My Cape Cod

East Sandwich Beach is a very popular location for summer rentals. One look at the beach and you can see why. It is located on the north side of Cape Cod. To reach it you take Route 6A to Ploughed Neck Road.

If you’re looking for a beach cottage rental on Cape Cod, you’ll probably run across ads for beach cottages on East Sandwich Beach. Here’s an independent video of what the area looks like. A water view on Cape Cod can either look at the ocean or the marsh.

Flock of wild turkeys on Route 6A in Sandwich. There were about 8 of them. 

HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE PATH AT SANDY NECK BEACH If you have trouble walking in sand, but would like to explore the Cape Cod landscape, I suggest that you go to Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable. You take Route 6A to Sandy Neck Road which is at the corner where the Sandy Neck Motel is. You’ll find a paved path or walkway. It might have been meant for bicycles but there’s a lot of people using it to walk. A wheelchair or mobility scooter would also fit. There are some rolling hills so if you’re pushing a wheelchair it could be a challenge. 

Every morning my Mom and I check out the Sandwich Marina and Cape Cod Canal. For the past few days, a one-legged seagull has greeted us as we park in “our”parking space. Because my mom can’t walk too well, she has a handicapped parking tag to use. We thought it ironic that this handicapped seagull hand found such an appropriate perch - the handicapped parking space sign. We parked for a good 20 minutes and he stayed the entire time. In fact he was there, when we left! I’m not sure who was watching who.

This is the weekend that many boat owners take their boat out of the water. For many this means putting the boat on their trailer and taking it home to their back yard. Other boat owners decide to leave their boat at the Sandwich Marina. There’s two storage areas. You can see the sailboat masts in the second one. 

It’s said that Aunt Lydia Crocker haunts the second floor of the Crocker Tavern House. Despit it’s name, this house is a private residence. So you can’t stop in for a beer and search for her in person. People who have stayed in the second floor bedrooms report that they woke up to having a ghost bending over them in bed. The Crocker Tavern House is across the street from the Sturgis Library. Keep an eye on those windows, while you’re checking out a book. Never know what you’re going to see.

It’s getting near that time of year when everyone wants to hear a good ghost story. If you’re on Cape Cod you can take a haunted ghost tour which includes Cobb Hill Cemetery or you can visit it yourself. It’s located on Route 6A in back of the Unitarian Universalist church.  Paranormal experts claim that there is a entity called the Shadow that walks through the headstones. Others claim to have heard the laughter of dead little girls.  Contact the Cape and Islands Paranormal Reserch Society if you want to take one of their ghost tours of Barnstable Village. 

Take a few minutes out of a busy day on Cape Cod and visit the Green Briar Jam Kitchen and Nature Center wildflower garden. It’s a great place to recharge your soul and learn about wildflowers. Each plant is labeled, so you know what it is. 

It was a beautiful day at the Sandwich Marina and it was fun to see three large yachts, the Double Down, Illumination, and Raven, in port. There were also many fishing boats. Owners started pulling their boats for the season. We saw one already sitting in storage in the Sandwich Marina parking lot. 

A panoramic view of Shawme Pond in Sandwich, MA. It begins with a view of Cemetery Point which contains the Old Town Cemetery. It ends with a view of the Hoxie House sitting on the hill overlooking Shawme Pond. The leaves haven’t started to change color yet. 

Gorgeous panoramic views of Waquoit Bay in Falmouth, Massachusetts on the south side of Cape Cod. The entrance of the harbor is protected by two barrier beaches. Despite brisk northeast wind, the harbor remains calm. 

Blustery winds made Town Neck Beach the perfect place for some kiteboarding this morning. There were three daredevils that delight those of us who stayed in cars or sat on stonewalls to take these pictures. I have seen a lot of windsurfers on Cape Cod, but this is the first time that I have seen kiteboarding. It is really a very exciting thing to watch.

The sun was still shining on this Cape Cod salt marsh at 6 pm. It was very relaxing to watch the grasses blow in the wind and listen to a distant duck. I caught a brief glimspe of him and then he was gone. The neighborhood on the other side of the saltmarsh is Town Neck. It was once made up of small cottages. As you can see, most of them have been rebuilt into large homes. 

The cranberries were separated from their vines yesterday and allowed to float in the water. Today they are being sucked out of the water and deposited in a truck that will take them to a processing plant. Lots of people were watching. Cranberry tourism is huge in southeastern Massachusetts. 

The Green Briar Jam Kitchen has a long tradition of producing delicious jams, jellies and preserves. Their sun-cooked strawberries are my personal favorite. It began with Ida Putnam and then Martha Blake. When Miss Blake was in her Eighties, The Thornton Burgess Society assumed responsibility for this property. Under their stewardship, the jam making continued. If you would like to learn how to make jams and jellies, you can even take classes there. Many of the classes are family-friendly and children are welcome.  The Thornton Burgess society also operates a nature center and herb garden on the property. It is located on Route 6 in Sandwich, MA.

Historic Old Jail in Barnstable, MA is reportedly haunted as well. Ghost hunters report seeing apparitions and hearing voices. They also see objects moving. A few years ago it was possible to spend the night here with paranormal researchers. You can contact the Cape & Islands Paranormal Research Society, if you would like to do something like that.  On the history side, this jail was built in 1690 and held six inmates. It served as the Barnstable County Jail until 1805. It was moved to its current location in the 1970s. It is on Route 6A (Main Street) opposite the Unitarian Church and beside the Coast Guard Museum.