May 2009
Cape Cod
Cape Cod Massachusetts, the horn like peninsular sticking out into the Atlantic 250 miles north east of New York. A very popular destination for both relaxing and activity holidays.....one of the best places in the world to go Whale Watching.
Three days in New York is enough for the wallet...but not enough time to even scratch its surface. You could easily fill every moment of a week.....and we are not city lovers. The hospitality of New Yorkers was generally great....during our first experience of the subway, we asked a commuter on the way to work for help.....10 minutes later we were converts to the subway.....and she was probably late for work. This was only one of many similar experiences. The two best ways to see Manhattan is by subway and on foot....you could classify a stay in Manhattan as a walking holiday! We hired a car in New York for the 6 hour drive to Cape Cod. Driving in New York was an interesting experience....the first 20 miles was wall to wall traffic, both into and out of the city. It is amazing that drivers remain mainly courteous and calm doing this day in and day out.
A sad sign of the teeming wild life in the USA is the number of victims at the road side.....this is a Possum, or Opossum as it is called in North America, and is its only marsupial.
The resort road around Cape Cod Bay towards Provincetown.
Provincetown is usually called P–town. The main drag is Commercial Street......
...lots of street performers.....
..and attractive buildings.
A different kind of drag....P–town is well known for its gay community....
...the police assisting ....
...a gay parade.
T-shirts for all in the shops....
Cape Cod Bay....P–town is just visible near the end of the arc.
Several Horseshoe Crabs washed up on the beach....this one was about 14in across the shell. Despite its name, it is more closely related to spiders and scorpions than to crabs. It perhaps should be called a royal crab because it's blood is blue as it uses copper rather than iron, like us, as the base of it's system.
Lots of Lighthouses...this is Cape Cod Highland Light at Truro.
Nauset Salt Marshes...
Great Island and Cape Cod Bay....
Pilgrim Monument dominates the skyline for miles around P–town. The Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed on Cape Cod first, and moved over the bay to Plymouth later.....
Pilgrim Monument Museum.....
Almost 3-D
The weather is as variable as the Lake District here.....
...the steps to the top.....
...looking up....
...looking down....
...and out of the windows over a murky P–town....
The Whale Watch Fleet.....next stop. Hope the weather improves.
