Category Archives: Cape Cod

Woods Hole is More than A Pretty Cape Cod Town

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Woods Hole is More than A Pretty Cape Cod Town

Woods Hole, Massachusetts has always loomed large in my mind. As a kid growing up I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. At that time the place to be in that field was Woods Hole.  Cutting edge science discoveries came out of Woods Hole. Besides, they had all of the cool toys like the RV Atlantis.

The RV AtlantisRV Atlantis home to Alvin

We actually got to see it, the RV Atlantis. The RV stands for research vessel. It is one of three ships built to roughly the same specifications. Her main claim to fame is that she is often home to the DSV Alvin. DSV is Deep Submersible Vessel.  Alvin came to the public’s attention as the DSV that explored the Titanic.  Pretty cool, huh. Ok so I’m getting my “geek” on. So sorry . We didn’t see Alvin or even get on the Atlantis but for a science freak like me it was pretty special.

Follow the Fish

Squid gateWe passed a large gate adorned with squid as we wandered in the direction of the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. You really can’t miss it. Just follow the fish signs. Outside the aquarium is a decorative whale sculpture and the seal enclosure. It’s was quite sad to see the empty enclosure. Two long term residents had just died and the aquarium closed the exhibit to investigate the deaths. As far as I know they have not released any conclusions. Painted Whale scupture

Lovely Fish and more

colorful yellow fishThe aquarium is free, donations only. It’s very tiny. It won’t take even an hour to explore but the aquariums are well lit, clean and colorful. There is even a behind the scenes exhibit where you can watch the water get pumped in and filtered. Various fish swim in separate tanks apparently off display or possibly quarantined. They have a touch tank there and they  had a  cute little turtle. Cute little turtle swiming

 

colorful reef fishI’d be boring and out of my league if I started naming all of the fish they had on display so I won’t even try but they do have sea horses! 

If You Go

Woods Hole Science Aquarium is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11-4. Admission is free but donations are appreciated. Parking is very limited especially during the summer. Visitors should use public transportation if possible. There is  no off-street parking available (other than two handicapped spaces). The village has on-street metered parking, but the spots fill up quickly in busy summer months. During the summer, you may want to park in Falmouth and use the capecodtransit.org.

A Cape Cod Birthday Celebration

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A Cape Cod Birthday Celebration

What more could you ask for than spending summer time on Cape Cod. Throw in a birthday to celebrate and you have the ingredients for a perfect day. The question is, can you get there?

First there is the driveBourne Bridge to Cape Cod

 The only way on or off the “Cape” is over one of 2 bridges, the Sagamore and the Bourne. Which one you take depends on where you want to go on  the Cape. The Birthday Girl wanted a”lobsta roll” by the sea.  The Phantom Gourmet suggested Captain Kidd Restaurant in Woods Hole. The Cape Cod Birthday Adventure began at 10:30 am in Brockton, MA. About 3 miles from the Bourne Bridge traffic came to a complete stop. It didn’t matter that we were on a highway with a speed limit of 65 mph. Summer Cape traffic had brought our little excursion to a halt.

Cross Over The Bridge

We had reservations at the restaurant for 1 pm. By 12:00 we had the bridge in sight but we were still just inching along. Finally we squeezed into the 2 lanes of traffic to climb the bridge over the Cape Cod Canal. The views from the bridge are amazing, marred only by the suicide barrier installed to keep the depressed and hopeless alive until they can get help. What a depressing thought!

Captain Kidd RestaurantPicture window

Once over the bridge the traffic began to move and in less that 30 minutes we were entering the little town of Woods Hole. We spotted the restaurant as we waited for a draw bridge to close after letting several small pleasure boats pass from the inner harbor out to the open ocean.

With luck we found parking about a block from the restaurant. In spite of the reservation there was no room on the outdoor deck. The compromise was a table right in front of a large picture window looking out over the inner harbor.

 

Lobster rollsLobster Rolls were the lunch of the day as the birthday girl, her son and daughter all indulged in the seasonal delicacy.

 

I had to be different with a plate of fried sea scallops fresh from the boat. Trust me, you can’t mistake frozen for fresh. The difference is huge. Fried Scallops

 

 

 

 

We were all stuffed after that lunch so a break at the Aquarium before we looked for desert seemed like a great plan.

 

 

Orca!

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My neighbors and I were discussing my whale watch adventure and one of them kept asking if I saw any pretty black and white whales. I said not, Orca’s don’t come down to our coast.

