Barnstable is a collection of smaller villages which include:
Hyannis, Hyannis Port( summer home of the Kennedy Family), Centerville,
Osterville, Wianno, Marston's Mills, Barnstable, West Barnstable, and
probably several others [CJS]
Hyannis is the biggest city on the Cape and has malls, fast food, night clubs,
and lots of action. [JB]
Hyannis is the only real 'urban' center on the Cape - with a mall and fast food
places and assorted stuff (on rainy days during the Summer the Cape Cod Mall
is wall-to-wall people)... Hyannis and Dennis/Dennisport) is where most of the
college kids stay during the Summer. There are tons of bars and dance clubs,
cheap seafood restaurants, moccasin shops, seedy miniature gold courses [some
good ones too], etc. [TG]
|
In Sandwich there are several nice museums (one from the old Sandwich Glass
factory and another which has antique cars an old carrousel, a huge
rhododendron garden, etc.). [TG]
[I beleive the second museum mentioned above is the Heritage Plantation of
Sandwich. Open Mother's Day - end of Oct. daily 10-5 (508)888-3300. The first
one is the Sandwich Glass Museum Open Apr-Oct, daily 9:30-4:30; Nov-Mar, Wed-
Sun 9:30-4:00, Closed Jan (508)888-0251 CJS]
|
There is ... a very nice Natural History Museum and trails, etc. in Brewster
[TG]
[ Cape Cod Museum of Natural History; Open Mon-Sat 9:30-4:30, Sun 12:30-4:30,
May-mid Oct. Closed Mon, mid Oct-May (508)896-3867 CJS]
[Other attractions to Brewster include:] Nickerson State Park and its
wonderful camping and fresh water swimming, the Cape Cod Rail Trail, the
finest dining on the Cape (Chillingsworth, High Brewster, the Brewster Fish
House) the best of Cape Cod's Bed & Breakfasts (The Brewster Farmhouse Inn,
the Captain Freeman Inn), the finest of antique shops and art galleries and
potteries, the Punkhorn Parklands, the Bassett Wild Animal Farm, the
Cape Cod Fire and History Museum, the summer band concerts overlooking
Cape Cod Bay, the historic homes of sea captains along the Old King's
Highway, the Brewster General Store (an institution).... [BM]
|
Falmouth and Woods Hole are the convenient (to Bostonians and New Yorkers)
places to get the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. There is a very famous
oceanographic institute in Wood's Hole, but I don't think they have much in
terms of tours. [TG]
[National Marine Fisheries Service runs a small aquarium which is open weekdays
in the off season and 7 days in summer; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
runs an exhibit center on School St. in Woods Hole which is open every day but
Monday in summer and weekends in the shoulder season. CJS]
Restaurants in Woods Hole [NOTE: most of these restaurants are seasonal.
The dates they are closed change every year]:
The Black Duck - waterside dining - I've only eaten there once. It was
cafeteria style and a bit over priced for the type of
restaurant(IMHO). NOTE: New owners in '96 - haven't tried
it again
The Fishmonger - Water view - no outside seating. I like the food there.
They have many Vegetarian foods there. (closed Tues.)
The Landfall - I ate there for my birthday last summer and enjoyed it very much
they have tables in front of French Doors that open onto the
water - nice. Very Cape Coddy. The food is ok but it's not my
favorite place for fried seafood.
The Leeside - I've eaten there. It's good. It overlooks the Ferry terminal
and I believe is open all year.
The Captain Kidd - lots of local color here and a glass porch and deck for
in or outside dining w/ a view. Food is good and reasonble.
Looks like hell but I'd say it's the favorite of employees here
(at WHOI) ( open all year except for ~4 wks in late
winter/early spring)
The Dome - outside the village on the left on your way in. VERY nice but
expensive. I'm not sure they're open for lunch. closed in
winter.
The Food Buoy - great sandwiches and hot foods to go (open all year) [CJS]
Public Parking in Woods Hole is restricted to street parking at meters and
fills up very fast in the summer [CJS]
|
From Chatham up to P-Town there is much more focus on open space and
artsy/craftsy stuff. There is a higher kiln and canvas-store ratio to
inhabitant here than almost anywhere on the planet - if you liek to look at
local artisans' work this is the best area - with Wellfleet probably the
center of it all. [TG]
Wellfleet is a wonderful town. I go there myself for a week every June. There
are MANY art galleries. A good restaurant there Is The Bookstore It's just
beyond the Town Pier. Good sea-food and upstairs you can see the harbor. If
there's a wind and the tide is in, the windsurfers abound. There's also a small
live theater across the street that's been making a name for itself over the
last ten years or so. it's called W.H.A.T. ( Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theater).
There's free parking at the town marina. Also across from the Bookstore is a
beach that has free parking. It's not so good at low tide for anything but
beachcombing but at high tide the water is warm amd calm. Great for small
children. [CJS]
|
For warmer beaches South Cape Beach in Mashpee is also big and nice. [CJS]
|
I've had a great time shopping in Chatham Center [CJS]
|
My husband and I went to Martha's Vineyard for our honeymoon four years ago,
in May. I really loved it, but I have to warn you - there's NOTHING to do.
