves.

 To our surprise we get front row "seats" right at the end of the pier on the concrete edge. We strike up a conversation with the people next to us, and pretty quickly we find out why. It seems that due to hurricane Earl, many of the ships that were supposed to participate could not sail to Provincetown. The showpiece, the Alabama did make it, but they are giving tours of the ship to the public, and don't seem to be in any hurry to raise their sails.

Eventually there is some activity. First the Bay Lady II sails by. One of the people next to us quips that this is not a parade of sail, but more a monorade. We continue to watch as a small number of ships circle the breakwater in front of the pier. One black hulled ship scares the bejeezus out of us by setting of a charge of powder right in front of us.

 At about 16:45 I get up to go ask if the Alabama will still sail. When I get to the place where she is moored, they are just raising the first sail. There is not much wind at this point, and we watch her slowly pivot in the harbour while still being tied at the back. It takes an eternity for her to just exit the harbour at a snails pace, but we wait hoping to get that good shot. Finally  she passes the breakwater, and we expect her to turn to circle it. But she continues directly out to sea, and does not cirle the breakwater at all. Luckily, we manage to get some decent shots anyways.

After this somewhat anti-climactic regatta, we stroll slowly back along the pier, and get a nice view of the shore while the light is changing to evening.

By now it is about 18:00, and we are hungry. We choose the Black and White Cafe for dinner, but when they seat us in the back of the building near the windows, the place smells like wet moldy basement, and the menu they give me is dirty, so we decide to leave and go back to Bay side Betsy's for their mega martinis, steak for him and seared tuna over ratatouille for me. Yum! After dinner I pop into an antique store across the street that I somehow did not notice during the day, and I find a cute blown glass vase.

The movie this evening is Walk the line, and it lives up to the hype.

Day 3: Dunes, lighthouses and villages.

Thursday September 9 is going to be a day of driving, stopping and exploring the area.

The inn offers a daily breakfast buffet, and also a choice of one of two hot breakfast offerings, different  each morning. Today's hot breakfast is either scrambled eggs and sausages or eggs Benedict, but I opt for granola and a banana. We sit on the enclosed porch, and watch a surprising number of late seventies and early eighties Mercedes cars go by. It turns out there is a mercedes taxi cab company in the area, which uses exclusively older models. Kind of a neat idea.


It is definitely shorts weather again. We drive to the outer coast of the Cape directly facing the Atlantic Ocean rather than the bay, to walk on the beach. This is part of the Cape Cod National Sea Shore. We cross the dunes and step onto a real (i.e. salt water) beach for the first time in a while. There is a pretty strong wind, as you would expect on a beach. The tide seems to be coming in, the water comes a little further up the beach with each wave. I collect some smooth stones for my jars (bookends) and find a "gold" bracelet on the beach, value unknown, I suspect it is an Avon-special, because it has no weight to it. Clumps of seaweed have washed ashore that look like a mop. It's there to remind me that the one thing I didn't finish before we left is mopping the kitchen floor.

Walking on the beach is good exercise, especially the inclined access paths through the dunes. We visit herring cove beach, race point beach, and then continue our way past the municipal airport to the visitor center, where once again, no one knows about any currently exposed ship wrecks. (Again a very disappointed photographer, who really wanted to see something like this.) The building is again very nice, and there is an upper level with a lookout deck. From the boards on the  deck we learn that these dunes are a result of humans putting too much cattle on the land and harvesting too much wood. This eroded the soil, and caused the sand to appear. Apparently the forest used to come right up to the sea. The question is whether we should let the landscape revert back to that. It is a tough question. The area is absolutely beautiful, but the sea is slowly eating away at it. Decisions, decisions.

The white building on the horizon in this picture (taken from the observation deck) is the same building as you see in the photo above it.


We move on to the Highland Lighthouse and museum in Truro. The original wooden lighthouse on that location was authorised by George Washington, and it was the oldest lighthouse on Cape Cod. The current lighthouse structure was in danger of falling into the sea from erosion of the dune cliff, but the community managed to raise the money to move the lighthouse 453 feet back from the water. (The coastguard and the state of Massachusetts chipped in too.) Once it was jacked up and on steel beams, the actual move took 19 days. Ivory soap was used to allow it to slide over the steel beams. That just shows you that sometimes the basics are still the best. The cost was U$ 1.54 million, a figure that I find actually surprisingly low, considering the time and effort involved, and the outrageous price tags I hear for projects in the City of Ottawa.

This link takes you to a video on YouTube which shows the move of the building using time lapse photography.

We climb the spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse, and enjoy the view. The strobe light seems very dim from up close.The photographer makes his contribution navigational safety by cleaning the windows of the lighthouse to his own standards with tissue paper. (Before taking pictures, of course.) 

You can see the Pilgrim Monument in P-town in the center of the horizon.

Look carefully, you can see his reflection, three times!

On the spot where the lighthouse used to stand is now an observation platform. You have to stay on it, because the dune cliff is highly unstable, and chunks could shear off any time. The drop has to be about 75 feet or more.