That night on the news the headline was ORCA SIGHTING OFF CHATHAM, CAPE COD!

Orca

Guess that will each me to say we don’t get killer whales around here!

Read more here:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/05/fisherman-spots-orcas-off-chatham-rare-sight-for-new-england/X8F0w9iBOXgASgycnWcMBM/story.html

 

Mermaid Kisses ~ Starfish Wishes

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This was quite a weekend. Memorial day 2016 ranged from HOT HOT HOT to cool and rainy. Something for everyone.

Saturday was the best day and my original plan was to head to the beach. But after some thought I decided on a whale watch. I figured if it was 90 degrees and the first weekend of the summer that I would be one of many who would be heading to the beach. So Instead I headed to Plymouth and the Captain John Boats.

I stopped for lunch at Cabby Shack where I spotted the wall art quoted in the title.

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I just like the whimsy.

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Once I had lunch out of the way I headed over to the boat. I was very early but once again I was concerned about summer crowds. Turns out it wasn’t too bad.

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Whale's Tail-2a

If it was 90 degrees on shore the temperature dropped like a stone once we left the harbor. I was glad I brought a warm hoodie. The trip took us the the same place we always seem to end up, the tip of Cape Cod just off Provincetown. There, with the Pilgrim Tower in the background, we spotted out first and only whale of the day.

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It was a juvenile humpback. Our Naturalist estimated it was the calves’s first year without its mother.  A sighting of such a young animal is rare according to the naturalist. Once the more mature whales arrive you don’t see these “yearlings” so often.

Whale's Tail

Our “little guy” was very active. He’d surface, cruise then we’d see him “hump” his back, the tail would start up and then there it was, the fluke indicating he was going into a dive. He’s be gone about 5-6 minutes then do it all again.

Here’s the back

There's the back

There’s the back

He comes the tail

Humpback

Humpback

And there’s the fluke.

There's the Tail

There’s the Tail

What a great day!

 

Food, Fun and Sun

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The Scallop Festival opened up at 10 AM. Now I may love scallops but I don’t know about eating a plate at 10 am. Somehow my tummy just isn’t ready for it at that time. Besides, we’d just had a big breakfast at I HOP so I wasn’t ready for anything more to eat right away.

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The Scallop Fest has been going on for 40 years or so but this was the first time I ever went. The weather forecast this morning was cool with chance of showers and thunderstorms. They lied.

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I bet it was mid 70’s when we parked at the fairgrounds in Falmouth at 11:30 and well on its way to mid 80s, The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue with white fluffy clouds. Not a thunderhead in sight.

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There were loads of vendors and even though we were taking out time we were both soon soaked with sweat. Sandy made a new friend of the Geico gecko.DSC_1261a

Sandy was wearing one of my black T Shirts so you can image how that got hot pretty quickly. She found a T Shirt stand and bought a lighter colored and it so happened lighter weight T shirt. There was plenty of room in the rest rooms so she did a quick change there.

I located a hematite jewelry kiosk and couldn’t resist a double strand magnetic bracelet. The stall owner went on and on about the healing properties of the hematite but I bought it because I liked it. If it eases joint pain that’s just a bonus.

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I also found a little black cat head, like it was peaking around a corner, that I will mount on the kitchen wall as soon as I get a ladder.

There were bands playing on the main stage. They were all pretty good but I liked The Reminisants the best. They sang oldies by artists like the Moody Blues (Knights in White Satin), Neil Diamond (Sweet Caroline), Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and even The Beatles. I could name every song and every artist. Fun.

And then there was the food. Of course there was the main attraction, Fried Scallops but if that wasn’t enough there was ice cream, fried dough, strawberry shortcake, fudge and on and on. No one will go hungry here today.

scallop plate

There was a huge “Bouncy Park” for all sizes. Sandy and I pulled up chairs and watched the  little dare devils jump from the ramparts of one bouncy house.

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The younger kids were fearless but as they got older they got more hesitant.

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We even saw a drone hovering nearby. Look up in the sky….

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We ate our plates of scallops in a shaded picnic grove. It was a relief from the sun. The heat wasn’t too bad when the breeze blew but it was sure warm when it stopped.

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I don’t know what they consider a crowd but it seemed like there were a lot of people but not so many that there were lines.

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We wrapped up our day about 3 pm and wonder of wonders, the drive off cape was as easy as it had been in the morning.  No 3 mile back up for us!