Perfect for a honeymoon :). We stayed at an inn, can't remember the name
but I could look it up if you want. It was Captain...Something. We had
a suite, the breakfast was good, and they had a croquet court and served
'tea' each afternoon.
We took the ferry from Wood's Hole and took a car. You could rent scooters
there just as well.
I don't remember much about the restaurants, except that there aren't many
open in the off season. We went to two restaurants that I remember and
bought chips and dip from the A&P for one dinner!
There are beautiful white clay cliffs you can walk around (watch out for the
nude sunbathers, they are really attractive in May - all white and pasty
looking :) ), plus a light house, beaches, some shops, a winery (which was
not open when we were there), and two movie houses. The movie houses
are each open on separate halves of each week and share the movie. You bring
your own drinks and snacks, it's pretty fun. They also have lots of
beautiful old houses if you like architecture.
I really enjoyed MV, I suggest you try it, but you may want to just stay
a few days and go to Nantucket, Cape Cod, or Boston. We went for one night
to a very old inn in Cape Cod then to MV for about 4 days then to Boston for
three days. Boston was great, we walked the historical tour, went to the
art museum, and to a baseball game.
In the off season (not mem day-labor day) things are really quite and lots
of places close down. Expect higher prices than the mainland.
From: [TC]
< about showing up for the ferry with no reservation for a car and getting on>
Sorry, but chance are almost NIL. Zero. Zippo. Zilch. Don't even think
about counting on it. :) You need to reserve months if not weeks in advance.
It's not worth bringing a car to Martha's Vineyard anyway. Too much hassle,
too much money.
Getting around the Vineyard is very easy without a car. There are shuttle
buses that frequently go between Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown.
There's a less frequent bus that goes from each of the three towns above
across the Vineyard to Gay Head. You can also rent bicycles and mopeds.
Putt-putting in a moped sounds like an interesting way to see the island.
If you really need a car, you can still rent one. They may be lemons, but
they run. But gas is kind of pricey on the island. Finding a rental place
is very easy. Just look around once you get off the ferry.
Despite the popularity of the Vineyard, it's still a really nice looking
island. If you look hard enough, you can escape the crowds and have parts of
the island to yourself. There's enough out there to explore.
From: [SC]
< about showing up for the ferry with no reservation for a car and getting on>
I don't know the details, but a friend of mind went last year
without a reservation. He was stuck waiting for 12 hours before
getting on a ferry.
Unless you want to get really really frustrated, I would go
without a car or make reservation way in advance.
From: [SCw]
< about showing up for the ferry with no reservation for a car and getting on>
In my experience you are dead wrong(about having trouble getting on
the ferry w/out a reservation). Everyone always says it is
impossible to get a car on the Vineyard without a reservation, yet why
is there a standby line every day if no one goes... In actuality, if
you show up during the week by 5 am, you are almost 100% guaranteed to
get on the ferry. Of course if you plan to just show up at 10 am on a
saturday morning... forget it.
From: [DM]
< about showing up for the ferry with no reservation for a car and getting on>
I called the ferry terminal on Friday, July 1, and was able to
get 7:15 a.m. reservations for my car for the following Wednesday.
You're generally not going to be this lucky, but once in a while
there will be an open spot. Otherwise, the standby policy is that
you must get your car in line by a certain time (I think it's 2:00)
in order to be guaranteed that you and your vehicle will get to
the Vineyard the same day. (However, the previous poster is
correct - you could wait in line 12 LONG, HOT hours.)
The $78 round trip fare is cheaper than the $90+ per day car
rental, and the car does let you get around on your own schedule,
rather than being tied to a shuttle. (Except in Edgartown, where
the parking is at such a premium that you're better off parking at
the 'triangle' and taking the shuttle trolley to town.
There's no extra charge on the ferry for bikes attached to a car,
so we hauled our four with us. Bike or moped rentals are available
everywhere, but it's a long ride to Menemsha,Chilmark, or Gay Head,
along some narrow winding roads.
If you want to take the car, I'd recommend calling The Steamship
Authority in Falmouth, MA. 508 540-2022 info & reservations
From Karyn [K]:
During the off season do not expect to find transportation on the
island readily available. Only one bike rental shop was open, the
bikes were in poor condition and cost 20.00 per day, plus a 15.00
deposit. The buses and shuttle buses do not run during this time and
mopeds were not to be found, there appeared to be only one car
rental place open. Van taxis were available at the boat dock.
We found that even though this is Easter week, most stores and
eateries at Vineyard Haven were closed. We did get a good lunch at
The Black Dog.
Today (4/4/96) the Steamship Authority announced that they are going
to take cars to MV by reservation only. My advise would be to book
this trip when you book your trip to the Cape.
The off season rate for cars is 24.00 one way, this does not include
the car passengers. Passenger fares are 4.25 per adult and 2.15 per
child (5-12), one way. Bicycles are 3.00, one way. As a side note,
animals are allowed on the boat, we even saw a cat on a leash!
I think that without transportation, MV is not worth the trip during
off season! There are too many beautiful and accessible places on
the Cape to bother. [K]
Much of this info may be outdated. Please check w/
The Steamship Authority in Falmouth, MA. 508 540-2022
for latest info & reservations [CJS]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rec.Travel Library
The World
North America
USA
Massachusetts
|
|
