Most people remember that the Pilgrim Fathers landed in Plymouth Massachusetts after their epic transatlantic crossing on the Mayflower (commissioned in Canterbury Kent), but in actual fact history records that they first came ashore in America at what is now Province Town at the very tip of Cape Cod. The 100ish Sepratists had left Plymouth Devon in September 1820 and after 8ish weeks at sea arrived in Cape Cod bay in early November 1620. First job to write and sign the Mayflower Compact (the first government document to be written in USA - full text can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact), in which the settlers promise to support each other to ensure survival and, interestingly, even though they were fleeing religious persecution, swears on-going allegence to the King (King James I). Whilst anchored here they also undertook 3 forrays ashore to find firewood, fresh water, and investigate the land for crop growing potential. Ashore they found evidence of the Native Americans who were living there at the time (although the locals fled on sight of the Europeans) and proceeded to ransack their stores of grain to plant themselves (not a great first step in diplomatic relations but likely necessary for survival). After 5 weeks the Pilgrims decided that the Cape and its sandy soil and dunes was not for them and so set off again to the land mass that they could see vaguely on the horizon, ultimately landing on that famous rock and establishing their settlement.
The Cape though makes a wonderful holiday destination and so we headed here for a few nights camping. It is one of the biggest barrier islands in the world (forming part of USA National Seashore) and its hooked shape is well known. It was disconnected from the mainland in 1916 when an entrepreneaur built Cape Cod canal across the isthmus. It consists of huge dunes and long white sandy beaches on the Atlantic Shore which protect the mainland from Atlantic storms (but at great expense to local erosion - it is about 1000ft narrower now than when those Pilgrims arrived here) and it has grassy inlets and calm harbours on the inside of the hook. Dotted across the island are fresh water ponds for kyaking and swimming and chocolate box villages New England style of clapper board cottages and tall steppled churches intringuingly named after small towns in UK (Sandwich being a crowd pleaser). The colours are all creams, lime greems and turquoise blues that you expect and it is of course holiday destination of choice for many rich and famous including the Kennedy's. This is the sort of place for me.
The Cape is also famous for its lighthouses. A map of the shipwrecks off the coastline rivals the Cornish coast and so in 1797 George Washington himself as President authorised the building of the first ligthhouse at Highland Point. Two more followed shortly and, bless those nineteenth century Americans, they decided to shun the British ways of distinguishing one light from another using different flashing patterns, and do it their own way - building two lighthouses on the second site and then three on the third. Even they realised eventually that this couldn't go on but it does make for some interesting buildings all these years later. The Cape of course is also where the first Marconi radio signal was received, and where the transatlantic telephone cables come ashore - awash with interesting things to visit and links to UK.
Like our other trips this year, the days were filled with good and interesting experiences - cycling down the old railway line (until one of us went flying and we needed to turn around), fish and chips on the beach whilst nuturing our family of hermit crabs that we had caught on the receeding tide, wandering around Province town and viewing the various memorials to the Pilgrims, lighthouse tours of the 3 sisters with a Park Ranger, sunset on Nauset Light beach watching the seals frolicing in the waves and best of all a trip whale watching where we saw humpback whales, minke whales, flukes and blow holes by the dozen. Oh - and did I mention that the girls completed another Junior Ranger badge - the collection is growing.
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