We move on in search of lunch, and through driving around find ourselves in Wellfleet, one of the cutest little hidden communities we saw there. We have lunch on the patio at in Winslow's Tavern on the main street, figs stuffed with roasted Gorgonzola on spring greens for me, swordfish skewer with sauteed peppers for the photographer. The iced tea is real! (For anyone familiar with my recent rant.)

We decide to continue to explore the outer rim, and make our way along route 28, seeing all sorts of pretty houses and spots to stop, get out, go to the water and take a picture. We eventually end up spending some time browsing  in Chatham, a cute area with a main street full of little shops, and the best stocked bookstore I have seen in years. Nearby is the Chatham lighthouse, and a beach where sometimes seals visit. It appears that they are out with those beavers from Franconia Notch. (i.e: not home) We get a coffee to go in a little shop, and continue on the road. The only disappointing area we come across is around Barnstable airport, where the neighbourhood looks decidedly un-cape cod-ish. We make our way back to P-town via the bay side shore, and drop the car at the hotel.

We then walk up to the shoreline in P-town and take some pictures while the sun is going down over the water. While we stroll along the water near the harbour, a church bell keeps ringing at a slow steady pace, giving this eerie feeling of "disaster in a fishing village". I can't figure out where it comes from, and when I ask around the next day, people look at me funny.


This evening we end up eating pasta at Bubala's by the bay. They have the heaters out on their patio which is on Commercial street side (as opposed to on the water's side.) We watch the people walk by on the street, most of the stores are still open, and there is almost as many people walking around as during the daytime.

This evening's movie is The break-up. It's all right, but I just can't imagine why she would have stayed with him for two years. Is it so hard for Hollywood to write a more complicated (i.e. real) character?

Day 2: Plymouth to Provincetown

Wednesday September 8. We have breakfast in designated area adjacent to the hotel reception desk. It is a buffet style affair, simple but tasty. We have waffles with syrup and some fruit. It is still pretty early so we have our second coffee to go and walk up the street and up the hill to see the forefathers monument. This 81 foot tall set of sculptures is supposed to be one of the tallest monuments in the US. It stands oddly out of the way on an open area of land that is bordered by residential streets. I can only think the town must have changed around it. I wonder how many people miss this because it is away from the town center where the other attractions are. Moving it does not seem to be a realistic option. It is an impressive set of sculptures, but it is so large that I can just reach up to touch the marble friezes inset at the four corners of the base. They are absolutely gorgeous.  Faith, the big statue has a birds nest on her head. Law is missing some fingers that appear to have frozen off.

 Yep, that's me in the yellow t-shirt!

We walk back to the hotel and pack our gear into the car, and after check-out, relocate to the center of town, where Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II are located. The rock is located in a neo-classical structure right on the water's edge, and the water comes right into the structure. It seems to be only a fraction of the original rock. The interpretive display boards note that the rock was identified only many years later, and acknowledges the folkloric nature of the rock. We stare down at the stone which is about 6 by 4 feet when seen from above, and has 1620 carved into the top. A mother arrives with her son, whom we guess to be about five years old, and says: "look at the rock, honey".  He denies seeing any rock at all, and keeps this up the whole time he is there. One of the State Park employees falls for the kid's gag, and tries in vain to point out the thing, which is as obvious as a table in an otherwise empty dining room.

We leave young Bart Simpson and his mother at the rock, and visit the Mayflower II. A combi-discount pass is obtained so that we can see the Plimoth plantation later today for less than purchasing the tickets separately. We pass an through an area with exhibits about shipping in the early 1600's before boarding the actual ship, which is an exact replica of the original Mayflower. Actors speak to you as if they were pilgrims or sailors of the time, and explain what you would like to know. They are very outgoing, and make every effort to engage you in conversation. It's hard to wrap your head around the fact that 102 passengers plus the crew lived in this kind of close quarters, with their stuff and food for the trip as well. My best guess would have been that it could house 50 people who would have to sleep in three shifts. The kitchen with the brick "stove", and simple hole in the deck above for the smoke to escape is something else. It is also supposed to house 12 people. They are cooking authentic food for the actors. A porridge of oats, wheat and some currants.

After exploring the ship for a while we walk around the town and go up Leyden street. This is the oldest street in town, but none of the original houses remain. It was named Leyden street much later, apparently it was originally called First Street. (Which may actually be more appropriate.) It still feels pretty old nevertheless. At the top of the street is the First Parish Church, the current building of the congregation started by the pilgrims before they came to North America. Behind it is Burial Hill where some of the pilgrims are buried. We skip that and go off to the Jenny Grist Mill, which is closed, but still a nice photographic subject in a pretty park. We also visit the Richard Sparrow house, built in 1640, which now houses an artist studio and trinket store. One room is set up like 1640, but the age of the house is impossible to ignore even in the little store. There is a brick fireplace about 5 feet wide, and the doors and windows in the place feels like it was designed for smaller people. The upstairs is closed off, but the stairs feel just tiny.

