Sunday, Oct 7, Cape Cod

At 9:45 we departed for Cape Cod under sunny skies.

At 10:15 we arrived at Pilgrim Memorial State Park in Plymouth, which was designed around Plymouth Rock, where the Pilgrims landed in 1620 on the Mayflower to found the second English settlement on the North American continent. During the first winter, half of the 102 people brought by the Mayflower died of exposure, cold and hunger. This is a reproduction of the ship that brought the English Colonists to Plymouth in 1620.

The Plymouth Rock is believed to be the landing place of the Pilgrims. Two-thirds of the rock is underground. The rock is protected by a neoclassical granite portico erected in 1921. It was difficult to get a picture of the actual rock due to the shadows.

Across from the Rock is Cole's Hill, the scene of the secret night burials of those who died during the settlement's first bitter winter. Corn was planted over their unmarked graves so that the Native Americans would not know how many had perished.

We continued on Hwy 3, crossing the Cape Cod Canal, which links Buzzard's Bay with Cape Cod Bay. The man-made tidal canal is 7.4 miles long and has no locks or user fees. It was designed to save an average of 135 miles by not using the route around Cape Cod.

After stopping for lunch in West Yarmouth, we ran in to a traffic jam. Turned out that there was a parade thru Yarmouth today for the 34th Annual Yarmouth Seaside Festival! Taking many side roads, we finally made it back onto the highway ahead of the parade.

From there, we drove to the end of the Cape and stopped at Province Lands Visitor Center where we had great views of ever-changing sand dunes.
Cape Cod is a glacial deposit that is continuously undergoing natural change as wind and water move sand along the shorelines, tearing away one place and building up another.

Drove out on Race Point Road to the tip of the Cape where the Old Harbor Life Saving Station Museum is located. For centuries before the canal was built, a 40' beacon helped guide ships around the tricky shoals. Walked out on the beach and saw whales breaching.

I thought the tide was going out, but a big wave moved in suddenly & I almost got wet!




It started raining as we drove in to Provincetown to see the Pilgrim Monument - The Pilgrim Monument was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in Provincetown on November 21, 1620. So, they DIDN'T land first at Plymouth Rock!

The tower is 252 feet, 7.5 inches (77 meters) tall and rises 350 feet above sea level!

The heart-healthy walk to the top on 116 steps and 60 ramps only takes about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace.

The Pilgrim Monument is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States. The granite came from Stonington, Maine, and each stone is the thickness of the wall. The design is patterned after the Torre Del Mangia in Siena, Italy.

Parking was at a premium and the streets were narrow, so we just made a quick photo-stop then continued back down the Cape via Scenic Route 6A.


By the time we returned to the campground, the skies were clearing and it stopped raining!