In general the feel of the place is that something used to be there. Very little actually remains as a direct tangible link with the community founded in 1620.  And if you think what a hard life they had (half died of cold and starvation the first winter) that is not surprising.

On the way back to the car we see a building from about 1900, a four story commercial building, which is called landmark building. We resolve to get business cards with our names and "important person" below that.
We get back in the car and make our way to Plimoth Plantation. In the entrance building to the park stands the Mooflower. A model of the Mayflower with cows legs and a head sticking out. Why? Google explains all, and I later discover that it was made for a cow parade in Boston.Someone really needs to take a dust cloth to the thing, though! People have been writing in the dust on the deck.

We show our combi-pass tickets and are directed to the theatre. In a short film, which plays continuously,  pilgrim actors explain that they came to this area because their life as exiles in Leiden, Holland was so hard, and native peoples explain the impact of the arrival of the white settlers through disease and conflict. Then you go out into the park. First you visit an area where native people show and discuss life at that time and today. They do not act, they simply answer the questions you ask. It is impressive to see the winter houses built from tree bark, and the summer houses done with grass mats. But there are very few people there, and the place is clearly on "after labour day" staff, although the park is open until November 29. They are not on their best game with the exception of one young man who does actively interact with the visitors.

 Next is the settlers village where to my surprise all they have are houses and it seems everyone is a small time farmer. No blacksmith or such anciliary activity is visible, only large brick bread ovens. This is supposed to be 1630, ten years after landing. There is a church meeting hall which doubles as a fort, clearly set up for defensive purposes. Again only one person feels like talking to us in this section. In his house he has a four poster bed and ornately carved cupboards. (Where is this carpenter?) The windows have no glass. We briefly discuss winter, he said it is long and very dark, because of shutters on the windows. As on the Mayflower II these are actors pretending to be people from the 1630's but they are harder to engage in conversation. I wonder how they survived at all, because the village does not appear to be self sufficient.

 The mystery is explained somewhat in the craft center, where a display comparing the diets of native people and the pilgrims notes that they relied on "imports". So it must have been the same for furniture, crockery etc.

The ubiquitous souvenir shop is exactly that. Skip.

I have to admit that I am spoiled with the quality of the park and the staff at Upper Canada Village. The people there engage you in conversation the moment they are reasonably sure you are within earshot, and if they are open, they are fully staffed. I find this experience somewhat underwhelming. So much more could be done with it to make it a true interactive experience as it was meant to be. When viewing photographs of this place on flickr.com, I get the very strong impression you have to go there in July or August.

We buy a panini sandwich at a Panera shortly outside of Plymouth, and continue on to the Cape. We cross the Sagamore Bridge onto the Cape, and begin the the long route 6 road. The landscape changes, there is now sand in the ground, and a lot more gnarly pine trees. We stop at the Salt pond National Park Service building, an impressive airy building. We try to find out if there are any shipwrecks uncovered at the moment, but they don't know. Apparently it is the luck of the draw what the beach will expose, usually very temporarily, after a storm. Very disappointed photographer.

We continue along Route 6A along the shore. Rows of beach cabins sit on the water's edge, and also many bigger cottages. Eventually we enter Provincetown and locate the Crowne Pointe Inn. Google maps makes something easy really difficult in this case, so we drive by it at least once. We check in and are on time for the complementary five o'clock wine and cheese social. It will be the only time we do that, all the other days we are still out at that time. During the wine and cheese (by the pool)  it starts to rain, and it rains for an hour, but we are under one of the umbrellas and don't get wet. We stay and keep chatting with a couple from Connecticut who are celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary and look nowhere near old enough for it.

The pool features a floating alligator, who seems to be intent on eating the rubber ducks on the edge, especially when it looks like he is emerging from the skimmer. The ducks are oblivious. My imagination is always like this, even before the first glass of wine!  

The hotel is a collection of buildings that are arranged around a central courtyard and garden. The place is beautifully maintained and planted, and has a pleasant feel of being well worn in due to the red brick used to pave the courtyards. There is a pleasant smell of sage and/or bay, but I can't figure out where it actually comes from. The spa area features a koi pond.

We have a beautiful if not overly spacious room with the biggest bathtub I have ever seen in my life. I keep stubbing my toe getting in because I still didn't lift my leg high enough. For some reason the Ghettysburg address hangs in the toilet.

We are not very hungry after the substantial Panera lunch and the wine and cheese but we also know that we will be hungry at 11:00 pm, and we are not at home with the snack cupboard, so we strike out to Commercial street to get a snack. We land at Bayside Betsy's, where we have serious martinis (huge) and shrimp and escargots. There are lots of people on the street and it feels very alive. We walk by some  of the little shops and art galleries, and take our martini soaked brains back to the Inn. They have a list of DVD's you can borrow, so we decide to see The Taking of Pelham 123. I fall asleep halfway. Sorry Denzel.